Job 13
1 Lo, all — hath mine eye seen, Heard hath mine ear, and it attendeth to it.
Lo! all this mine eye hath seen; Mine ear hath heard and understood it.
2 According to your knowledge I have known — also I. I am not fallen more than you.
What ye know, I know also; I am not inferior to you.
3 Yet I for the Mighty One do speak, And to argue for God I delight.
But O that I might speak with the Almighty! O that I might reason with God!
4 And yet, ye [are] forgers of falsehood, Physicians of nought — all of you,
For ye are forgers of lies; Physicians of no value, all of you!
5 O that ye would keep perfectly silent, And it would be to you for wisdom.
O that ye would altogether hold your peace! This, truly, would be wisdom in you.
6 Hear, I pray you, my argument, And to the pleadings of my lips attend,
Hear, I pray you, my arguments; Attend to the pleadings of my lips!
7 For God do ye speak perverseness? And for Him do ye speak deceit?
Will ye speak falsehood for God? Will ye utter deceit for him?
8 His face do ye accept, if for God ye strive?
Will ye be partial to his person? Will ye contend earnestly for God?
9 Is [it] good that He doth search you, If, as one mocketh at a man, ye mock at Him?
Will it be well for you, if he search you thoroughly? Can ye deceive him, as one may deceive a man?
10 He doth surely reprove you, if in secret ye accept faces.
Surely he will rebuke you, If ye secretly have respect to persons.
11 Doth not His excellency terrify you? And His dread fall upon you?
Doth not his majesty make you afraid, And his dread fall upon you?
12 Your remembrances [are] similes of ashes, For high places of clay your heights.
Your maxims are words of dust; Your fortresses are fortresses of clay.
13 Keep silent from me, and I speak, And pass over me doth what?
Hold your peace, and let me speak: And then come upon me what will!
14 Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth? And my soul put in my hand?
Why do I take my flesh in my teeth, And put my life in my hand?
15 Lo, He doth slay me — I wait not! Only, my ways unto His face I argue.
Lo! he slayeth me, and I have no hope! Yet will I justify my ways before him.
16 Also — He [is] to me for salvation, For the profane cometh not before Him.
This also shall be my deliverance; For no unrighteous man will come before him.
17 Hear ye diligently my word, And my declaration with your ears.
Hear attentively my words, And give ear to my declaration!
18 Lo, I pray you, I have set in order the cause, I have known that I am righteous.
Behold, I have now set in order my cause; I know that I am innocent.
19 Who [is] he that doth strive with me? For now I keep silent and gasp.
Who is he that can contend with me? For then would I hold my peace, and die!
20 Only two things, O God, do with me: Then from Thy face I am not hidden.
Only do not unto me two things, Then will I not hide myself from thy presence;
21 Thy hand put far off from me, And Thy terror let not terrify me.
Let not thy hand be heavy upon me, And let not thy terrors make me afraid:
22 And call Thou, and I — I answer, Or — I speak, and answer Thou me.
Then call upon me, and I will answer; Or I will speak, and answer thou me.
23 How many iniquities and sins have I? My transgression and my sin let me know.
How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me to know my faults and transgressions.
24 Why dost Thou hide Thy face? And reckonest me for an enemy to Thee?
Wherefore dost thou hide thy face, And account me as thine enemy?
25 A leaf driven away dost Thou terrify? And the dry stubble dost Thou pursue?
Wilt thou put in fear the driven leaf? Wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
26 For Thou writest against me bitter things, And causest me to possess iniquities of my youth:
For thou writest bitter things against me, And makest me inherit 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,
Yea, thou puttest my feet in the stocks, And waterest all my paths; Thou hemmest in the soles of my feet.
28 And he, as a rotten thing, weareth away, As a garment hath a moth consumed him.
And I, like an abandoned thing, shall waste away; Like a garment which is moth-eaten.
