The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  And the chambers of the south;

  10h He does great things past finding out,

  Yes, wonders without number.

  11i If He goes by me, I do not see Him;

  If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;

  12j If He takes away, 5who can hinder Him?

  Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

  13God will not withdraw His anger,

  k The allies of 6the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.

  14“How then can I answer Him,

  And choose my words to reason with Him?

  15l For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him;

  I would beg mercy of my Judge.

  16If I called and He answered me,

  I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.

  17For He crushes me with a tempest,

  And multiplies my wounds mwithout cause.

  18He will not allow me to catch my breath,

  But fills me with bitterness.

  19If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong;

  And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?

  20Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;

  Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.

  21“I am blameless, yet I do not know myself;

  I despise my life.

  22It is all one thing;

  Therefore I say, n‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’

  23If the scourge slays suddenly,

  He laughs at the plight of the innocent.

  24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.

  He covers the faces of its judges.

  If it is not He, who else could it be?

  25“Now omy days are swifter than a runner;

  They flee away, they see no good.

  26They pass by like 7swift ships,

  p Like an eagle swooping on its prey.

  27q If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,

  I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’

  28r I am afraid of all my sufferings;

  I know that You swill not hold me innocent.

  29If I am condemned,

  Why then do I labor in vain?

  30t If I wash myself with snow water,

  And cleanse my hands with 8soap,

  31Yet You will plunge me into the pit,

  And my own clothes will 9abhor me.

  32“For uHe is not a man, as I am,

  That I may answer Him,

  And that we should go to court together.

  33v Nor is there any mediator between us,

  Who may lay his hand on us both.

  34w Let Him take His rod away from me,

  And do not let dread of Him terrify me.

  35Then I would speak and not fear Him,

  But it is not so with me.

  Job: I Would Plead with God

  Job 10

  Job Pleads Further with God

  1“My asoul loathes my life;

  I will 1give free course to my complaint,

  b I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

  2I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;

  Show me why You contend with me.

  3Does it seem good to You that You should oppress,

  That You should despise the work of Your hands,

  And smile on the counsel of the wicked?

  4Do You have eyes of flesh?

  Or cdo You see as man sees?

  5Are Your days like the days of a mortal man?

  Are Your years like the days of a mighty man,

  6That You should seek for my iniquity

  And search out my sin,

  7Although You know that I am not wicked,

  And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

  8‘Yourd hands have made me and fashioned me,

  An intricate unity;

  Yet You would edestroy me.

  9Remember, I pray, fthat You have made me like clay.

  And will You turn me into dust again?

  10g Did You not pour me out like milk,

  And curdle me like cheese,

  11Clothe me with skin and flesh,

  And knit me together with bones and sinews?

  12You have granted me life and favor,

  And Your care has preserved my spirit.

  13‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart;

  I know that this was with You:

  14If I sin, then hYou mark me,

  And will not acquit me of my iniquity.

  15If I am wicked, iwoe to me;

  j Even if I am righteous, I 2cannot lift up my head.

  I am full of disgrace;

  k See my misery!

  16If my head is exalted,

  l You hunt me like a fierce lion,

  And again You show Yourself awesome against me.

  17You renew Your witnesses against me,

  And increase Your indignation toward me;

  Changes and war are ever with me.

  18‘Whym then have You brought me out of the womb?

  Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!

  19I would have been as though I had not been.

  I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.

  20n Are not my days few?

  Cease! oLeave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,

  21Before I go to the place from which I shall not return,

  p To the land of darkness qand the shadow of death,

  22A land as dark as darkness itself,

  As the shadow of death, without any order,

  Where even the light is like darkness.’ ”

  Job 11

  Zophar Urges Job to Repent

  1Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

  2“Should not the multitude of words be answered?

  And should 1a man full of talk be vindicated?

  3Should your empty talk make men 2hold their peace?

  And when you mock, should no one rebuke you?

  4For you have said,

  a‘My doctrine is pure,

  And I am clean in your eyes.’

  5But oh, that God would speak,

  And open His lips against you,

  6That He would show you the secrets of wisdom!

  For they would double your prudence.

  Know therefore that bGod 3exacts from you

  Less than your iniquity deserves.

