Job 13
1 Lo, all — hath mine eye seen, Heard hath mine ear, and it attendeth to it.
Behold, my eye has seen all these things, and my ear has heard, and I have understood each one.
2 According to your knowledge I have known — also I. I am not fallen more than you.
In conformity with your knowledge, I also know. I am not inferior to you.
3 Yet I for the Mighty One do speak, And to argue for God I delight.
Yet I speak this way to the Almighty, and I desire to argue with God,
4 And yet, ye [are] forgers of falsehood, Physicians of nought — all of you,
having first shown that you fabricate lies and cultivate perverse teachings.
5 O that ye would keep perfectly silent, And it would be to you for wisdom.
And I wish that you would remain silent, so that you would be counted among the wise.
6 Hear, I pray you, my argument, And to the pleadings of my lips attend,
Therefore, listen to my correction, and pay attention to the judgment of my lips.
7 For God do ye speak perverseness? And for Him do ye speak deceit?
Does God require your lie, so that you would speak deceitfully for him?
8 His face do ye accept, if for God ye strive?
Have you taken his place, and do you struggle to give judgment in favor of God?
9 Is [it] good that He doth search you, If, as one mocketh at a man, ye mock at Him?
Or, will it please him, from whom nothing can be concealed? Or, will he be deceived, like a man, by your deceitfulness?
10 He doth surely reprove you, if in secret ye accept faces.
He will accuse you because in secret you have preempted his presence.
11 Doth not His excellency terrify you? And His dread fall upon you?
As soon as he moves himself, he will disturb you, and his dread will fall over you.
12 Your remembrances [are] similes of ashes, For high places of clay your heights.
Your remembrance will be compared to ashes, and your necks will be reduced to clay.
13 Keep silent from me, and I speak, And pass over me doth what?
Be silent for a little while, so that I may speak whatever my mind suggests to me.
14 Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth? And my soul put in my hand?
Why do I wound my flesh with my teeth, and carry my soul in my hands?
15 Lo, He doth slay me — I wait not! Only, my ways unto His face I argue.
And now, if he would kill me, I will hope in him; in this, truly, I will correct my ways in his sight.
16 Also — He [is] to me for salvation, For the profane cometh not before Him.
And he will be my savior, for no hypocrite at all will approach in his sight.
17 Hear ye diligently my word, And my declaration with your ears.
Listen to my words, and perceive an enigma with your ears.
18 Lo, I pray you, I have set in order the cause, I have known that I am righteous.
If I will be judged, I know that I will be found to be just.
19 Who [is] he that doth strive with me? For now I keep silent and gasp.
Who is it that will go to judgment with me? Let him approach. Why should I be consumed in silence?
20 Only two things, O God, do with me: Then from Thy face I am not hidden.
Do not do such things to me twice, and then I will not hide from your face.
21 Thy hand put far off from me, And Thy terror let not terrify me.
Take your hand far away from me, and do not let your dread terrify me.
22 And call Thou, and I — I answer, Or — I speak, and answer Thou me.
Call me, and I will answer you, or else I will speak, and you can answer me.
23 How many iniquities and sins have I? My transgression and my sin let me know.
How many iniquities and sins do I have? Reveal my crimes and offenses to me.
24 Why dost Thou hide Thy face? And reckonest me for an enemy to Thee?
Why do you conceal your face and consider me to be your enemy?
25 A leaf driven away dost Thou terrify? And the dry stubble dost Thou pursue?
Against a leaf, which is carried away by the wind, you reveal your power, and you pursue dry straw.
26 For Thou writest against me bitter things, And causest me to possess iniquities of my youth:
For you write bitter things against me, and you want to consume me for the sins of my youth.
27 And puttest in the stocks my feet, And observest all my paths, On the roots of my feet Thou settest a print,
You have put my feet on a tether, and you have observed all my paths, and you have considered the steps of my feet.
28 And he, as a rotten thing, weareth away, As a garment hath a moth consumed him.
I will be left to decay like something rotten and like a garment that is being eaten by moths.
