Abraham’s Family · Not dated
Chapter 17
Job’s Friends
If a man dies, will he live again?I would wait all the days of my warfare,until my release should come.
For parents
In this chapter Job, in his grief and pain, says again and again that he would rather die than live, and he accuses God of treating him unfairly (Job 6–7, 9–10, 13–14). These are Job’s own words as he speaks them. His friends answer that he must have sinned.
Then the Temanite spoke. “If someone tries to say a word to you, will you mind? But who can keep from speaking? You have taught many people. You have strengthened weak hands, and your words have held up those who were stumbling. But now trouble has come to you, and you lose heart. It touches you, and you are shaken. Shouldn’t your faith in God give you confidence, and your honest life give you hope?
“Think about it: has an innocent person ever been wiped out? When were honest people ever destroyed? From what I have seen, those who plow evil and plant trouble harvest the same. They die at the breath of God; the blast of his anger destroys them. The roaring lion falls silent, its teeth are broken, and its cubs are scattered for lack of food.
“Once a word came to me in secret, a whisper in the night, when deep sleep falls on people. Fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood up. It stood still, but I couldn’t make out what it looked like. Then, in the silence, I heard a voice: ‘Can a human being be more right than God? Can a man be purer than his Maker? If God does not trust even his servants, and finds fault with his angels, how much less can he trust those who live in houses of clay, built on dust, who are crushed as easily as a moth! Between morning and evening they are broken to pieces, gone forever, and no one notices. They die without ever gaining wisdom.’
“Call out if you like. Will anyone answer you? Which of the will you turn to? Resentment kills a fool, and jealousy kills the simple. I have seen a fool taking root, but soon I declared his home cursed. His children are far from safety, crushed in court with no one to rescue them. The hungry eat his harvest, even picking it out from among the thorns. Trouble doesn’t sprout from the dust or grow out of the ground. People are born for trouble, as surely as sparks fly upward.
“If I were you, I would go to God and put my case before him. He does great things too wonderful to understand, wonders that cannot be counted. He sends rain on the earth and water on the fields. He lifts up the humble and keeps mourners safe. He spoils the plans of the crafty, so they cannot succeed, and catches the clever in their own tricks. In broad daylight they stumble as if it were dark. But he saves the needy from the powerful, so the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
“Happy is the person God corrects. So don’t refuse the discipline of the . He wounds, but he also bandages; he strikes, but his hands heal. He will rescue you from six troubles, and in seven no harm will touch you. In famine he will save you from death, and in war from the sword. You will be safe from cruel words and not afraid when destruction comes. You will laugh at destruction and hunger, and even the stones of the field and the wild animals will be at peace with you. Your tent will be safe, and your flocks will lack nothing. You will have many descendants, as many as the grass, and you will come to your grave at a full old age, like grain gathered in its season. We have studied this, and it is true. Listen, and take it to heart.”
Then answered. “If only my misery could be weighed and all my troubles put on the scales! They would be heavier than the sand of the sea. That is why my words have been wild. The arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison. God’s terrors are lined up against me. Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass? Does an ox bellow over its feed? Can food with no flavor be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg? I refuse to touch such things; they make me sick.
“If only I could have what I ask for, if only God would give me what I long for: that he would agree to crush me, to reach out his hand and cut me off! Then I would still have this comfort, and I would jump for joy even in pain that won’t let up: I have not denied the words of the . What strength do I have, that I should keep waiting? What future do I have, that I should be patient? Is my strength the strength of stone? Is my body made of bronze? I have no help left in me, and wisdom has been driven away from me.
“A man who is losing heart should have kindness from his friends, even if he stops fearing the Almighty. But my brothers have been as unreliable as a desert stream, dark with ice and full of melting snow in winter, but gone in the dry season, vanishing in the heat. Caravans turn aside to find it, go out into the wasteland, and die. The traders of look for it, and the travelers of hope for it, but they are disappointed; they get there and find nothing. Now you are no help at all. You see something terrible, and you are afraid. Did I ever say, ‘Give me something,’ or ‘Pay someone for me from your wealth,’ or ‘Rescue me from my enemy’?
“Teach me, and I will be quiet. Show me where I have gone wrong. Honest words are powerful! But what do your arguments prove? Do you mean to correct my words, and treat a desperate man’s speech as wind? You would even gamble for an orphan and sell out a friend. Now please look at me. I will not lie to your face. Stop, and don’t be unfair. Think again, because I am still in the right. Is there anything wrong on my lips? Can’t I tell when something is wrong?
“Isn’t life on earth hard labor, like the days of a hired worker? Like a slave longing for shade, like a worker waiting for his pay, I have been given months of misery and nights of pain. When I lie down, I think, ‘When will I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. My body is covered with worms and dirt; my skin heals and then breaks open again. My days go by faster than a weaver’s shuttle, and they end without hope. Remember, my life is only a breath. My eyes will never see happiness again. The eyes that see me now will see me no more; you will look for me, but I will be gone. As a cloud fades away and is gone, so whoever goes down to does not come back up. He will never return to his house again.
