Study Desk

"God, I cry out to you for help, but you don't answer. I stand up and pray, but you don't pay attention to me.

God, you know that I cried for those who were in trouble. You know that I mourned for the poor.

What does God above have for us? How does God All-Powerful repay people from his home high in heaven?

God is the one who knows what I do and sees every step I take.

If God would use accurate scales, he would know that I am innocent.

then what will I do when I must face God? What will I say when he asks me to explain what I did?

The one who made me in my mother's womb also made them. God shaped us all inside our mothers.

This is also a sin that must be punished. If I had worshiped them, I would have been unfaithful to God All-Powerful.

"How I wish someone would listen to me! I will sign my name to all I have said. Now let God All-Powerful answer me. Let him make a list of what he thinks I did wrong.

Then I could explain everything I have done. I could come to God with my head held high like a prince.

But there was a young man there named Elihu son of Barakel. He was a descendant of a man named Buz. Elihu was from the family of Ram. He became very angry because Job kept saying he was innocent—that he was right and God was wrong.

But it is the spirit in people, the breath from God All-Powerful, that makes them understand.

You men cannot say that you have found wisdom. The answer to Job's arguments must come from God, not people.

I cannot treat one person better than another. If I did, God my Maker would punish me!

God's Spirit made me. My life comes from God All-Powerful.

You and I are the same before God. He used clay to make us both.

But God found an excuse to attack me. He treats me like an enemy.

"But you are wrong about this, and I will prove it to you. God knows more than any of us.

You are arguing with God! Why do you think he should explain everything to you?

But maybe God does explain what he does but speaks in ways that people don't understand.