Study Desk

"My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The ^[a](a)grave is ready for me.

"^(b)Surely mockers are with me, And my eye ^[b]gazes on their provocation.

"Lay down, now, a pledge ^(c)for me with Yourself; Who is there that will ^[c]be my guarantor?

"For You have ^[d](d)kept their heart from understanding, Therefore You will not exalt them.

"He who ^(e)informs against friends for a share of the spoil, The ^(f)eyes of his children also will languish.

"But He has made me a ^(g)byword of the people, And I am ^[e]one at whom men ^(h)spit.

"My eye has also grown ⁽ⁱ⁾dim because of grief, And all my ^(j)members are as a shadow.

"The upright will be appalled at this, And the ^(k)innocent will stir up himself against the godless.

"Nevertheless ^(l)the righteous will hold to his way, And ^(m)he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.

"But come again all of ^[f]you now, For I ⁽ⁿ⁾do not find a wise man among you.

"My ^(o)days are past, my plans are torn apart, Even the wishes of my heart.

"They make night into day, saying, ‘The light is near,' in the presence of darkness.

"If I look for ^(p)Sheol as my home, I ^[g]make my bed in the darkness;

If I call to the ^(q)pit, ‘You are my father'; To the ^(r)worm, ‘my mother and my sister';

Where now is ^(s)my hope? And who regards my hope?

"^[h]Will it go down with me to Sheol? Shall we together ^(t)go down into the dust?"

Then Bildad the Shuhite ^[a]responded,

"How long will you hunt for words? Show understanding and then we can talk.

"Why are we ^(a)regarded as beasts, As stupid in your eyes?

"O ^[b]you who tear yourself in your anger— For your sake is the earth to be abandoned, Or the rock to be moved from its place?

"Indeed, the ^(b)light of the wicked goes out, And the ^[c]flame of his fire gives no light.

"The light in his tent is ^(c)darkened, And his lamp goes out above him.

"His ^[d]vigorous stride is shortened, And his ^(d)own scheme brings him down.

"For he is ^(e)thrown into the net by his own feet, And he steps on the webbing.

"A snare seizes him by the heel, And a trap snaps shut on him.

"A noose for him is hidden in the ground, And a trap for him on the path.

"All around ^(f)terrors frighten him, And ^(g)harry him at every step.

"His strength is ^(h)famished, And calamity is ready at his side.

"^[e]His skin is devoured by disease, The firstborn of death ⁽ⁱ⁾devours his ^[f]limbs.

"He is ^(j)torn from ^[g]the security of his tent, And ^[h]they march him before the king of ^(k)terrors.

"^[i]There dwells in his tent nothing of his; ^(l)Brimstone is scattered on his habitation.

"His ^(m)roots are dried below, And his ⁽ⁿ⁾branch is cut off above.

"^(o)Memory of him perishes from the earth, And he has no name abroad.

"^[j]He is driven from light ^(p)into darkness, And ^(q)chased from the inhabited world.

"He has no ^(r)offspring or posterity among his people, Nor any survivor where he sojourned.

"Those ^[k]in the west are appalled at ^(s)his ^[l]fate, And those ^[m]in the east are seized with horror.

"Surely such are the ^(t)dwellings of the wicked, And this is the place of him who does not know God."

Then Job ^[a]responded,

"How long will you torment ^[b]me And crush me with words?

"These ten times you have insulted me; You are not ashamed to wrong me.

"Even if I have truly erred, My error lodges with me.

"If indeed you ^(a)vaunt yourselves against me And prove my disgrace to me,

Know then that ^(b)God has wronged me And has closed ^(c)His net around me.

"Behold, ^(d)I cry, ‘Violence!' but I get no answer; I shout for help, but there is no justice.

"He has ^(e)walled up my way so that I cannot pass, And He has put ^(f)darkness on my paths.

"He has ^(g)stripped my honor from me And removed the ^(h)crown from my head.

"He ⁽ⁱ⁾breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; And He has uprooted my ^(j)hope ^(k)like a tree.

"He has also ^(l)kindled His anger against me And ^(m)considered me as His enemy.

"His ⁽ⁿ⁾troops come together, And ^(o)build up their ^[c]way against me And camp around my tent.

"He has ^(p)removed my brothers far from me, And my ^(q)acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

"My relatives have failed, And my ^(r)intimate friends have forgotten me.

"Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight.

"I call to my servant, but he does not answer; I have to implore him with my mouth.

"My breath is ^[d]offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

"Even young children despise me; I rise up and they speak against me.

"All ^[e]my ^(s)associates abhor me, And those I love have turned against me.

"My ^(t)bone clings to my skin and my flesh, And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

"Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, For the ^(u)hand of God has struck me.

"Why do you ^(v)persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?

"Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were ^(w)inscribed in a book!

"That with an iron stylus and lead They were engraved in the rock forever!

"As for me, I know that ^(x)my ^[f]Redeemer lives, And ^[g]at the last He will take His stand on the ^[h]earth.

"Even after my skin ^[i]is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall ^(y)see God;

Whom I ^[j]myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My ^[k]heart ^(z)faints ^[l]within me!

"If you say, ‘How shall we ^(aa)persecute him?' And ‘^[m]What pretext for a case against him can we find?'

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