The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV, page 243
For a sword is waiting for him.
23He pwanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows qthat a day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24Trouble and anguish make him afraid;
They overpower him, like a king ready for 7battle.
25For he stretches out his hand against God,
And acts defiantly against the Almighty,
26Running stubbornly against Him
With his strong, embossed shield.
27“Thoughr he has covered his face with his fatness,
And made his waist heavy with fat,
28He dwells in desolate cities,
In houses which no one inhabits,
Which are destined to become ruins.
29He will not be rich,
Nor will his wealth scontinue,
Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.
30He will not depart from darkness;
The flame will dry out his branches,
And tby the breath of His mouth he will go away.
31Let him not utrust in futile things, deceiving himself,
For futility will be his reward.
32It will be accomplished vbefore his time,
And his branch will not be green.
33He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine,
And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.
34For the company of hypocrites will be barren,
And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35w They conceive trouble and bring forth futility;
Their womb prepares deceit.”
Job 16
Job Reproaches His Pitiless Friends
1Then Job answered and said:
2“I have heard many such things;
a Miserable1 comforters are you all!
3Shall 2words of wind have an end?
Or what provokes you that you answer?
4I also could speak as you do,
If your soul were in my soul’s place.
I could heap up words against you,
And bshake my head at you;
5But I would strengthen you with my mouth,
And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.
6“Though I speak, my grief is not relieved;
And if I remain silent, how am I eased?
7But now He has cworn me out;
You dhave made desolate all my company.
8You have shriveled me up,
And it is a ewitness against me;
My leanness rises up against me
And bears witness to my face.
9f He tears me in His wrath, and hates me;
He gnashes at me with His teeth;
g My adversary sharpens His gaze on me.
10They hgape at me with their mouth,
They istrike me reproachfully on the cheek,
They gather together against me.
11God jhas delivered me to the ungodly,
And turned me over to the hands of the wicked.
12I was at ease, but He has kshattered me;
He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces;
He has lset me up for His target,
13His archers surround me.
He pierces my 3heart and does not pity;
He pours out my gall on the ground.
14He breaks me with wound upon wound;
He runs at me like a 4warrior.
15“I have sewn sackcloth over my skin,
And mlaid my 5head in the dust.
16My face is 6flushed from weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
17Although no violence is in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.
18“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And nlet my cry have no resting place!
19Surely even now omy witness is in heaven,
And my evidence is on high.
20My friends scorn me;
My eyes pour out tears to God.
21p Oh, that one might plead for a man with God,
As a man pleads for his 7neighbor!
22For when a few years are finished,
I shall qgo the way of no return.
Job Prays for Relief
Job 17
Job Prays for Relief
1“My spirit is broken,
My days are extinguished,
a The grave is ready for me.
2Are not mockers with me?
And does not my eye 1dwell on their bprovocation?
3“Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.
Who is he who cwill shake hands with me?
4For You have hidden their heart from dunderstanding;
Therefore You will not exalt them.
5He who speaks flattery to his friends,
Even the eyes of his children will efail.
6“But He has made me fa byword of the people,
And I have become one in whose face men spit.
7g My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow,
And all my members are like shadows.
8Upright men are astonished at this,
And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite.
9Yet the righteous will hold to his hway,
And he who has iclean hands will be stronger and stronger.
10“But please, jcome back again, 2all of you,
For I shall not find one wise man among you.
11k My days are past,
My purposes are broken off,
Even the 3thoughts of my heart.
12They change the night into day;
‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness.
13If I wait for the grave as my house,
If I make my bed in the darkness,
14If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
And to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’
15Where then is my lhope?
As for my hope, who can see it?
16Will they go down mto the gates of 4Sheol?
Shall we have nrest together in the dust?”
Job 18
Bildad: The Wicked Are Punished
1Then aBildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2“How long till you put an end to words?
Gain understanding, and afterward we will speak.
3Why are we counted bas beasts,
And regarded as stupid in your sight?
4c You1 who tear yourself in anger,
Shall the earth be forsaken for you?
Or shall the rock be removed from its place?
5“Thed light of the wicked indeed goes out,
And the flame of his fire does not shine.
6The light is dark in his tent,
e And his lamp beside him is put out.
7The steps of his strength are shortened,
And fhis own counsel casts him down.
8For ghe is cast into a net by his own feet,
And he walks into a snare.
9The net takes him by the heel,
And ha snare lays hold of him.
10A noose is hidden for him on the ground,
And a trap for him in the road.
11i Terrors frighten him on every side,
And drive him to his feet.
12His strength is starved,
And jdestruction is ready at his side.
13It devours patches of his skin;
The firstborn of death devours his 2limbs.
14He is uprooted from kthe shelter of his tent,
And they parade him before the king of terrors.
15They dwell in his tent who are none of his;
Brimstone is scattered on his dwelling.
16l His roots are dried out below,
And his branch withers above.
17m The memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name 3among the renowned.
184 He is driven from light into darkness,
And chased out of the world.
19n He has neither son nor posterity among his people,
Nor any remaining in his dwellings.
20Those 5in the west are astonished oat his day,
As those 6in the east are frightened.
21Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who pdoes not know God.”
Job 19
Job Trusts in His Redeemer
1Then Job answered and said:
2“How long will you torment my soul,
And break me in pieces with words?
3These ten times you have 1reproached me;
You are not ashamed that you 2have wronged me.
4And if indeed I have erred,
My error remains with me.
