Author: admin

Don’t Blame Fate When Things Go Wrong

1-7 “Call for help, Job, if you think anyone will answer!

To which of the holy angels will you turn?

The hot temper of a fool eventually kills him,

the jealous anger of a simpleton does her in.

I’ve seen it myself—seen fools putting down roots,

and then, suddenly, their houses are cursed.

Their children out in the cold, abused and exploited,

with no one to stick up for them.

Hungry people off the street plunder their harvests,

cleaning them out completely, taking thorns and all,

insatiable for everything they have.

Don’t blame fate when things go wrong—

trouble doesn’t come from nowhere.

It’s human! Mortals are born and bred for trouble,

as certainly as sparks fly upward.

What a Blessing When God Corrects You!

8-16 “If I were in your shoes, I’d go straight to God,

I’d throw myself on the mercy of God.

After all, he’s famous for great and unexpected acts;

there’s no end to his surprises.

He gives rain, for instance, across the wide earth,

sends water to irrigate the fields.

He raises up the down-and-out,

gives firm footing to those sinking in grief.

He aborts the schemes of conniving crooks,

so that none of their plots come to term.

He catches the know-it-alls in their conspiracies—

all that intricate intrigue swept out with the trash!

Suddenly they’re disoriented, plunged into darkness;

they can’t see to put one foot in front of the other.

But the downtrodden are saved by God,

saved from the murderous plots, saved from the iron fist.

And so the poor continue to hope,

while injustice is bound and gagged.

17-19 “So, what a blessing when God steps in and corrects you!

Mind you, don’t despise the discipline of Almighty God!

True, he wounds, but he also dresses the wound;

the same hand that hurts you, heals you.

From one disaster after another he delivers you;

no matter what the calamity, the evil can’t touch you—

20-26 “In famine, he’ll keep you from starving,

in war, from being gutted by the sword.

You’ll be protected from vicious gossip

and live fearless through any catastrophe.

You’ll shrug off disaster and famine,

and stroll fearlessly among wild animals.

You’ll be on good terms with rocks and mountains;

wild animals will become your good friends.

You’ll know that your place on earth is safe,

you’ll look over your goods and find nothing amiss.

You’ll see your children grow up,

your family lovely and lissome as orchard grass.

You’ll arrive at your grave ripe with many good years,

like sheaves of golden grain at harvest.

27 “Yes, this is the way things are—my word of honor!

Take it to heart and you won’t go wrong.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JOB/5-65bd64df3656ecd178aa63465067b5b2.mp3?version_id=97—

God Has Dumped the Works on Me

1-7 Job answered:

“If my misery could be weighed,

if you could pile the whole bitter load on the scales,

It would be heavier than all the sand of the sea!

Is it any wonder that I’m screaming like a caged cat?

The arrows of God Almighty are in me,

poison arrows—and I’m poisoned all through!

God has dumped the whole works on me.

Donkeys bray and cows moo when they run out of pasture—

so don’t expect me to keep quiet in this.

Do you see what God has dished out for me?

It’s enough to turn anyone’s stomach!

Everything in me is repulsed by it—

it makes me sick.

Pressed Past the Limits

8-13 “All I want is an answer to one prayer,

a last request to be honored:

Let God step on me—squash me like a bug,

and be done with me for good.

I’d at least have the satisfaction

of not having blasphemed the Holy God,

before being pressed past the limits.

Where’s the strength to keep my hopes up?

What future do I have to keep me going?

Do you think I have nerves of steel?

Do you think I’m made of iron?

Do you think I can pull myself up by my bootstraps?

Why, I don’t even have any boots!

My So-Called Friends

14-23 “When desperate people give up on God Almighty,

their friends, at least, should stick with them.

But my brothers are fickle as a gulch in the desert—

one day they’re gushing with water

From melting ice and snow

cascading out of the mountains,

But by midsummer they’re dry,

gullies baked dry in the sun.

Travelers who spot them and go out of their way for a drink

end up in a waterless gulch and die of thirst.

Merchant caravans from Tema see them and expect water,

tourists from Sheba hope for a cool drink.

They arrive so confident—but what a disappointment!

They get there, and their faces fall!

And you, my so-called friends, are no better—

there’s nothing to you!

One look at a hard scene and you shrink in fear.

It’s not as though I asked you for anything—

I didn’t ask you for one red cent—

Nor did I beg you to go out on a limb for me.

So why all this dodging and shuffling?

24-27 “Confront me with the truth and I’ll shut up,

show me where I’ve gone off the track.

