Job 17-20

17¹ "My spirit is crushed, and my life is nearly snuffed out. The grave is ready to receive me. ² I am surrounded by mockers. I watch how bitterly they taunt me. ³ "You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me. ⁴ You have closed their minds to understanding, but do not let them triumph. ⁵ They betray their friends for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger. ⁶ "God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face. ⁷ My eyes are swollen with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self. ⁸ The virtuous are horrified when they see me. The innocent rise up against the ungodly. ⁹ The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.

¹⁰ "As for all of you, come back with a better argument, though I still won't find a wise man among you. ¹¹ My days are over. My hopes have disappeared. My heart's desires are broken. ¹² These men say that night is day; they claim that the darkness is light. ¹³ What if I go to the grave and make my bed in darkness? ¹⁴ What if I call the grave my father, and the maggot my mother or my sister? ¹⁵ Where then is my hope? Can anyone find it? ¹⁶ No, my hope will go down with me to the grave. We will rest together in the dust!"

Bildad Describes the Fate of the Wicked

18¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: ² "How long before you stop talking? Speak sense if you want us to answer! ³ Do you think we are mere animals? Do you think we are stupid? ⁴ You may tear out your hair in anger, but will that destroy the earth? Will it make the rocks tremble?

⁵ "Surely the light of the wicked will be snuffed out. The sparks of their fire will not glow. ⁶ The light in their tent will grow dark. The lamp hanging above them will be quenched. ⁷ The confident stride of the wicked will be shortened. Their own schemes will be their downfall. ⁸ The wicked walk into a net. They fall into a pit. ⁹ A trap grabs them by the heel. A snare holds them tight. ¹⁰ A noose lies hidden on the ground. A rope is stretched across their path.

¹¹ "Terrors surround the wicked and trouble them at every step. ¹² Hunger depletes their strength, and calamity waits for them to stumble. ¹³ Disease eats their skin; death devours their limbs. ¹⁴ They are torn from the security of their homes and are brought down to the king of terrors. ¹⁵ The homes of the wicked will burn down; burning sulfur rains on their houses. ¹⁶ Their roots will dry up, and their branches will wither. ¹⁷ All memory of their existence will fade from the earth; no one will remember their names. ¹⁸ They will be thrust from light into darkness, driven from the world. ¹⁹ They will have neither children nor grandchildren, nor any survivor in the place where they lived. ²⁰ People in the west are appalled at their fate; people in the east are horrified. ²¹ They will say, 'This was the home of a wicked person, the place of one who rejected God.'"

Job's Faith That God Will Vindicate Him

19¹ Then Job spoke again: ² "How long will you torture me? How long will you try to crush me with your words? ³ You have already insulted me ten times. You should be ashamed of treating me so badly. ⁴ Even if I have sinned, that is my concern, not yours. ⁵ You think you're better than I am, using my humiliation as evidence of my sin. ⁶ But it is God who has wronged me, capturing me in his net. ⁷ "I cry out, 'Help!' but no one answers me. I protest, but there is no justice.

⁸ God has blocked my way so I cannot move. He has plunged my path into darkness. ⁹ He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head. ¹⁰ He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished. He has uprooted my hope like a fallen tree. ¹¹ His fury burns against me; he counts me as an enemy. ¹² His troops advance. They build up roads to attack me. They camp all around my tent. ¹³ "My relatives stay far away, and my friends have turned against me. ¹⁴ My family is gone, and my close friends have forgotten me. ¹⁵ My servants and maids consider me a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them. ¹⁶ When I call my servant, he doesn't come; I have to plead with him! ¹⁷ My breath is repulsive to my wife. I am rejected by my own family. ¹⁸ Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me. ¹⁹ My close friends detest me. Those I loved have turned against me. ²⁰ I have been reduced to skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth. ²¹ "Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for the hand of God has struck me. ²² Must you also persecute me, like God does? Haven't you chewed me up enough?

²³ "Oh, that my words could be recorded. Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument, ²⁴ carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock. ²⁵ "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. ²⁶ And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! ²⁷ I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought! ²⁸ "How dare you go on persecuting me, saying, 'It's his own fault'? ²⁹ You should fear punishment yourselves, for your attitude deserves punishment. Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment."

Zophar Depicts the Portion of the Wicked

20¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: ² "I must reply because I am greatly disturbed. ³ I've had to endure your insults, but now my spirit prompts me to reply. ⁴ "Don't you realize that from the beginning of time, ever since people were first placed on the earth, ⁵ the triumph of the wicked has been short lived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary? ⁶ Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens and their heads touch the clouds, ⁷ yet they will vanish forever, thrown away like their own dung. Those who knew them will ask, 'Where are they?' ⁸ They will fade like a dream and not be found. They will vanish like a vision in the night. ⁹ Those who once saw them will see them no more. Their families will never see them again.

¹⁰ Their children will beg from the poor, for they must give back their stolen riches. ¹¹ Though they are young, their bones will lie in the dust. ¹² "They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness, letting it melt under their tongue. ¹³ They savored it, holding it long in their mouths. ¹⁴ But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour, a poisonous venom in their stomach. ¹⁵ They will vomit the wealth they swallowed. God won't let them keep it down. ¹⁶ They will suck the poison of cobras. The viper will kill them. ¹⁷ They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey. ¹⁸ They will give back everything they worked for. Their wealth will bring them no joy. ¹⁹ For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute. They foreclosed on their homes. ²⁰ They were always greedy and never satisfied. Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about. ²¹ Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves. Therefore, their prosperity will not endure. ²² "In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble and be overcome by misery.

²³ May God give them a bellyful of trouble. May God rain down his anger upon them. ²⁴ When they try to escape an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them. ²⁵ The arrow is pulled from their back, and the arrowhead glistens with blood. The terrors of death are upon them. ²⁶ Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness. A wildfire will devour their goods, consuming all they have left. ²⁷ The heavens will reveal their guilt, and the earth will testify against them. ²⁸ A flood will sweep away their house. God's anger will descend on them in torrents. ²⁹ This is the reward that God gives the wicked. It is the inheritance decreed by God."