Listen to My Complaint
Study note
Job asks his friends to truly listen for once. That would be the best comfort they could give him. He says that when he thinks about what he is going to say, even he is afraid and trembles.
1 Then Job replied, But Job answered and said,
2 'Do me a favor: listen truly closely to what I am about to say. Let that be the comfort you offer me.' Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
3 'put up with me long enough to let me talk. After I have had my say, you can go right back to mocking.' Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
4 'My complaint is not aimed at any human being. So why should anyone expect me to be patient?' As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
5 'Take a good look at me and let your jaw drop. Put your hand over your mouth in shock.' Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 'When I stop to think about this, it shakes me to the core. My whole body trembles.' Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
The Wicked Often Prosper
Study note
Job demolishes his friends' argument by pointing to real life. Wicked people often grow old and powerful. Their children are safe. Their homes are free from trouble. Their livestock multiply without fail. Their children dance and play music. They spend their days in wealth and go peacefully to the grave. Yet they tell God, 'Leave us alone! We don't want to know your ways.' Job admits their prosperity is not in their own hands.
7 'Why do wicked people get to live long lives, growing old and more powerful as the years go by?' Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
8 'They get to watch their children grow up safe and sound. Their grandchildren thrive before their eyes.' Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 'Their homes are completely safe with nothing to threaten them. God never uses his rod to punish them.' Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
10 'Their bulls breed successfully every time. Their cows give birth without losing a single calf.' Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
11 'They let their little kids run around and play like a flock of lambs. Their children dance and jump everywhere.' They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
12 'They sing along to tambourines and harps. They have a great time listening to the flute.' They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13 'They coast through their days in comfort and then slip peacefully into the grave.' They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
14 'And yet these are the people who tell God, "Go away! We do not want anything to do with your ways."' Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15 'They say, "Who is the Almighty, anyway, that we should bother serving him? What good does it do us to pray?"' What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
16 'But their prosperity was never truly in their own control. The way wicked people think is something I refuse to adopt.' Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Does God Really Punish the Wicked?
Study note
Job asks how often the lamp of the wicked is really put out. His friends say God stores up punishment for a person's children, but Job says God should punish the person directly so they feel it. One person dies in full strength and comfort, while another dies in bitterness, having never tasted anything good. Yet both lie side by side in the dust. Death makes no distinction.
17 'How often does the lamp of the wicked go out? How often does ruin truly come crashing down on them? How often does God truly hand out punishment in anger?' How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
18 'How often are they blown away like straw in the wind, like bits of chaff that a storm carries off?' They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
19 'You say, "God saves up the punishment and gives it to the wicked person's children instead." Let him punish the person directly so they feel it!' God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
20 'Let them see their own destruction with their own eyes. Let them taste the fury of the Almighty for themselves.' His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 'Why would they care about what happens to their family after they die, once their own time has run out?' For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
22 'But can anyone truly teach God anything? He is the one who sits in judgment over even the highest powers.' Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
23 'One person dies with everything going perfectly. They are totally comfortable and at ease.' One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
24 'Their body is healthy and well-fed. Their bones are full of life.' His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25 'Another person dies with a bitter heart, never having had a single good day.' And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
26 'But both of them end up lying in the same dirt, and worms cover them both equally.' They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
Your Answers Are Empty
Study note
Job knows his friends are thinking of specific wicked people who were destroyed. But he tells them to ask any traveler on the road -- they will confirm that the wicked are often spared in the day of disaster. No one confronts them. They are honored at their funeral. Everyone follows their coffin. Job's conclusion: his friends' comfort is completely empty, and their answers are full of falsehood.
27 'Oh, I can read your minds. I know exactly what you are scheming to say against me.' Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
28 'You are thinking, "So where is the fancy mansion of the powerful man? Where is the grand tent where the wicked person lived?"' For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
29 'Have you never talked to people who have traveled the roads? Do you not believe what they have to say?' Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,
30 'The wicked person is protected on the day disaster strikes. They are carried right past the day of God's fury.' That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
31 'Nobody confronts them about what they have done. Nobody pays them back for their actions.' Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
32 'When they die, they are given a proper burial. Somebody stands guard at their tomb.' Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
33 'The dirt in the valley feels soft and welcoming to them. A great crowd walks behind their coffin, and a countless number goes before them.' The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
34 'So how can your empty words comfort me at all? Every answer you give is packed with lies!' How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?