Job 13-15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 13
1 All this my eye has seen;
my ear has heard and perceived it.
2 What you know, I also know;(A)
I do not fall short of you.
3 But I would speak with the Almighty;(B)
I want to argue with God.
4 But you gloss over falsehoods,
you are worthless physicians, every one of you!
5 Oh, that you would be altogether silent;
that for you would be wisdom!
6 Hear now my argument
and listen to the accusations from my lips.
7 Is it for God that you speak falsehood?
Is it for him that you utter deceit?
8 Is it for him that you show partiality?
Do you make accusations on behalf of God?
9 Will it be well when he shall search you out?
Can you deceive him as you do a mere human being?
10 He will openly rebuke you
if in secret you show partiality.
11 Surely his majesty will frighten you
and dread of him fall upon you.
12 Your reminders are ashy maxims,
your fabrications mounds of clay.
13 Be silent! Let me alone that I may speak,
no matter what happens to me.
14 I will carry my flesh between my teeth,
and take my life in my hand.[a]
15 Slay me though he might,(C) I will wait for him;[b]
I will defend my conduct before him.
16 This shall be my salvation:
no impious man can come into his presence.
17 Pay close attention to my speech,
give my statement a hearing.
18 Behold, I have prepared my case,(D)
I know that I am in the right.
19 If anyone can make a case against me,
then I shall be silent and expire.
20 Two things only do not use against me,[c]
then from your presence I need not hide:
21 Withdraw your hand far from me,
do not let the terror of you frighten me.
22 Then call me, and I will respond;
or let me speak first, and answer me.
23 What are my faults and my sins?
My misdeed, my sin make known to me!
24 Why do you hide your face
and consider me your enemy?[d](E)
25 Will you harass a wind-driven leaf
or pursue a withered straw?
26 For you draw up bitter indictments against me,
and punish in me the faults of my youth.
27 You put my feet in the stocks;
you watch all my paths
and trace out all my footsteps,
28 Though I wear out like a leather bottle,
like a garment the moth has consumed.
Chapter 14
1 Man born of woman
is short-lived and full of trouble,[e](F)
2 Like a flower that springs up and fades,(G)
swift as a shadow that does not abide.
3 Upon such a one will you set your eyes,
bringing me into judgment before you?
4 Can anyone make the unclean clean?(H)
No one can.
5 Since his days are determined—
you know the number of his months;
you have fixed the limit which he cannot pass—
6 Look away from him and let him be,
while, like a hireling, he completes his day.
7 For a tree there is hope;
if it is cut down, it will sprout again,
its tender shoots will not cease.
8 Even though its root grow old in the earth
and its stump die in the dust,
9 Yet at the first whiff of water it sprouts
and puts forth branches like a young plant.
10 But when a man dies, all vigor leaves him;(I)
when a mortal expires, where then is he?
11 As when the waters of a lake fail,
or a stream shrivels and dries up,
12 So mortals lie down, never to rise.
Until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake,
nor be roused out of their sleep.(J)
13 Oh, that you would hide me in Sheol,
shelter me till your wrath is past,
fix a time to remember me!
14 If a man were to die, and live again,
all the days of my drudgery I would wait(K)
for my relief to come.
15 You would call, and I would answer you;
you would long for the work of your hands.
16 Surely then you would count my steps,(L)
and not keep watch for sin in me.
17 My misdeeds would be sealed up in a pouch,[f]
and you would cover over my guilt.
18 Mountains fall and crumble,
rocks move from their place,
19 And water wears away stone,
and floods wash away the soil of the land—
so you destroy the hope of mortals!
20 You prevail once for all against them and they pass on;
you dismiss them with changed appearance.
21 If their children are honored, they are not aware of it;
or if disgraced, they do not know about them.
22 Only for themselves, their pain;
only for themselves, their mourning.
III. Second Cycle of Speeches
Chapter 15
Second Speech of Eliphaz. 1 [g]Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 Does a wise man answer with windy opinions,
or puff himself up with the east wind?