5If indeed you aexalt yourselves against me,
And plead my disgrace against me,
6Know then that bGod has wronged me,
And has surrounded me with His net.
7“If I cry out concerning 3wrong, I am not heard.
If I cry aloud, there is no justice.
8c He has 4fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass;
And He has set darkness in my paths.
9d He has stripped me of my glory,
And taken the crown from my head.
10He breaks me down on every side,
And I am gone;
My ehope He has uprooted like a tree.
11He has also kindled His wrath against me,
And fHe counts me as one of His enemies.
12His troops come together
And build up their road against me;
They encamp all around my tent.
13“Heg has removed my brothers far from me,
And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14My relatives have failed,
And my close friends have forgotten me.
15Those who dwell in my house, and my maidservants,
Count me as a stranger;
I am an alien in their sight.
16I call my servant, but he gives no answer;
I beg him with my mouth.
17My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am 5repulsive to the children of my own body.
18Even hyoung children despise me;
I arise, and they speak against me.
19i All my close friends abhor me,
And those whom I love have turned against me.
20j My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh,
And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21“Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
For the hand of God has struck me!
22Why do you kpersecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23“Oh, that my words were written!
Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
24That they were engraved on a rock
With an iron pen and lead, forever!
25For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
26And after my skin is 6destroyed, this I know,
That lin my flesh I shall see God,
27Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my 7heart yearns within me!
28If you should say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’—
Since the root of the matter is found in me,
29Be afraid of the sword for yourselves;
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
That you may know there is a judgment.”
Job 20
Zophar’s Sermon on the Wicked Man
1Then aZophar the Naamathite answered and said:
2“Therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer,
Because of the turmoil within me.
3I have heard the rebuke 1that reproaches me,
And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.
4“Do you not know this of bold,
Since man was placed on earth,
5c That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a dmoment?
6e Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens,
And his head reaches to the clouds,
7Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8He will fly away flike a dream, and not be found;
Yes, he gwill be chased away like a vision of the night.
9The eye that saw him will see him no more,
Nor will his place behold him anymore.
10His children will seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands will restore his wealth.
11His bones are full of hhis youthful vigor,
i But it will lie down with him in the dust.
12“Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
And he hides it under his tongue,
13Though he spares it and does not forsake it,
But still keeps it in his 2mouth,
14Yet his food in his stomach turns sour;
It becomes cobra venom within him.
15He swallows down riches
And vomits them up again;
God casts them out of his belly.
16He will suck the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue will slay him.
17He will not see jthe streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and cream.
18He will restore that for which he labored,
And will not swallow it down;
From the proceeds of business
He will get no enjoyment.
19For he has 3oppressed and forsaken the poor,
He has violently seized a house which he did not build.
20“Becausek he knows no quietness in his 4heart,
He will not save anything he desires.
21Nothing is left for him to eat;
Therefore his well-being will not last.
22In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;
Every hand of 5misery will come against him.
23When he is about to fill his stomach,
God will cast on him the fury of His wrath,
And will rain it on him while he is eating.
24l He will flee from the iron weapon;
A bronze bow will pierce him through.
25It is drawn, and comes out of the body;
Yes, mthe glittering point comes out of his 6gall.
n Terrors come upon him;
26Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
o An unfanned fire will consume him;
It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.
27The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.
28The increase of his house will depart,
And his goods will flow away in the day of His pwrath.
29q This is the portion from God for a wicked man,
The heritage appointed to him by God.”
Job 21
Job’s Discourse on the Wicked
1Then Job answered and said:
2“Listen carefully to my speech,
And let this be your 1consolation.
3Bear with me that I may speak,
And after I have spoken, keep amocking.
4“As for me, is my complaint against man?
And if it were, why should I not be impatient?
5Look at me and be astonished;
b Put your hand over your mouth.
6Even when I remember I am terrified,
And trembling takes hold of my flesh.
7c Why do the wicked live and become old,
Yes, become mighty in power?
8Their descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.
9Their houses are safe from fear,
d Neither is 2the rod of God upon them.
10Their bull breeds without failure;
Their cow calves ewithout miscarriage.
11They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance.
12They sing to the tambourine and harp,
And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
13They fspend their days in wealth,
And 3in a moment go down to the 4grave.
14g Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us,
For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15h Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And iwhat profit do we have if we pray to Him?’
16Indeed 5their prosperity is not in their hand;
j The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does their destruction come upon them,
The sorrows God kdistributes in His anger?
18l They are like straw before the wind,
And like chaff that a storm 6carries away.
19They say, ‘God 7lays up 8one’s iniquity mfor his children’;
Let Him recompense him, that he may know it.
20Let his eyes see his destruction,
And nlet him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21For what does he care about his household after him,
When the number of his months is cut in half?
22“Cano anyone teach God knowledge,
Since He judges those on high?
23One dies in his full strength,
Being wholly at ease and secure;
24His 9pails are full of milk,
And the marrow of his bones is moist.
25Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul,
Never having eaten with pleasure.
26They plie down alike in the dust,
And worms cover them.
27“Look, I know your thoughts,
And the schemes with which you would wrong me.
28For you say,
‘Where is the house of the prince?
And where is 10the tent,
The dwelling place of the wicked?’
29Have you not asked those who travel the road?
And do you not know their signs?
30q For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom;
They shall be brought out on the day of wrath.
31Who condemns his way to his face?
And who repays him for what he has done?
32Yet he shall be brought to the grave,
And a vigil kept over the tomb.
33The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him;
r Everyone shall follow him,
As countless have gone before him.
34How then can you comfort me with empty words,
