Study Desk

So am I allotted months of vanity, And nights of trouble are appointed me.

"When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.

So that my soul would choose suffocation, Death rather than my pains.

"Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, So that I am a burden to myself?

"So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the godless will perish,

"In truth I know that this is so; But how can a man be in the right before God?

"Be silent before me so that I may speak; Then let come on me what may.

"Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.

So man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no longer, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.

Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy man's hope.

"He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, And He has put darkness on my paths.

"Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, So that you may know there is judgment."

"You say, 'God stores away a man's iniquity for his sons.' Let God repay him so that he may know it.

Or darkness, so that you cannot see, And an abundance of water covers you.

'Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see; And He walks on the vault of heaven.'

"Drought and heat consume the snow waters, So does Sheol those who have sinned.

"Now if it is not so, who can prove me a liar, And make my speech worthless?"

So that they dwell in dreadful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

If I have gloated because my wealth was great, And because my hand had secured so much;

So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out and said, "I am young in years and you are old; Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think.