Study Desk

Then Job responded,

"How long will you torment ^(F1)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 done wrong, My error stays with me.

-"If indeed you ^(C1)exalt yourselves against me And prove my disgrace to me,

Know then that ^(C1)God has wronged me And has surrounded me with ^(C2)His net.

"Behold, ^(C1)I cry, 'Violence!' but I get no answer; I shout for help, but there is no justice.

-"He has ^(C1)blocked my way so that I cannot pass, And He has put ^(C2)darkness on my paths.

-"He has ^(C1)stripped my honor from me And removed the ^(C2)crown from my head.

-"He ^(C1)breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; And He has uprooted my ^(C2)hope ^(C3)like a tree.

-"He has also ^(C1)kindled His anger against me And ^(C2)considered me as His enemy.

-"His ^(C1)troops come together And ^(C2)build up their ^(F1)way against me And camp around my tent.

"He has ^(C1)removed my brothers far from me, And my ^(C2)acquaintances have completely turned away from me.

-"My relatives have failed, And my ^(C1)close friends have forgotten me.

-"Those who live in my house and my servant women 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 his favor with my mouth.

-"My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

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

-"All ^(F1)my ^(C1)associates loathe me, And those I love have turned against me.

-"My ^(C1)bone clings to my skin and my flesh, And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

-"Pity me, pity me, you friends of mine, For the ^(C1)hand of God has struck me.

-"Why do you ^(C1)persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?

"Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were ^(C1)recorded in a book!

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

-"Yet as for me, I know that ^(C1)my Redeemer lives, And at the last, He will take His stand on the ^(F1)earth.

-"Even after my skin ^(F1)is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I will ^(C1)see God,

Whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself, And whom my eyes will see, and not another. My ^(F1)heart ^(C1)faints ^(F2)within me!

-"If you say, 'How shall we ^(C1)persecute him?' And '^(F1)What pretext for a case against him can we find?'

-"Then be afraid of ^(C1)the sword for yourselves, For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, So that you may know ^(C2)there is judgment."

Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

"Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me ^(F1)respond, Even because of my ^(F2)inward agitation.

-"I listened to ^(C1)the reprimand which insults me, And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

-"Do you know this from ^(C1)ancient times, From the establishment of mankind on earth,

That the ^(C1)rejoicing of the wicked is short, And ^(C2)the joy of the godless momentary?

-"Though his arrogance ^(F1)(C1)reaches the heavens, And his head touches the clouds,

He ^(C1)perishes forever like his refuse; Those who have seen him ^(C2)will say, 'Where is he?'

-"He flies away like a ^(C1)dream, and they cannot find him; Like a vision of the night he is ^(C2)chased away.

-"The ^(C1)eye which saw him sees him no longer, And ^(C2)his place no longer beholds him.

-"His ^(C1)sons ^(F1)favor the poor, And his hands ^(C2)give back his wealth.

-"His ^(C1)bones are full of his youthful strength, But it lies down with him ^(F1)in the dust.

"Though ^(C1)evil tastes sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue,

Though he ^(F1)desires it and will not let it go, But holds it ^(C1)in his ^(F2)mouth,

Yet his food in his stomach is changed To the ^(F1)venom of cobras within him.

-"He swallows riches, But will ^(C1)vomit them up; God will expel them from his belly.

-"He sucks ^(C1)the poison of cobras; The viper's tongue kills him.

-"He does not look at ^(C1)the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and curds.

-"He ^(C1)returns the product of his labor And cannot swallow it; As to the riches of his trading, He cannot even enjoy them.

-"For he has ^(C1)oppressed and neglected the poor; He has seized a house which he has not built.

"Because he knew no quiet ^(F1)within him, He does ^(C1)not retain anything he desires.

-"Nothing remains ^(F1)for him to devour, Therefore ^(C1)his prosperity does not endure.

-"In the fullness of his excess he will be cramped; The ^(C1)hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.

-"When he ^(C1)fills his belly, God will send His fierce anger on him And ^(C2)rain it on him ^(F1)while he is eating.

-"He may ^(C1)flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.

-"It is drawn and comes out of his back, Even the flashing point from ^(C1)his gallbladder; ^(C2)Terrors come upon him,

Complete ^(C1)darkness is held in reserve for his treasures, And unfanned ^(C2)fire will devour him; It will consume the survivor in his tent.

-"The ^(C1)heavens will reveal his guilt, And the earth will rise up against him.

-"The ^(C1)increase of his house will disappear; His possessions will flow away ^(C2)on the day of His anger.

-"This is a wicked person's ^(C1)portion from God, The inheritance decreed to him by God."