c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Lit. “kidneys.”
b Lit. “alien.”
c See note to 15.28.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a See note to 15.28.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Lit. “Lest.”
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Kethib, “fail.”
b-b Lit. “drink.”
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Or “a stranger.”
b Lit. “face.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Cf. Lev. 5.1.
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Or “spider.”
a Lit. “ways.”
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Lit. “And exerts her arms.”
d Lit. “tastes.”
Job
1There was a man in the land of Uz named Job. That man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2Seven sons and three daughters were born to him; 3his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred sheasses, and a very large household. That man was wealthier than anyone in the East.
4It was the custom of his sons to hold feasts, each on his set day in his own home. They would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5When a round of feast days was over, Job would send word to them to sanctify themselves, and, rising early in the morning, he would make burnt offerings, one for each of them; for Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and blasphemed God in their thoughts.” This is what Job always used to do.
6One day the divine beings presented themselves before the LORD, a-and the Adversary-a came along with them. 7The LORD said to the Adversary, “Where have you been?” The Adversary answered the LORD, “I have been roaming all over the earth.” 8The LORD said to the Adversary, “Have you noticed My servant Job? There is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil!” 9The Adversary answered the LORD, “Does Job not have good reason to fear God? 10Why, it is You who have fenced him round, him and his household and all that he has. You have blessed his efforts so that his possessions spread out in the land. 11But lay Your hand upon all that he has and he will surely blaspheme You to Your face.” 12The LORD replied to the Adversary, “See, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on him.” The Adversary departed from the presence of the LORD.
13One day, as his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, 14a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the she-asses were grazing alongside them 15when Sabeans attacked them and carried them off, and put the boys to the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16This one was still speaking when another came and said, “God’s fire fell from heaven, took hold of the sheep and the boys, and burned them up; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17This one was still speaking when another came and said, “A Chaldean formation of three columns made a raid on the camels and carried them off and put the boys to the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18This one was still speaking when another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother 19when suddenly a mighty wind came from the wilderness. It struck the four corners of the house so that it collapsed upon the young people and they died; I alone have escaped to tell you.”
20Then Job arose, tore his robe, cut off his hair, and threw himself on the ground and worshiped. 21He said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the LORD has given, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
22For all that, Job did not sin nor did he cast reproach on God.
2 One day the divine beings presented themselves before the LORD. The Adversary came along with them to present himself before the LORD. 2The LORD said to the Adversary, “Where have you been?” The Adversary answered the LORD, “I have been roaming all over the earth.” 3The LORD said to the Adversary, “Have you noticed My servant Job? There is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil. He still keeps his integrity; so you have incited Me against him to destroy him for no good reason.” 4The Adversary answered the LORD, a-“Skin for skin-a—all that a man has he will give up for his life. 5But lay a hand on his bones and his flesh, and he will surely blaspheme You to Your face.” 6So the LORD said to the Adversary, “See, he is in your power; only spare his life.” 7The Adversary departed from the presence of the LORD and inflicted a severe inflammation on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8He took a potsherd to scratch himself as he sat in ashes. 9His wife said to him, “You still keep your integrity! Blaspheme God and die!” 10But he said to her, “You talk as any shameless woman might talk! Should we accept only good from God and not accept evil?” For all that, Job said nothing sinful.
11When Job’s three friends heard about all these calamities that had befallen him, each came from his home—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him. 12When they saw him from a distance, they could not recognize him, and they broke into loud weeping; each one tore his robe and threw dust into the air onto his head. 13They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights. None spoke a word to him for they saw how very great was his suffering.
3 aAfterward, Job began to speak and cursed the day of his birth. 2Job spoke up and said:
3Perish the day on which I was born,
And the night it was announced,
“A male has been conceived!”
4May that day be darkness;
May God above have no concern for it;
May light not shine on it;
5May darkness and deep gloom reclaim it;
May a pall lie over it;
May b-what blackens-b the day terrify it.
6May obscurity carry off that night;
May it not be counted among the days of the year;
May it not appear in any of its months;
7May that night be desolate;
May no sound of joy be heard in it;
8May those who cast spells upon the dayc damn it,
Those prepared to disable Leviathan;
9May its twilight stars remain dark;
May it hope for light and have none;
May it not see the glimmerings of the dawn—
10Because it did not block my mother’s womb,
And hide trouble from my eyes.
11Why did I not die at birth,
Expire as I came forth from the womb?
12Why were there knees to receive me,
Or breasts for me to suck?
13For now would I be lying in repose, asleep and at rest,
14With the world’s kings and counselors who rebuild ruins for
themselves,
15Or with nobles who possess gold and who fill their houses
with silver.
16Or why was I not like a buried stillbirth,
Like babies who never saw the light?
17There the wicked cease from troubling;
There rest those whose strength is spent.
18Prisoners are wholly at ease;
They do not hear the taskmaster’s voice.
19Small and great alike are there,
And the slave is free of his master.
20Why does He give light to the sufferer
And life to the bitter in spirit;
21To those who wait for death but it does not come,
Who search for it more than for treasure,
22Who rejoice to exultation,
And are glad to reach the grave;
23To the man who has lost his way,
Whom God has hedged about?
24My groaning serves as my bread;
My roaring pours forth as water.
25For what I feared has overtaken me;
What I dreaded has come upon me.
26I had no repose, no quiet, no rest,
And trouble came.
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite said in reply:
2If one ventures a word with you, will it be too much?
But who can hold back his words?
3See, you have encouraged many;
You have strengthened failing hands.
4Your words have kept him who stumbled from falling;
You have braced knees that gave way.
5But now that it overtakes you, it is too much;
It reaches you, and you are unnerved.
6Is not your piety your confidence,
Your integrity your hope?
7Think now, what innocent man ever perished?
Where have the upright been destroyed?
8As I have seen, those who plow evil
And sow mischief reap them.
9They perish by a blast from God,
Are gone at the breath of His nostrils.
10The lion may roar, the cub may howl,
But the teeth of the king of beasts a-are broken.-a
11The lion perishes for lack of prey,
And its whelps are scattered.
12A word came to me in stealth;
My ear caught a whisper of it.
13In thought-filled visions of the night,
When deep sleep falls on men,
14Fear and trembling came upon me,
Causing all my bones to quake with fright.
15A wind passed by me,
Making the hair of my flesh bristle.
16It halted; its appearance was strange to me;
A form loomed before my eyes;
I heard a murmur, a voice,
17“Can mortals be acquitted by God?
Can man be cleared by his Maker?
18If He cannot trust His own servants,
And casts reproacha on His angels,
19How much less those who dwell in houses of clay,
Whose origin is dust,
Who are crushed like the moth,
20Shattered between daybreak and evening,
Perishing forever, unnoticed.
21Their cord is pulled up
And they die, and not with wisdom.”
5
Call now! Will anyone answer you?
To whom among the holy beings will you turn?
2Vexation kills the fool;
Passion slays the simpleton.
3I myself saw a fool who had struck roots;
Impulsively, I cursed his home:
4May his children be far from success;
May they be oppressed in the gate with none to deliver them;
5May the hungry