Honest words never hurt anyone,

but what’s the point of all this pious bluster?

You pretend to tell me what’s wrong with my life,

but treat my words of anguish as so much hot air.

Are people mere things to you?

Are friends just items of profit and loss?

28-30 “Look me in the eyes!

Do you think I’d lie to your face?

Think it over—no double-talk!

Think carefully—my integrity is on the line!

Can you detect anything false in what I say?

Don’t you trust me to discern good from evil?”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JOB/6-e8992c0639c198adf5558a83b18e6e16.mp3?version_id=97—

There’s Nothing to My Life

1-6 “Human life is a struggle, isn’t it?

It’s a life sentence to hard labor.

Like field hands longing for quitting time

and working stiffs with nothing to hope for but payday,

I’m given a life that meanders and goes nowhere—

months of aimlessness, nights of misery!

I go to bed and think, ‘How long till I can get up?’

I toss and turn as the night drags on—and I’m fed up!

I’m covered with maggots and scabs.

My skin gets scaly and hard, then oozes with pus.

My days come and go swifter than the click of knitting needles,

and then the yarn runs out—an unfinished life!

7-10 “God, don’t forget that I’m only a puff of air!

These eyes have had their last look at goodness.

And your eyes have seen the last of me;

even while you’re looking, there’ll be nothing left to look at.

When a cloud evaporates, it’s gone for good;

those who go to the grave never come back.

They don’t return to visit their families;

never again will friends drop in for coffee.

11-16 “And so I’m not keeping one bit of this quiet,

I’m laying it all out on the table;

my complaining to high heaven is bitter, but honest.

Are you going to put a muzzle on me,

the way you quiet the sea and still the storm?

If I say, ‘I’m going to bed, then I’ll feel better.

A little nap will lift my spirits,’

You come and so scare me with nightmares

and frighten me with ghosts

That I’d rather strangle in the bedclothes

than face this kind of life any longer.

I hate this life! Who needs any more of this?

Let me alone! There’s nothing to my life—it’s nothing

but smoke.

17-21 “What are mortals anyway, that you bother with them,

that you even give them the time of day?

That you check up on them every morning,

looking in on them to see how they’re doing?

Let up on me, will you?

Can’t you even let me spit in peace?

Even suppose I’d sinned—how would that hurt you?

You’re responsible for every human being.

Don’t you have better things to do than pick on me?

Why make a federal case out of me?

Why don’t you just forgive my sins

and start me off with a clean slate?

The way things are going, I’ll soon be dead.

You’ll look high and low, but I won’t be around.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JOB/7-30afd4cbd51bd3ded91486297361c970.mp3?version_id=97—

Does God Mess Up?

1-7 Bildad from Shuhah was next to speak:

“How can you keep on talking like this?

You’re talking nonsense, and noisy nonsense at that.

Does God mess up?

Does God Almighty ever get things backward?

It’s plain that your children sinned against him—

otherwise, why would God have punished them?

Here’s what you must do—and don’t put it off any longer:

Get down on your knees before God Almighty.

If you’re as innocent and upright as you say,

it’s not too late—he’ll come running;

he’ll set everything right again, reestablish your fortunes.

Even though you’re not much right now,

you’ll end up better than ever.

To Hang Your Life from One Thin Thread

8-19 “Put the question to our ancestors,

study what they learned from their ancestors.

For we’re newcomers at this, with a lot to learn,

and not too long to learn it.

So why not let the ancients teach you, tell you what’s what,

instruct you in what they knew from experience?

Can mighty pine trees grow tall without soil?

Can luscious tomatoes flourish without water?

Blossoming flowers look great before they’re cut or picked,

but without soil or water they wither more quickly than grass.

That’s what happens to all who forget God—

all their hopes come to nothing.

They hang their life from one thin thread,

they hitch their fate to a spider web.

One jiggle and the thread breaks,

one jab and the web collapses.

Or they’re like weeds springing up in the sunshine,

invading the garden,

Spreading everywhere, overtaking the flowers,

getting a foothold even in the rocks.

But when the gardener rips them out by the roots,

the garden doesn’t miss them one bit.

The sooner the godless are gone, the better;

then good plants can grow in their place.

20-22 “There’s no way that God will reject a good person,

and there is no way he’ll help a bad one.

God will let you laugh again;

you’ll raise the roof with shouts of joy,

With your enemies thoroughly discredited,

their house of cards collapsed.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JOB/8-025187c24103c73ac30f42f911a7e5cb.mp3?version_id=97—

How Can Mere Mortals Get Right with God?

