The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

  19o My root is spread out pto the waters,

  And the dew lies all night on my branch.

  20My glory is fresh within me,

  And my qbow is renewed in my hand.’

  21“ Men listened to me and waited,

  And kept silence for my counsel.

  22After my words they did not speak again,

  And my speech settled on them as dew.

  23They waited for me as for the rain,

  And they opened their mouth wide as for rthe spring rain.

  24If I mocked at them, they did not believe it,

  And the light of my countenance they did not cast down.

  25I chose the way for them, and sat as chief;

  So I dwelt as a king in the army,

  As one who comforts mourners.

  Job 30

  Job’s Wealth Now Poverty

  1“But now they mock at me, men 1younger than I,

  Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

  2Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me?

  Their vigor has perished.

  3They are gaunt from want and famine,

  Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,

  4Who pluck 2mallow by the bushes,

  And broom tree roots for their food.

  5They were driven out from among men,

  They shouted at them as at a thief.

  6They had to live in the clefts of the 3valleys,

  In 4caves of the earth and the rocks.

  7Among the bushes they brayed,

  Under the nettles they nestled.

  8They were sons of fools,

  Yes, sons of vile men;

  They were scourged from the land.

  9“Anda now I am their taunting song;

  Yes, I am their byword.

  10They abhor me, they keep far from me;

  They do not hesitate bto spit in my face.

  11Because cHe has loosed 5my bowstring and afflicted me,

  They have cast off restraint before me.

  12At my right hand the rabble arises;

  They push away my feet,

  And dthey raise against me their ways of destruction.

  13They break up my path,

  They promote my calamity;

  They have no helper.

  14They come as broad breakers;

  Under the ruinous storm they roll along.

  15Terrors are turned upon me;

  They pursue my honor as the wind,

  And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.

  16“Ande now my soul is fpoured out because of my plight;

  The days of affliction take hold of me.

  17My bones are pierced in me at night,

  And my gnawing pains take no rest.

  18By great force my garment is disfigured;

  It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

  19He has cast me into the mire,

  And I have become like dust and ashes.

  20“I gcry out to You, but You do not answer me;

  I stand up, and You regard me.

  21But You have become cruel to me;

  With the strength of Your hand You hoppose me.

  22You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it;

  You spoil my success.

  23For I know that You will bring me to death,

  And to the house iappointed for all living.

  24“Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins,

  If they cry out when He destroys it.

  25j Have I not wept for him who was in trouble?

  Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

  26k But when I looked for good, evil came to me;

  And when I waited for light, then came darkness.

  276 My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest;

  Days of affliction confront me.

  28l I go about mourning, but not in the sun;

  I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

  29m I am a brother of jackals,

  And a companion of ostriches.

  30n My skin grows black and falls from me;

  o My bones burn with fever.

  31My harp is turned to mourning,

  And my flute to the voice of those who weep.

  Job 31

  Job Defends His Righteousness

  1“I have made a covenant with my eyes;

  Why then should I 1look upon a ayoung woman?

  2For what is the ballotment of God from above,

  And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

  3Is it not destruction for the wicked,

  And disaster for the workers of iniquity?

  4c Does He not see my ways,

  And count all my steps?

  5“If I have walked with falsehood,

  Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,

  62 Let me be weighed on honest scales,

  That God may know my dintegrity.

  7If my step has turned from the way,

  Or emy heart walked after my eyes,

  Or if any spot adheres to my hands,

  8Then flet me sow, and another eat;

  Yes, let my harvest be 3rooted out.

  9“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

  Or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

  10Then let my wife grind for ganother,

  And let others bow down over her.

  11For that would be wickedness;

  Yes, hit would be iniquity deserving of judgment.

  12For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction,

  And would root out all my increase.

  13“If I have idespised the cause of my male or female servant

  When they complained against me,

  14What then shall I do when jGod rises up?

  When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?

  15k Did not He who made me in the womb make them?

  Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

  16“If I have kept the poor from their desire,

  Or caused the eyes of the widow to lfail,

  17Or eaten my morsel by myself,

  So that the fatherless could not eat of it

  18(But from my youth I reared him as a father,

  And from my mother’s womb I guided 4the widow);

  19If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,

  Or any poor man without covering;

  20If his 5heart has not mblessed me,

  And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

  21If I have raised my hand nagainst the fatherless,

  When I saw I had help in the gate;

  22Then let my arm fall from my shoulder,

  Let my arm be torn from the socket.

  23For odestruction from God is a terror to me,

  And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.

  24“Ifp I have made gold my hope,

  Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;

  25q If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,

  And because my hand had gained much;

  26r If I have observed the 6sun when it shines,

  Or the moon moving in brightness,

  27So that my heart has been secretly enticed,

  And my mouth has kissed my hand;

  28This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment,

  For I would have denied God who is above.

  29“Ifs I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,

  Or lifted myself up when evil found him

  30t (Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin

  By asking for a curse on his 7soul);

  31If the men of my tent have not said,

  ‘Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?’

  32u (But no sojourner had to lodge in the street,

  For I have opened my doors to the 8traveler);

  33If I have covered my transgressions vas9 Adam,


  By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

  34Because I feared the great wmultitude,

  And dreaded the contempt of families,

  So that I kept silence

  And did not go out of the door—

  35x Oh, that I had one to hear me!

  Here is my mark.

  Oh, ythat the Almighty would answer me,

  That my 10Prosecutor had written a book!

  36Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,

  And bind it on me like a crown;

  37I would declare to Him the number of my steps;

  Like a prince I would approach Him.

  38“If my land cries out against me,

  And its furrows weep together;

  39If zI have eaten its 11fruit without money,

  Or acaused its owners to lose their lives;

  40Then let bthistles grow instead of wheat,

  And weeds instead of barley.”

  The words of Job are ended.

  Job 32

  Elihu Contradicts Job’s Friends

  1So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was arighteous in his own eyes.

  2Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the bBuzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he cjustified himself rather than God.

  3Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

  4Now because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited 1to speak to Job.

  5When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused.

  6So Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said:

  “I am dyoung in years, and you are very old;

  Therefore I was afraid,

  And dared not declare my opinion to you.

  7I said, 2‘Age should speak,

  And multitude of years should teach wisdom.’

  8But there is a spirit in man,

  And ethe breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.

  9f Great3 men are not always wise,

  Nor do the aged always understand justice.

  10“Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me,

  I also will declare my opinion.’

  11Indeed I waited for your words,

  I listened to your reasonings, while you searched out what to say.

  12I paid close attention to you;

  And surely not one of you convinced Job,

  Or answered his words—

  13g Lest you say,

  ‘We have found wisdom’;

  God will vanquish him, not man.

  14Now he has not 4directed his words against me;

  So I will not answer him with your words.

  15“They are dismayed and answer no more;

  Words escape them.

  16And I have waited, because they did not speak,

  Because they stood still and answered no more.

  17I also will answer my part,

  I too will declare my opinion.

  18For I am full of words;

  The spirit within me compels me.

  19Indeed my 5belly is like wine that has no 6vent;

  It is ready to burst like new wineskins.

  20I will speak, that I may find relief;

  I must open my lips and answer.

  21Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone;

  Nor let me flatter any man.

  22For I do not know how to flatter,

  Else my Maker would soon take me haway.

  Elihu Contradicts Job

  Job 33

  Elihu Contradicts Job

  1“But please, Job, hear my speech,

  And listen to all my words.

  2Now, I open my mouth;

  My tongue speaks in my mouth.

  3My words come from my upright heart;

  My lips utter pure knowledge.

  4a The Spirit of God has made me,

  And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

  5If you can answer me,

  Set your words in order before me;

  Take your stand.

  6b Truly I am 1as your spokesman before God;

  I also have been formed out of clay.

  7c Surely no fear of me will terrify you,

  Nor will my hand be heavy on you.

  8“Surely you have spoken 2in my hearing,

  And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,

  9‘Id am pure, without transgression;

  I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.

  10Yet He finds occasions against me,

  e He counts me as His enemy;

  11f He puts my feet in the stocks,

  He watches all my paths.’

  12“Look, in this you are not righteous.

  I will answer you,

  For God is greater than man.

