HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 832
JOB 16
29
page 462
Their riches will not last,
and their wealth will not endure.
Their possessions will no longer spread
across the horizon.
11
God has handed me over to sinners.
He has tossed me into the hands of
the wicked.
12
“I was living quietly until he shattered me.
He took me by the neck and broke me in
pieces.
Then he set me up as his target,
and now his archers surround me.
His arrows pierce me without mercy.
The ground is wet with my blood.*
Again and again he smashes against me,
charging at me like a warrior.
I wear burlap to show my grief.
My pride lies in the dust.
My eyes are red with weeping;
dark shadows circle my eyes.
Yet I have done no wrong,
and my prayer is pure.
— promises —
from God
13
“The righteous keep
moving forward, and those
with clean hands become
stronger and stronger.”
14
15
16
JO B 17:9
17
30
31
32
33
34
35
“They will not escape the darkness.
The burning sun will wither their shoots,
and the breath of God will destroy them.
Let them no longer fool themselves by
trusting in empty riches,
for emptiness will be their only reward.
They will be cut down in the prime of life;
their branches will never again be green.
They will be like a vine whose grapes are
harvested too early,
like an olive tree that loses its blossoms
before the fruit can form.
For the godless are barren.
Their homes, enriched through bribery,
will burn.
They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
Their womb produces deceit.”
Job’s Fifth Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
Then Job spoke again:
16
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6
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8
9
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Job Continues to Defend His Innocence
1 “My spirit is crushed,
and my life is nearly snuffed out.
The grave is ready to receive me.
2 I am surrounded by mockers.
I watch how bitterly they taunt me.
17
3
“I have heard all this before.
What miserable comforters you are!
Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air?
What makes you keep on talking?
I could say the same things if you were in
my place.
I could spout off criticism and shake my
head at you.
But if it were me, I would encourage you.
I would try to take away your grief.
Instead, I suffer if I defend myself,
and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak.
2
“O God, you have ground me down
and devastated my family.
As if to prove I have sinned, you’ve reduced
me to skin and bones.
My gaunt flesh testifies against me.
God hates me and angrily tears me apart.
He snaps his teeth at me
and pierces me with his eyes.
People jeer and laugh at me.
They slap my cheek in contempt.
A mob gathers against me.
“O earth, do not conceal my blood.
Let it cry out on my behalf.
Even now my witness is in heaven.
My advocate is there on high.
My friends scorn me,
but I pour out my tears to God.
I need someone to mediate between God
and me,
as a person mediates between friends.
For soon I must go down that road
from which I will never return.
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
“You must defend my innocence, O God,
since no one else will stand up for me.
You have closed their minds to
understanding,
but do not let them triumph.
They betray their friends for their own
advantage,
so let their children faint with hunger.
“God has made a mockery of me among
the people;
they spit in my face.
My eyes are swollen with weeping,
and I am but a shadow of my former self.
The virtuous are horrified when they see me.
The innocent rise up against the ungodly.
The righteous keep moving forward,
and those with clean hands become
stronger and stronger.
“As for all of you, come back with a better
argument,
though I still won’t find a wise man
among you.
16:13 Hebrew my gall.