1-13 Job continued by saying:

“So what’s new? I know all this.

The question is, ‘How can mere mortals get right with God?’

If we wanted to bring our case before him,

what chance would we have? Not one in a thousand!

God’s wisdom is so deep, God’s power so immense,

who could take him on and come out in one piece?

He moves mountains before they know what’s happened,

flips them on their heads on a whim.

He gives the earth a good shaking up,

rocks it down to its very foundations.

He tells the sun, ‘Don’t shine,’ and it doesn’t;

he pulls the blinds on the stars.

All by himself he stretches out the heavens

and strides on the waves of the sea.

He designed the Big Dipper and Orion,

the Pleiades and Alpha Centauri.

We’ll never comprehend all the great things he does;

his miracle-surprises can’t be counted.

Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don’t see him;

quietly but surely he’s active, and I miss it.

If he steals you blind, who can stop him?

Who’s going to say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’

God doesn’t hold back on his anger;

even dragon-bred monsters cringe before him.

14-20 “So how could I ever argue with him,

construct a defense that would influence God?

Even though I’m innocent I could never prove it;

I can only throw myself on the Judge’s mercy.

If I called on God and he himself answered me,

then, and only then, would I believe that he’d heard me.

As it is, he knocks me about from pillar to post,

beating me up, black-and-blue, for no good reason.

He won’t even let me catch my breath,

piles bitterness upon bitterness.

If it’s a question of who’s stronger, he wins, hands down!

If it’s a question of justice, who’ll serve him the subpoena?

Even though innocent, anything I say incriminates me;

blameless as I am, my defense just makes me sound worse.

If God’s Not Responsible, Who Is?

21-24 “Believe me, I’m blameless.

I don’t understand what’s going on.

I hate my life!

Since either way it ends up the same, I can only conclude

that God destroys the good right along with the bad.

When calamity hits and brings sudden death,

he folds his arms, aloof from the despair of the innocent.

He lets the wicked take over running the world,

he installs judges who can’t tell right from wrong.

If he’s not responsible, who is?

25-31 “My time is short—what’s left of my life races off

too fast for me to even glimpse the good.

My life is going fast, like a ship under full sail,

like an eagle plummeting to its prey.

Even if I say, ‘I’ll put all this behind me,

I’ll look on the bright side and force a smile,’

All these troubles would still be like grit in my gut

since it’s clear you’re not going to let up.

The verdict has already been handed down—‘Guilty!’—

so what’s the use of protests or appeals?

Even if I scrub myself all over

and wash myself with the strongest soap I can find,

It wouldn’t last—you’d push me into a pigpen, or worse,

so nobody could stand me for the stink.

32-35 “God and I are not equals; I can’t bring a case against him.

We’ll never enter a courtroom as peers.

How I wish we had an arbitrator

to step in and let me get on with life—

To break God’s death grip on me,

to free me from this terror so I could breathe again.

Then I’d speak up and state my case boldly.

As things stand, there is no way I can do it.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JOB/9-4840df67b051b357fd695d5cbc514299.mp3?version_id=97—

To Find Some Skeleton in My Closet

1 “I can’t stand my life—I hate it!

I’m putting it all out on the table,

all the bitterness of my life—I’m holding back nothing.”

2-7 Job prayed:

“Here’s what I want to say:

Don’t, God, bring in a verdict of guilty

without letting me know the charges you’re bringing.

How does this fit into what you once called ‘good’—

giving me a hard time, spurning me,

a life you shaped by your very own hands,

and then blessing the plots of the wicked?

You don’t look at things the way we mortals do.

You’re not taken in by appearances, are you?

Unlike us, you’re not working against a deadline.

You have all eternity to work things out.

So what’s this all about, anyway—this compulsion

to dig up some dirt, to find some skeleton in my closet?

You know good and well I’m not guilty.

You also know no one can help me.

8-12 “You made me like a handcrafted piece of pottery—

and now are you going to smash me to pieces?

Don’t you remember how beautifully you worked my clay?

Will you reduce me now to a mud pie?

Oh, that marvel of conception as you stirred together

semen and ovum—

What a miracle of skin and bone,

muscle and brain!

You gave me life itself, and incredible love.

You watched and guarded every breath I took.

13-17 “But you never told me about this part.

I should have known that there was more to it—

That if I so much as missed a step, you’d notice and pounce,

wouldn’t let me get by with a thing.

If I’m truly guilty, I’m doomed.

But if I’m innocent, it’s no better—I’m still doomed.

My belly is full of bitterness.

I’m up to my ears in a swamp of affliction.