  7“Canc you search out the deep things of God?

  Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?

  8They are higher than heaven—what can you do?

  Deeper than 4Sheol—what can you know?

  9Their measure is longer than the earth

  And broader than the sea.

  10“Ifd He passes by, imprisons, and gathers to judgment,

  Then who can 5hinder Him?

  11For eHe knows deceitful men;

  He sees wickedness also.

  Will He not then consider it?

  12For an fempty-headed man will be wise,

  When a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.

  13“If you would gprepare your heart,

  And hstretch out your hands toward Him;

  14If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away,

  And iwould not let wickedness dwell in your tents;

  15j Then surely you could lift up your face without spot;

  Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear;

  16Because you would kforget your misery,

  And remember it as waters that have passed away,

  17And your life lwould be brighter than noonday.

  Though you were dark, you would be like the morning.

  18And you would be secure, because there is hope;

  Yes, you would dig around you, and mtake your rest in safety.

  19You would also lie down, and no one would make you afraid;

  Yes, many would court your favor.

  20But nthe eyes of
the wicked will fail,

  And they shall not escape,

  And otheir hope—6loss of life!”

  Job 12

  Job Answers His Critics

  1Then Job answered and said:

  2“No doubt you are the people,

  And wisdom will die with you!

  3But I have 1understanding as well as you;

  I am not ainferior to you.

  Indeed, who does not know such things as these?

  4“Ib am one mocked by his friends,

  Who ccalled on God, and He answered him,

  The just and blameless who is ridiculed.

  5A 2lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease;

  It is made ready for dthose whose feet slip.

  6e The tents of robbers prosper,

  And those who provoke God are secure—

  In what God provides by His hand.

  7“But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

  And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

  8Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;

  And the fish of the sea will explain to you.

  9Who among all these does not know

  That the hand of the LORD has done this,

  10f In whose hand is the 3life of every living thing,

  And the gbreath of 4all mankind?

  11Does not the ear test words

  And the 5mouth taste its food?

  12Wisdom is with aged men,

  And with 6length of days, understanding.

  13“With Him are hwisdom and strength,

  He has counsel and understanding.

  14If iHe breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt;

  If He imprisons a man, there can be no release.

  15If He jwithholds the waters, they dry up;

  If He ksends them out, they overwhelm the earth.

  16With Him are strength and prudence.

  The deceived and the deceiver are His.

  17He leads counselors away plundered,

  And makes fools of the judges.

  18He loosens the bonds of kings,

  And binds their waist with a belt.

  19He leads 7princes away plundered,

  And overthrows the mighty.

  20l He deprives the trusted ones of speech,

  And takes away the discernment of the elders.

  21m He pours contempt on princes,

  And 8disarms the mighty.

  22He nuncovers deep things out of darkness,

  And brings the shadow of death to light.

  23o He makes nations great, and destroys them;

  He 9enlarges nations, and guides them.

  24He takes away the 10understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth,

  And pmakes them wander in a pathless wilderness.

  25q They grope in the dark without light,

  And He makes them rstagger like a drunken man.

  Job 13

  Job Defends Himself

  1“Behold, my eye has seen all this,

  My ear has heard and understood it.

  2a What you know, I also know;

  I am not inferior to you.

  3b But I would speak to the Almighty,

  And I desire to reason with God.

  4But you forgers of lies,

  c You are all worthless physicians.

  5Oh, that you would be silent,

  And dit would be your wisdom!

  6Now hear my reasoning,

  And heed the pleadings of my lips.

  7e Will you speak 1wickedly for God,

  And talk deceitfully for Him?

  8Will you show partiality for Him?

  Will you contend for God?

  9Will it be well when He searches you out?

  Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man?

  10He will surely rebuke you

  If you secretly show partiality.

  11Will not His 2excellence make you afraid,

  And the dread of Him fall upon you?

  12Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes,

  Your defenses are defenses of clay.

  13“Hold3 your peace with me, and let me speak,

  Then let come on me what may!

  14Why fdo I take my flesh in my teeth,

  And put my life in my hands?

  15g Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

  h Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.

  16He also shall be my salvation,

  For a ihypocrite could not come before Him.

