Job 13
1 “Behold, my eye has seen all, My ear has heard, and it attends to it.
Look, I've seen all this with my own eyes, and heard it with my own ears, and I understand it.
2 According to your knowledge I have known—also I. I am not more fallen than you.
I know what you know. You're no better than me.
3 Yet I speak for the Mighty One, And I delight to argue for God.
But I would still like to speak to the Almighty: I want to prove myself to God!
4 And yet, you [are] forgers of falsehood, Physicians of nothing—all of you,
As for you, you cover things up by telling lies! You are all like doctors who can't heal anyone!
5 O that you would keep perfectly silent, And it would be to you for wisdom.
I wish you would all be quiet! That would be the wisest thing for you to do.
6 Please hear my argument, And attend to the pleadings of my lips,
Listen to my argument and pay attention to what I have to say.
7 Do you speak perverseness for God? And do you speak deceit for Him?
Do you think you can tell lies to defend God? Are you talking deceitfully on his behalf?
8 Do you accept His face, if you strive for God?
Or are you wanting to show God favoritism? Are you going to argue God's case for him?
9 Is [it] good that He searches you, If, as one mocks at a man, you mock at Him?
Will you be found to be doing good when God examines you? Can you fool him as if he's a human being?
10 He surely reproves you, if you accept faces in secret.
No, he will definitely rebuke you if you secretly show him favoritism!
11 Does His excellence not terrify you? And His dread fall on you?
Isn't his majesty terrifying to you? Aren't you so afraid of him you're paralyzed?
12 Your remembrances [are] allegories of ashes, For high places of clay [are] your heights.
Your sayings are as helpful as ashes; your arguments as weak as clay.
13 Keep silent from me, and I speak, And pass over me what will.
Be quiet. Don't talk to me. Let me speak, come what may.
14 Why do I take my flesh in my teeth? And my soul put in my hand?
I take responsibility for myself; I am ready to risk my life.
15 Behold, He slays me—I do not wait! Only, I argue my ways to His face.
Even though he kills me, I will hope in him. I am still going to defend my ways before him.
16 Also—He [is] to me for salvation, For the profane do not come before Him.
By doing this I will be saved since no godless person could come before him.
17 Hear my word diligently, And my declaration with your ears.
Listen carefully to what I say, pay attention to my explanation.
18 Now behold, I have set the cause in order, I have known that I am righteous.
Look, I've prepared my case—I know I will be proved right.
19 Who [is] he that strives with me? For now I keep silent and gasp.
Who wants to argue with me? If I'm proved wrong, I'm prepared to be quiet and die.
20 Only two things, O God, do with me, Then I am not hidden from Your face:
God, I have two requests, then I can face you.
21 Put Your hand far off from me, And do not let Your terror terrify me.
Stop beating me, and stop terrifying me.
22 And You call, and I answer, Or—I speak, and You answer me.
Then call, and I will answer. Or let me speak, and then answer me.
23 How many iniquities and sins do I have? Let me know my transgression and my sin.
What are my sins and iniquities? Show me what have I done wrong; how have I rebelled against you?
24 Why do You hide Your face? And reckon me for an enemy to You?
Why are you unfriendly towards me? Why do you treat me as your enemy?
25 Do You terrify a leaf driven away? And do You pursue the dry stubble?
Would you frighten a leaf blown by the wind or hunt down a piece of straw?
26 For You write bitter things against me, And cause me to possess iniquities of my youth,
For you write down bitter things against me and pay me back for the sins 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. You keep an eye on every step I take. You even inspect my footprints!
28 And he, as a rotten thing, wears away, A moth has consumed him as a garment.”
I'm falling apart like something rotten, like moth-eaten clothes.