I try to make the best of it, try to brave it out,

but you’re too much for me,

relentless, like a lion on the prowl.

You line up fresh witnesses against me.

You compound your anger

and pile on the grief and pain!

18-22 “So why did you have me born?

I wish no one had ever laid eyes on me!

I wish I’d never lived—a stillborn,

buried without ever having breathed.

Isn’t it time to call it quits on my life?

Can’t you let up, and let me smile just once

Before I die and am buried,

before I’m nailed into my coffin, sealed in the ground,

And banished for good to the land of the dead,

blind in the final dark?”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JOB/10-aaa0798038d2b6a79055629a55966683.mp3?version_id=97—

How Wisdom Looks from the Inside

1-6 Now it was the turn of Zophar from Naamath:

“What a flood of words! Shouldn’t we put a stop to it?

Should this kind of loose talk be permitted?

Job, do you think you can carry on like this and we’ll say nothing?

That we’ll let you rail and mock and not step in?

You claim, ‘My doctrine is sound

and my conduct impeccable.’

How I wish God would give you a piece of his mind,

tell you what’s what!

I wish he’d show you how wisdom looks from the inside,

for true wisdom is mostly ‘inside.’

But you can be sure of this,

you haven’t gotten half of what you deserve.

7-12 “Do you think you can explain the mystery of God?

Do you think you can diagram God Almighty?

God is far higher than you can imagine,

far deeper than you can comprehend,

Stretching farther than earth’s horizons,

far wider than the endless ocean.

If he happens along, throws you in jail

then hauls you into court, can you do anything about it?

He sees through vain pretensions,

spots evil a long way off—

no one pulls the wool overhiseyes!

Hollow men, hollow women, will wise up

about the same time mules learn to talk.

Reach Out to God

13-20 “Still, if you set your heart on God

and reach out to him,

If you scrub your hands of sin

and refuse to entertain evil in your home,

You’ll be able to face the world unashamed

and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless.

You’ll forget your troubles;

they’ll be like old, faded photographs.

Your world will be washed in sunshine,

every shadow dispersed by dayspring.

Full of hope, you’ll relax, confident again;

you’ll look around, sit back, and take it easy.

Expansive, without a care in the world,

you’ll be hunted out by many for your blessing.

But the wicked will see none of this.

They’re headed down a dead-end road

with nothing to look forward to—nothing.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JOB/11-19a01b66c20ebbd5a950f7ae0459df37.mp3?version_id=97—

Put Your Ear to the Earth

1-3 Job answered:

“I’m sure you speak for all the experts,

and when you die there’ll be no one left to tell us how to live.

But don’t forget that I also have a brain—

I don’t intend to play second fiddle to you.

It doesn’t take an expert to know these things.

4-6 “I’m ridiculed by my friends:

‘So that’s the man who had conversations with God!’

Ridiculed without mercy:

‘Look at the man who never did wrong!’

It’s easy for the well-to-do to point their fingers in blame,

for the well-fixed to pour scorn on the strugglers.

Crooks reside safely in high-security houses,

insolent blasphemers live in luxury;

they’ve bought and paid for a god who’ll protect them.

7-12 “But ask the animals what they think—let them teach you;

let the birds tell you what’s going on.

Put your ear to the earth—learn the basics.

Listen—the fish in the ocean will tell you their stories.

Isn’t it clear that they all know and agree

thatGodis sovereign, that he holds all things in his hand—

Every living soul, yes,

every breathing creature?

Isn’t this all just common sense,

as common as the sense of taste?

Do you think the elderly have a corner on wisdom,

that you have to grow old before you understand life?

From God We Learn How to Live

13-25 “True wisdom and real power belong to God;

from him we learn how to live,

and also what to live for.

If he tears something down, it’s down for good;

if he locks people up, they’re locked up for good.

If he holds back the rain, there’s a drought;

if he lets it loose, there’s a flood.

Strength and success belong to God;

both deceived and deceiver must answer to him.

He strips experts of their vaunted credentials,

exposes judges as witless fools.

He divests kings of their royal garments,

then ties a rag around their waists.

He strips priests of their robes,

and fires high officials from their jobs.

He forces trusted sages to keep silence,

deprives elders of their good sense and wisdom.

He dumps contempt on famous people,

disarms the strong and mighty.

He shines a spotlight into caves of darkness,

hauls deepest darkness into the noonday sun.

He makes nations rise and then fall,

builds up some and abandons others.

He robs world leaders of their reason,

and sends them off into no-man’s-land.