“So I will not keep quiet. I will speak out of the anguish of my spirit and complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I the sea, or a sea monster, that you set a guard over me? When I think, ‘My bed will comfort me,’ you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that I would rather die than go on living in this body. I hate my life. I don’t want to live forever. Leave me alone; my days are only a breath. What are human beings, that you make so much of them, that you pay them so much attention, check on them every morning and test them every moment? Won’t you ever look away, even long enough for me to swallow? If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you watcher of people? Why have you made me your target? Why don’t you forgive my sin and take away my wrongdoing? Soon I will lie down in the dust. You will search for me, but I will be gone.”
Then the Shuhite spoke. “How long will you talk like this? Your words are just a mighty wind. Does God twist justice? Does the Almighty twist what is right? If your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the result of their sin. If you want to search for God, plead with the Almighty. If you were pure and honest, surely he would rise up for you now and restore the home you deserve. Though you started small, your future would be very great.
“Ask the people of past generations, and learn what their fathers found out. We were born only yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are a shadow. Won’t they teach you and tell you, and speak from their hearts? Can papyrus grow tall without a marsh? Can reeds grow without water? While they are still green and uncut, they wither faster than any grass. So it is with all who forget God: the hope of the godless dies. What they trust in breaks; it is a spider’s web. They lean on their house, but it will not stand. They may be green in the sunshine, spreading through the garden, their roots wrapped around the stones. But once they are torn from their place, it will say, ‘I never saw you.’ That is the end of their joy, and others grow up from the soil in their place.
“God will not reject a blameless man, and he will not help those who do evil. He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. Those who hate you will be covered with shame, and the tents of the wicked will be gone.”
Then Job answered. “Yes, I know it is true. But how can a human being be right before God? If someone wanted to argue with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. God is wise and mighty. Who has ever stood up to him and come out unharmed? He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth from its place until its pillars tremble. He commands the sun, and it does not rise; he seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and walks on the waves of the sea. He made the and the star groups of the south. He does great things no one can understand, wonders no one can count. He passes by me, and I don’t see him; he moves on, and I don’t notice him. If he snatches something away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ God does not hold back his anger; even the helpers of bow down beneath him.
“How then can I answer him, or choose my words to argue with him? Even if I were in the right, I could not answer him; I could only beg my judge for mercy. Even if I called and he answered me, I don’t believe he would listen to me. He crushes me with a storm and multiplies my wounds for no reason. He won’t let me catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness. If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him to court? Even if I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me; even if I am blameless, it would prove me guilty. I am blameless, but I don’t care about myself; I hate my life. It is all the same, so I say: he destroys both the blameless and the wicked. When disaster suddenly kills, he mocks the despair of the innocent. The earth is handed over to the wicked; he blindfolds its judges. If it isn’t he, then who is it?
“My days race by faster than a runner; they fly away without seeing any good. They skim past like fast boats, like an eagle swooping on its prey. If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, change my expression and smile,’ I am still afraid of all my suffering, because I know you will not hold me innocent. Since I will be found guilty anyway, why should I struggle for nothing? Even if I washed myself with snow and scrubbed my hands with soap, you would plunge me into a muddy ditch, until even my own clothes would hate me. He is not a man like me, that I could answer him and we could go to court together. There is no one to decide between us, no one to put his hand on us both. If only he would take his rod away from me and stop terrifying me! Then I would speak without being afraid of him. But that is not how it is with me.
“I am sick of my life. I will let my complaint pour out; I will speak from the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God: ‘Don’t condemn me. Tell me what charge you have against me. Does it please you to crush me, to reject the work of your own hands, while you smile on the plans of the wicked? Do you have human eyes? Do you see the way people see? Are your days like ours, your years like a man’s years, that you have to search out my sin and hunt for my wrongdoing, even though you know I am not guilty, and no one can rescue me from your hand?
“‘Your hands shaped me and made me, and now you turn and destroy me. Remember that you formed me like clay. Will you turn me back into dust? You poured me out like milk and thickened me like cheese. You clothed me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and muscles. You gave me life and showed me kindness, and your care has kept my spirit alive. But this is what you hid in your heart, and I know it was your plan: if I sinned, you would be watching, and you would not let me go free. If I am guilty, how terrible for me! And even if I am innocent, I can’t lift my head, I am so full of shame and misery. If I hold my head up, you hunt me like a lion and show your power against me again. You bring new witnesses against me and make your anger grow; wave after wave of trouble attacks me.
“‘Why did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before anyone saw me, as if I had never been, carried straight from the womb to the grave. Aren’t my days almost over? Stop! Leave me alone, so I can have a little comfort before I go to the place I will never return from, the land of darkness and deep shadow, as black as midnight, a land without order, where even the light is like midnight.’”
Then the Naamathite spoke. “Should all these words go unanswered? Should a man who talks so much be proved right? Should your boasting make people keep quiet? When you mock, shouldn’t someone put you to shame? You say, ‘What I believe is pure, and I am clean in God’s sight.’ But oh, how I wish God would speak and open his lips against you, and show you the secrets of wisdom, because true wisdom has two sides! Then you would know that God is punishing you less than your sin deserves.
“Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens; what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol; what can you know? They are longer than the earth and wider than the sea. If he comes along and puts someone in prison, or calls a court together, who can stop him? He knows who is false, and he sees wickedness, even though he doesn’t stop to consider it. An empty-headed man will become wise when a man is born as a wild donkey’s colt.
“If you set your heart right, stretch out your hands to him. If there is sin in your hand, put it far away, and let no wrong live in your tents. Then you will lift up your face without shame. You will stand firm and not be afraid. You will forget your misery, remembering it only like water that has flowed past. Your life will be brighter than noon, and its darkness will become like morning. You will feel safe, because there is hope; you will look around and rest in safety. You will lie down with no one to make you afraid, and many will want your favor. But the eyes of the wicked will fail. They will have no way to escape, and their only hope will be to breathe their last.”
Then Job answered. “No doubt you are the only people who matter, and wisdom will die with you! But I have a mind as well as you; I am no less than you. Who doesn’t know such things? I have become a joke to my friends, I who called on God and he answered me. A good and blameless man has become a joke. People who are at ease look down on those in trouble; their scorn is waiting for anyone whose foot slips. Meanwhile the tents of robbers are at peace, and those who make God angry are safe, those who carry their god in their hands.
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you; ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea tell you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the has done this? The life of every creature and the breath of every person is in his hand. Doesn’t the ear test words, the way the tongue tastes food? Wisdom is found among the old, and understanding comes with long life.
“With God are wisdom and power; he has counsel and understanding. What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; when he shuts someone in, no one can let him out. He holds back the waters, and the land dries up; he lets them loose, and they flood the earth. Strength and wisdom belong to him; both the one who is fooled and the one who fools belong to him. He leads advisers away stripped and makes fools of judges. He takes away the power of kings and ties a rope around their waists. He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty. He silences trusted speakers and takes away the good sense of the old. He pours shame on princes and disarms the strong. He brings deep secrets out of darkness and brings deep shadow into the light. He makes nations great, then destroys them; he spreads them out, then leads them away captive. He takes away the understanding of the world’s leaders and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland. They feel their way in the dark with no light, and he makes them stagger like drunks.
“I have seen all this with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears. What you know, I know too; I am no less than you. But I want to speak to the Almighty. I want to argue my case with God. As for you, you smear the truth with lies; you are worthless doctors, all of you. If only you would be completely quiet! That would be the wisest thing you could do. Now listen to my argument. Will you speak falsely for God? Will you lie on his behalf? Will you take his side? Will you argue his case for him? What will happen when he examines you? Can you fool him the way you might fool a person? He will surely rebuke you if you secretly take sides. Won’t his greatness terrify you? Your wise sayings are proverbs made of ashes; your defenses are made of clay.
“Be quiet and let me speak, and let whatever happens to me happen. Why should I put my life in danger? Look, he will kill me; I have no hope. Even so, I will argue my case to his face. This at least will be my rescue: no godless person would dare to come before him. Listen carefully to what I say; let my words sink in. I have prepared my case, and I know I am in the right. Who will bring charges against me? If anyone can, I will be silent and die.
“Only grant me two things, God, and I will not hide from you: take your hand far away from me, and stop frightening me with your terror. Then call me, and I will answer, or let me speak, and you answer me. How many wrongs and sins have I done? Show me my rebellion and my sin. Why do you hide your face and treat me as your enemy? Will you frighten a leaf blown by the wind? Will you chase dry straw? You write bitter charges against me and make me pay for the sins of my youth. You put my feet in chains and watch every path I take, marking the ground I walk on, while I waste away like something rotten, like clothing eaten by moths.
“A human being, born of a woman, lives only a few days, and they are full of trouble. He blooms like a flower and is cut down; he slips away like a shadow and doesn’t last. Do you really keep your eyes on such a one, and bring me to court with you? Who can bring something clean out of something unclean? No one! A person’s days are numbered; you know how many months he has, and you have set limits he cannot pass. So look away from him and let him rest, until he finishes his days like a hired worker.
“A tree has hope. Cut it down, and it will sprout again, and its tender new branches won’t stop coming. Its root may grow old in the earth and its stump may die in the ground, yet the mere smell of water makes it bud and put out shoots like a young plant. But a man dies, and he is laid low. He takes his last breath, and where is he? As the water drains from the sea and a river shrinks and dries up, so a man lies down and doesn’t get up again. Until the heavens are no more, people won’t wake up or be stirred from their sleep.
“If only you would hide me in Sheol and keep me hidden until your anger has passed! If only you would set a time for me, and then remember me! If a man dies, will he live again? I would wait all the days of my hard service, until my release came. You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the creature your hands have made. But now you count my steps. Don’t you keep watch over my sin? My wrongs are sealed up in a bag, and you fasten up my sin.
“But as a mountain crumbles and a rock is moved from its place, as water wears away stones and floods wash away the soil, so you destroy a person’s hope. You overpower him once and for all, and he passes away; you change his face and send him away. If his sons are honored, he doesn’t know it; if they are brought low, he doesn’t see it. He feels only the pain of his own body, and mourns only for himself.”