Job

Job 9: A Reflection On God’s Power, Justice, And Mystery

Job 9:1 Then Job answered and said,

Job 9:2 I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?

Job 9:3 If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.

Job 9:4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?

Job 9:5 Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.

Job 9:6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.

Job 9:7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, and sealeth up the stars.

Job 9:8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.

Job 9:10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.

Job 9:11 Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.

Job 9:12 Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, What doest thou?

Job 9:13 If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.

Job 9:14 How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?

Job 9:15 Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.

Job 9:16 If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.

Job 9:17 For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.

Job 9:19 If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?

Job 9:20 If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.

Job 9:21 Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.

Job 9:22 This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.

Job 9:23 If the scourge slays suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.

Job 9:24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces ofthe judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?

Job 9:25 Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.

Job 9:26 They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.

Job 9:27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:

Job 9:29 If be wicked, why then labor I in vain?

Job 9:30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;

Job 9:31 Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.

Job 9:32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.

Job 9:33 Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.

Job 9:34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:

Job 9:35 Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.

Job 10: A Raw And Honest Look At The Human Heart In Suffering

Job 10:1 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my souk

Job 10:2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.

Job 10:3 It good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

Job 10:4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?

Job 10:5 Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man’s days,

Job 10:7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked, and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

Job 10:8 Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.

Job 10:9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?

Job 10:10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

Job 10:11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews

Job 10:12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.

Job 10:13 And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.

Job 10:14 If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

Job 10:15 If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;

Job 10:16 For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.

Job 10:17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.

Job 10:19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

Job 10:20 Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,

Job 10:21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;

Job 10:22 A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.

Job 11: Misplaced Advice And The Call To Trust God’s Sovereignty

Job 11:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

Job 11:2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?

Job 11:3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

Job 11:4 For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.

Job 11:5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

Job 11:6 And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

Job 11:8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?

Job 11:9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

Job 11:10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?

Job 11:11 For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

Job 11:12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.

Job 11:13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;

Job 11:15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear:

Job 11:16 Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:

Job 11:17 And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.

Job 11:18 And thou shalt be secure because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.

Job 11:19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.

Job 11:20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.

Job 12: A Bold Declaration Of God’s Power And Wisdom

Job 12:1 And Job answered and said,

Job 12:2 No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

Job 12:3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

Job 12:4 am as one mocked of his neighbor, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.

Job 12:5 He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease

Job 12:6 The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

Job 12:7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee, and the fowls ofthe air, and they shall tell thee:

Job 12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes ofthe sea shall declare unto thee.

Job 12:10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

Job 12:11 Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?

Job 12:12 With the ancient is wisdom, and in the length of days understanding.

Job 12:13 With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.

Job 12:14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

Job 12:15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

Job 12:16 With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.

Job 12:17 He leadeth counselors away spoiled, and maketh the judge’s fools.

Job 12:18 He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.

Job 12:19 He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.

Job 12:20 He removeth away the speech of the trusty and taketh away the understanding of the aged.

Job 12:22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

Job 12:23 He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.

Job 12:24 He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

Job 12:25 They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

Job 13: A Bold Faith That Seeks Understanding From God

Job 13:1 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.

Job 13:2 What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.

Job 13:3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and desire to reason with God.

Job 13:4 But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

Job 13:5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.

Job 13:6 Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.

Job 13:7 Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?

Job 13:8 Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?

Job 13:10 He will surely reprove you if ye do secretly accept persons.

Job 13:11 Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?

Job 13:12 Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.

Job 13:13 Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.

Job 13:14 Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?

Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

Job 13:16 He also shall be my salvation: for a hypocrite shall not come before him.

Job 13:17 Hear diligently my speech and my declaration with your ears.

Job 13:18 Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified

Job 13:19 Who is he t/fet will plead with me? for hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.

Job 13:21 Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid

Job 13:22 Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.

Job 13:23 How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.

Job 13:24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?

Job 13:26 For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

Job 13:27 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.

Job 13:28 And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth-eaten.

Job 14: A Prayer For Mercy In The Midst Of Suffering

Job 14:1 MAN that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble,

Job 14:2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not.

Job 14:3 And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?

Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

Job 14:5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

Job 14:6 Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

Job 14:8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

Job 14:9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

Job 14:10 But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

Job 14:11 As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

Job 14:12 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

Job 14:13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret until thy wrath is past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

Job 14:14 If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Job 14:15 Thou shalt call and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands.

Job 14:16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

Job 14:17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up my iniquity.

Job 14:19 The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth, and thou destroyest the hope of man.

Job 14:20 Thou prevailest forever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

Job 14:21 His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not, and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

Job 14:22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

Job 15: Misplaced Judgment And The Misunderstanding Of God’s Ways

Job 15:1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

Job 15:2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

Job 15:3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

Job 15:4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.

Job 15:5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue ofthe crafty.

Job 15:6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

Job 15:7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?

Job 15:9 What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?

Job 15:10 With us are both the gray-headed and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

Job 15:11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?

Job 15:12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,

Job 15:13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?

Job 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

Job 15:15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

Job 15:16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?

Job 15:18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:

Job 15:19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

Job 15:20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

Job 15:21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity, the destroyer shall come upon him.

Job 15:22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

Job 15:23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

Job 15:24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

Job 15:25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.

Job 15:26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:

Job 15:27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

Job 15:28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

Job 15:29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

Job 15:30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.

Job 15:32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

Job 15:33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

Job 15:34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

Job 15:35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

Job 16: A Call For Compassion In Times Of Pain

Job 16:1 Then Job answered and said,

Job 16:2 I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.

Job 16:3 Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?

Job 16:4 I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.

Job 16:5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should assuage your grief.

Job 16:6 Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?

Job 16:7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.

Job 16:9 He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

Job 16:10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.

Job 16:11 God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.

Job 16:12 was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

Job 16:13 His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground

Job 16:14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.

Job 16:15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin and defiled my horn in the dust.

Job 16:16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;

Job 16:17 Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.

Job 16:19 Also now, behold, my witness is. in heaven, and my record is on high

Job 16:20 My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.

Job 16:21 O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!

Job 16:22 When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

Job 17: When Faith Endures Amid Seemingly Hopeless Circumstances

Job 17:1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

Job 17:2 Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?

Job 17:3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?

Job 17:4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.

Job 17:6 He hath made me also a byword of the people, and a foretime I was as a tabret.

Job 17:7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.

Job 17:8 Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.

Job 17:9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.

Job 17:10 But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.

Job 17:12 They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.

Job 17:13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.

Job 17:14 has said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.

Job 17:15 And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?

Job 17:16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit when our rest together is in the dust.

Job 18: When Judgment Replaces Empathy In Friendship

Job 18:1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

Job 18:2 How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterward we will speak.

Job 18:3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?

Job 18:4 He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed from his place?

Job 18:5 Yea, the light ofthe wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

Job 18:6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.

Job 18:7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.

Job 18:8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.

Job 18:10 The snare is laid for him in the ground and a trap for him in the way.

Job 18:11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet,

Job 18:12 His strength shall be hunger bitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.

Job 18:13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.

Job 18:14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.

Job 18:18 It shall dwell in his tabernacle because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.

Job 18:16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.

Job 18:18 He shall be driven from light into darkness and chased out ofthe world.

Job 18:19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.

Job 18:20 They that come after him shall be astonied at his day as they that went before were affrighted.

Job 18:21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.