They grope in the dark without a clue,

lurching and staggering like drunks.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JOB/12-8c0d30f41fc0db4fdfa3f6ff11ad21e1.mp3?version_id=97—

I’m Taking My Case to God

1-5 “Yes, I’ve seen all this with my own eyes,

heard and understood it with my very own ears.

Everything you know, I know,

so I’m not taking a backseat to any of you.

I’m taking my case straight to God Almighty;

I’ve had it with you—I’m going directly to God.

You graffiti my life with lies.

You’re a bunch of pompous quacks!

I wish you’d shut your mouths—

silence is your only claim to wisdom.

6-12 “Listen now while I make my case,

consider my side of things for a change.

Or are you going to keep on lying ‘to do God a service’?

to make up stories ‘to get him off the hook’?

Why do you always take his side?

Do you think he needs a lawyer to defend himself?

How would you fare if you were in the dock?

Your lies might convince a jury—but would they

convinceGod?

He’d reprimand you on the spot

if he detected a bias in your witness.

Doesn’t his splendor put you in awe?

Aren’t you afraid to speak cheap lies before him?

Your wise sayings are knickknack wisdom,

good for nothing but gathering dust.

13-19 “So hold your tongue while I have my say,

then I’ll take whatever I have coming to me.

Why do I go out on a limb like this

and take my life in my hands?

Because even if he killed me, I’d keep on hoping.

I’d defend my innocence to the very end.

Just wait, this is going to work out for the best—my salvation!

If I were guilt-stricken do you think I’d be doing this—

laying myself on the line before God?

You’d better pay attention to what I’m telling you,

listen carefully with both ears.

Now that I’ve laid out my defense,

I’m sure that I’ll be acquitted.

Can anyone prove charges against me?

I’ve said my piece. I rest my case.

Why Does God Stay Hidden and Silent?

20-27 “Please, God, I have two requests;

grant them so I’ll know I count with you:

First, lay off the afflictions;

the terror is too much for me.

Second, address me directly so I can answer you,

or let me speak and then you answer me.

How many sins have been charged against me?

Show me the list—how bad is it?

Why do you stay hidden and silent?

Why treat me like I’m your enemy?

Why kick me around like an old tin can?

Why beat a dead horse?

You compile a long list of mean things about me,

even hold me accountable for the sins of my youth.

You hobble me so I can’t move about.

You watch every move I make,

and brand me as a dangerous character.

28 “Like something rotten, human life fast decomposes,

like a moth-eaten shirt or a mildewed blouse.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JOB/13-7cfcffc067d4a975965ca4efad6e4eb2.mp3?version_id=97—

If We Die, Will We Live Again?

1-17 “We’re all adrift in the same boat:

too few days, too many troubles.

We spring up like wildflowers in the desert and then wilt,

transient as the shadow of a cloud.

Do you occupy your time with such fragile wisps?

Why even bother hauling me into court?

There’s nothing much to us to start with;

how do you expect us to amount to anything?

Mortals have a limited life span.

You’ve already decided how long we’ll live—

you set the boundary and no one can cross it.

So why not give us a break? Ease up!

Even ditchdiggers get occasional days off.

For a tree there is always hope.

Chop it down and it still has a chance—

its roots can put out fresh sprouts.

Even if its roots are old and gnarled,

its stump long dormant,

At the first whiff of water it comes to life,

buds and grows like a sapling.

But men and women? They die and stay dead.

They breathe their last, and that’s it.

Like lakes and rivers that have dried up,

parched reminders of what once was,

So mortals lie down and never get up,

never wake up again—never.

Why don’t you just bury me alive,

get me out of the way until your anger cools?

But don’t leave me there!

Set a date when you’ll see me again.

If we humans die, will we live again? That’s my question.

All through these difficult days I keep hoping,

waiting for the final change—for resurrection!

Homesick with longing for the creature you made,

you’ll call—and I’ll answer!

You’ll watch over every step I take,

but you won’t keep track of my missteps.

My sins will be stuffed in a sack

and thrown into the sea—sunk in deep ocean.

18-22 “Meanwhile, mountains wear down

and boulders break up,

Stones wear smooth

and soil erodes,

as you relentlessly grind down our hope.

You’re too much for us.

As always, you get the last word.

We don’t like it and our faces show it,

but you send us off anyway.

If our children do well for themselves, we never know it;

if they do badly, we’re spared the hurt.

Body and soul, that’s it for us—

a lifetime of pain, a lifetime of sorrow.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/85/32k/JOB/14-2daa98d903cc9e5ce577f24d3bddadab.mp3?version_id=97—