Job 13
1 “Behold, my eye has seen all, My ear has heard, and it attends to it.
“Indeed, my eyes have seen all this; my ears have heard and understood.
2 According to your knowledge I have known—also I. I am not more fallen than you.
What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.
3 Yet I speak for the Mighty One, And I delight to argue for God.
Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.
4 And yet, you [are] forgers of falsehood, Physicians of nothing—all of you,
You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.
5 O that you would keep perfectly silent, And it would be to you for wisdom.
If only you would remain silent; for that would be your wisdom!
6 Please hear my argument, And attend to the pleadings of my lips,
Hear now my argument, and listen to the plea of my lips.
7 Do you speak perverseness for God? And do you speak deceit for Him?
Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf or speak deceitfully for Him?
8 Do you accept His face, if you strive for God?
Would you show Him partiality or argue in His defense?
9 Is [it] good that He searches you, If, as one mocks at a man, you mock at Him?
Would it be well when He examined you? Could you deceive Him like a man?
10 He surely reproves you, if you accept faces in secret.
Surely He would rebuke you if you secretly showed partiality.
11 Does His excellence not terrify you? And His dread fall on you?
Would His majesty not terrify you? Would the dread of Him not fall upon you?
12 Your remembrances [are] allegories of ashes, For high places of clay [are] your heights.
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.
13 Keep silent from me, and I speak, And pass over me what will.
Be silent, and I will speak. Then let come to me what may.
14 Why do I take my flesh in my teeth? And my soul put in my hand?
Why do I put myself at risk and take my life in my own hands?
15 Behold, He slays me—I do not wait! Only, I argue my ways to His face.
Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.
16 Also—He [is] to me for salvation, For the profane do not come before Him.
Moreover, this will be my salvation, for no godless man can appear before Him.
17 Hear my word diligently, And my declaration with your ears.
Listen carefully to my words; let my declaration ring in your ears.
18 Now behold, I have set the cause in order, I have known that I am righteous.
Behold, now that I have prepared my case, I know that I will be vindicated.
19 Who [is] he that strives with me? For now I keep silent and gasp.
Can anyone indict me? If so, I will be silent and die.
20 Only two things, O God, do with me, Then I am not hidden from Your face:
Only grant these two things to me, so that I need not hide from You:
21 Put Your hand far off from me, And do not let Your terror terrify me.
Withdraw Your hand from me, and do not let Your terror frighten me.
22 And You call, and I answer, Or—I speak, and You answer me.
Then call me, and I will answer, or let me speak, and You can reply.
23 How many iniquities and sins do I have? Let me know my transgression and my sin.
How many are my iniquities and sins? Reveal to me my transgression and sin.
24 Why do You hide Your face? And reckon me for an enemy to You?
Why do You hide Your face and consider me as Your enemy?
25 Do You terrify a leaf driven away? And do You pursue the dry stubble?
Would You frighten a windblown leaf? Would You chase after dry chaff?
26 For You write bitter things against me, And cause me to possess iniquities of my youth,
For You record bitter accusations against me and bequeath to me the iniquities of my youth.
27 And you put my feet in the stocks, And observe all my paths—You set a print on the roots of my feet,
You put my feet in the stocks and stand watch over all my paths; You set a limit for the soles of my feet.
28 And he, as a rotten thing, wears away, A moth has consumed him as a garment.”
So man wastes away like something rotten, like a moth-eaten garment.