  17Listen carefully to my speech,

  And to my declaration with your ears.

  18See now, I have prepared my case,

  I know that I shall be jvindicated.

  19k Who is he who will contend with me?

  If now I hold my tongue, I perish.

  Job’s Despondent Prayer

  20“Onlyl two things do not do to me,

  Then I will not hide myself from You:

  21m Withdraw Your hand far from me,

  And let not the dread of You make me afraid.

  22Then call, and I will nanswer;

  Or let me speak, then You respond to me.

  23How many are my iniquities and sins?

  Make me know my transgression and my sin.

  24o Why do You hide Your face,

  And pregard me as Your enemy?

  25q Will You frighten a leaf driven to and fro?

  And will You pursue dry stubble?

  26For You write bitter things against me,

  And rmake me inherit the iniquities of my youth.

  27s You put my feet in the stocks,

  And watch closely all my paths.

  You 4set a limit for the 5soles of my feet.

  28“ Man6 decays like a rotten thing,

  Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

  Job 14

  Job Speaks of Life’s Woes

  1“Man who is born of woman

  Is of few days and afull of 1trouble.

  2b He comes forth like a flower and fades away;

  He flees like a shadow and does not continue.

  3And cdo You open Your eyes on such a one,

  And dbring 2me to judgment with Yourself?

  4Who ecan bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

  No one!

  5f Since his days are determined,

  The number of his months is with You;

  You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

  6g Look away from him that he may 3rest,

  Till hlike a hired man he finishes his day.

  7“For there is hope for a tree,

  If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,

  And that its tender shoots will not cease.

  8Though its root may grow old in the earth,

  And its stump may die in the ground,

  9Yet at the scent of water it will bud

  And bring forth branches like a plant.

  10But man dies and 4is laid away;

  Indeed he 5breathes his last

  And where is ihe?

  11As water disappears from the sea,

  And a river becomes parched and dries up,

  12So man lies down and does not rise.

  j Till the heavens are no more,

  They will not awake

  Nor be roused from their sleep.

  13“Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,

  That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,

  That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

  14If a man dies, shall he live again?

  All the days of my hard service kI will wait,

  Till my change comes.

  15l You shall call, and I will answer You;

  You shall desire the work of Your hands.

  16For now mYou number my steps,

  But do not watch over my sin.

  17n My transgression is sealed up in a bag,

  And You 6cover my iniquity.

  18“But as a
mountain falls and crumbles away,

  And as a rock is moved from its place;

  19As water wears away stones,

  And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

  So You destroy the hope of man.

  20You prevail forever against him, and he passes on;

  You change his countenance and send him away.

  21His sons come to honor, and ohe does not know it;

  They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.

  22But his flesh will be in pain over it,

  And his soul will mourn over it.”

  Job 15

  Eliphaz Accuses Job of Folly

  1Then aEliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

  2“Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge,

  And fill 1himself with the east wind?

  3Should he reason with unprofitable talk,

  Or by speeches with which he can do no good?

  4Yes, you cast off fear,

  And restrain 2prayer before God.

  5For your iniquity teaches your mouth,

  And you choose the tongue of the crafty.

  6b Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;

  Yes, your own lips testify against you.

  7“ Are you the first man who was born?

  c Or were you made before the hills?

  8d Have you heard the counsel of God?

  Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

  9e What do you know that we do not know?

  What do you understand that is not in us?

  10f Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,

  Much older than your father.

  11Are the consolations of God too small for you,

  And the word spoken 3gently with you?

  12Why does your heart carry you away,

  And 4what do your eyes wink at,

  13That you turn your spirit against God,

  And let such words go out of your mouth?

  14“Whatg is man, that he could be pure?

  And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?

  15h If God puts no trust in His saints,

  And the heavens are not pure in His sight,

  16i How much less man, who is abominable and filthy,

  j Who drinks iniquity like water!

  17“I will tell you, hear me;

  What I have seen I will declare,

  18What wise men have told,

  Not hiding anything received kfrom their fathers,

  19To whom alone the 5land was given,

  And lno alien passed among them:

  20The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,

  m And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.

  216 Dreadful sounds are in his ears;

  n In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.

  22He does not believe that he will oreturn from darkness,