3 Does he argue in speech that does not avail,
and in words that are to no profit?
4 You in fact do away with piety,
you lessen devotion toward God,
5 Because your wickedness instructs your mouth,
and you choose to speak like the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I;(M)
your own lips refute you.
7 Were you the first to be born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you listen in on God’s council(N)
and restrict wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know,(O)
or understand that we do not?
10 There are gray-haired old men among us,
more advanced in years than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God not enough for you,
and speech that deals gently with you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
13 So that you turn your anger against God
and let such words escape your mouth!
14 How can any mortal be blameless,(P)
anyone born of woman be righteous?(Q)
15 If in his holy ones God places no confidence,(R)
and if the heavens are not without blame in his sight,
16 How much less so is the abominable and corrupt:
people who drink in iniquity like water!
17 I will show you, if you listen to me;
what I have seen I will tell—
18 What the wise relate
and have not contradicted since the days of their ancestors,
19 To whom alone the land was given,
when no foreigner moved among them:
20 The wicked is in torment all his days,
and limited years are in store for the ruthless;
21 The sound of terrors is in his ears;
when all is prosperous, a spoiler comes upon him.
22 He despairs of escaping the darkness,
and looks ever for the sword;
23 A wanderer, food for vultures,
he knows destruction is imminent.
24 A day of darkness fills him with dread;
distress and anguish overpower him,
like a king expecting an attack.
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God
and arrogantly challenged the Almighty,
26 Rushing defiantly against him,
with the stout bosses of his shields.
27 Although he has covered his face with his crassness,
padded his loins with blubber,
28 He shall dwell in ruined cities,
in houses that are deserted,
crumbling into rubble.
29 He shall not be rich, his possessions shall not endure;
his property shall not spread over the land.
30 A flame shall sear his early growth,
and with the wind his blossoms shall disappear.
31 Let him not trust in his height, misled,
even though his height be like the palm tree.[h]
32 He shall wither before his time,
his branches no longer green.
33 He shall be like a vine that sheds its grapes unripened,
like an olive tree casting off its blossom.
34 For the breed of the impious shall be sterile,(S)
and fire shall consume the tents of extortioners.
35 They conceive malice, bring forth deceit,(T)
give birth to fraud.[i]
Footnotes
- 13:14 The second half of the verse is a common biblical expression for risking one’s life; cf. Jgs 12:3; 1 Sm 19:5; 28:21; Ps 119:109; the first half of the verse must have a similar meaning. Job is so confident of his innocence that he is willing to risk his life by going to judgment with God.
- 13:15 Many translations adopt the Ketib reading, “I have no hope.”
- 13:20 In 13:20–14:22, Job directs his address to God; cf. 7:8–21; 9:28–10:22. His three friends never do this.
- 13:24 The Hebrew word for “enemy” (‘oyeb) is very close to the Hebrew form of Job’s name (‘iyyob). The play on the word implies that God has confused the two.
- 14:1 The sorrowful lament of Job is that God should relent in view of the limited life of human beings. When compared to plant life, which dies but can revive, the death of human beings is final. Job’s wild and “unthinkable” wish in vv. 13–17 is a bold stroke of imagination and desire: if only in Sheol he were protected till God would remember him! Were he to live again (v. 14), things would be different, but alas, God destroys “the hope of mortals” (v. 19).
- 14:17 Sealed up in a pouch: hidden away and forgotten.
- 15:1 The tone of Eliphaz’s speech is now much rougher. In vv. 7–9 he ridicules Job’s knowledge with a sarcastic question about whether he was a member of the divine council before creation and thus had unique wisdom (according to Prv 8:22–31, only Woman Wisdom existed before creation). Verses 20–35 are a typical description of the fate of the wicked.
- 15:31 The translation is uncertain.
- 15:35 The plans of the wicked yield nothing but futile results. Cf. Ps 7:15; Is 59:4.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.