HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 836
JOB 23
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That is why you cannot see in the
darkness,
and waves of water cover you.
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“God is so great—higher than the heavens,
higher than the farthest stars.
But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see
what I am doing!
How can he judge through the thick
darkness?
For thick clouds swirl about him, and he
cannot see us.
He is way up there, walking on the vault
of heaven.’
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“Will you continue on the old paths
where evil people have walked?
They were snatched away in the prime
of life,
the foundations of their lives washed
away.
For they said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
Yet he was the one who filled their homes
with good things,
so I will have nothing to do with that
kind of thinking.
“The righteous will be happy to see the
wicked destroyed,
and the innocent will laugh in contempt.
They will say, ‘See how our enemies have
been destroyed.
The last of them have been consumed in
the fire.’
“Submit to God, and you will have peace;
then things will go well for you.
Listen to his instructions,
and store them in your heart.
If you return to the Almighty, you will be
restored—
so clean up your life.
If you give up your lust for money
and throw your precious gold into the
river,
the Almighty himself will be your treasure.
He will be your precious silver!
“Then you will take delight in the Almighty
and look up to God.
You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows to him.
You will succeed in whatever you choose
to do,
and light will shine on the road ahead
of you.
If people are in trouble and you say,
‘Help them,’
God will save them.
Even sinners will be rescued;
they will be rescued because your
hands are pure.”
page 466
Job’s Eighth Speech: A Response
to Eliphaz
Then Job spoke again:
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“My complaint today is still a
bitter one,
and I try hard not to groan aloud.
If only I knew where to find God,
I would go to his court.
I would lay out my case
and present my arguments.
Then I would listen to his reply
and understand what he says to me.
Would he use his great power to argue
with me?
No, he would give me a fair hearing.
Honest people can reason with him,
so I would be forever acquitted by
my judge.
I go east, but he is not there.
I go west, but I cannot find him.
I do not see him in the north, for he is
hidden.
I look to the south, but he is concealed.
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“But he knows where I am going.
And when he tests me, I will come out as
pure as gold.
For I have stayed on God’s paths;
I have followed his ways and not turned
aside.
I have not departed from his commands,
but have treasured his words more than
daily food.
But once he has made his decision, who
can change his mind?
Whatever he wants to do, he does.
So he will do to me whatever he has
planned.
He controls my destiny.
No wonder I am so terrified in his presence.
When I think of it, terror grips me.
God has made me sick at heart;
the Almighty has terrified me.
Darkness is all around me;
thick, impenetrable darkness is
everywhere.
Job Asks Why the Wicked Are Not
Punished
1 “Why doesn’t the Almighty bring the
wicked to judgment?
Why must the godly wait for him in vain?
2 Evil people steal land by moving the
boundary markers.
They steal livestock and put them in their
own pastures.
3 They take the orphan’s donkey
and demand the widow’s ox as security
for a loan.
4 The poor are pushed off the path;
the needy must hide together for safety.
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