  13Why do you gcontend with Him?

  For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.

  14h For God may speak in one way, or in another,

  Yet man does not perceive it.

  15i In a dream, in a vision of the night,

  When deep sleep falls upon men,

  While slumbering on their beds,

  16j Then He opens the ears of men,

  And seals their instruction.

  17In order to turn man from his deed,

  And conceal pride from man,

  18He keeps back his soul from the Pit,

  And his life from 3perishing by the sword.

  19“ Man is also chastened with pain on his kbed,

  And with strong pain in many of his bones,

  20l So that his life abhors mbread,

  And his soul 4succulent food.

  21His flesh wastes away from sight,

  And his bones stick out which once were not seen.

  22Yes, his soul draws near the Pit,

  And his life to the executioners.

  23“If there is a messenger for him,

  A mediator, one among a thousand,

  To show man His uprightness,

  24Then He is gracious to him, and says,

  ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit;

  I have found 5a ransom’;

  25His flesh shall be young like a child’s,

  He shall return to the days of his youth.

  26He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him,

  He shall see His face with joy,

  For He restores to man His righteousness.

  27Then he looks at men and nsays,

  ‘I have sinned, and perverted what was right,

  And it odid not profit me.’

  28He will predeem 6his soul from going down to the Pit,

  And his life shall see the light.

  29“Behold, God works all these things,

  Twice, in fact, three times with a man,

  30q To bring back his soul from the Pit,

  That he may be enlightened with the light of life.

  31“Give ear, Job, listen to me;

  Hold your peace, and I will speak.

  32If you have anything to say, answer me;

  Speak, for I desire to justify you.

  33If not, rlisten to me;

  7 Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.”

  Job 34

  Elihu Proclaims God’s Justice

  1Elihu further answered and said:

  2“Hear my words, you wise men;

  Give ear to me, you who have knowledge.

  3a For the ear tests words

  As the palate tastes food.

  4Let us choose justice for ourselves;

  Let us know among ourselves what is good.

  5“For Job has said, b‘I am righteous,

  But cGod has taken away my justice;

  6d Should I lie concerning my right?

  My 1wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

  7What man is like Job,

  e Who drinks 2scorn lik
e water,

  8Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity,

  And walks with wicked men?

  9For fhe has said, ‘It profits a man nothing

  That he should delight in God.’

  10“Therefore listen to me, you 3men of understanding:

  g Far be it from God to do wickedness,

  And from the Almighty to commit iniquity.

  11h For He repays man according to his work,

  And makes man to find a reward according to his way.

  12Surely God will never do wickedly,

  Nor will the Almighty ipervert justice.

  13Who gave Him charge over the earth?

  Or who appointed Him over the whole world?

  14If He should set His heart on it,

  If He should jgather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,

  15k All flesh would perish together,

  And man would return to dust.

  16“If you have understanding, hear this;

  Listen to the sound of my words:

  17l Should one who hates justice govern?

  Will you mcondemn Him who is most just?

  18n Is it fitting to say to a king, ‘You are worthless,’

  And to nobles, ‘You are wicked’?

  19Yet He ois not partial to princes,

  Nor does He regard the rich more than the poor;

  For pthey are all the work of His hands.

  20In a moment they die, qin the middle of the night;

  The people are shaken and pass away;

  The mighty are taken away without a hand.

  21“Forr His eyes are on the ways of man,

  And He sees all his steps.

  22s There is no darkness nor shadow of death

  Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

  23For He need not further consider a man,

  That he should go before God in judgment.

  24t He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry,

  And sets others in their place.

  25Therefore He knows their works;

  He overthrows them in the night,

  And they are crushed.

  26He strikes them as wicked men

  In the open sight of others,

  27Because they uturned back from Him,

  And vwould not consider any of His ways,

  28So that they wcaused the cry of the poor to come to Him;

  For He xhears the cry of the afflicted.

  29When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble?

  And when He hides His face, who then can see Him,

  Whether it is against a nation or a man alone?—

  30That the hypocrite should not reign,

  Lest the people be ensnared.

  31“For has anyone said to God,

  ‘I have borne chastening;

  I will offend no more;