May 20 - Job 19-21
Job
1But Job answered by saying2How long will you afflict my soul and wear me down with words3So, ten times you confound me and are not ashamed to oppress me4Now, of course, if I have been ignorant, my ignorance will be with me5But you have risen up against me, and you accuse me to my disgrace6At least now you should understand that God has not afflicted me with a balanced judgment, though he has encompassed me with his scourges7Behold, I will cry out, enduring violence, and no one will hear. I will announce loudly, but there is no one who may judge8He has hemmed in my path, and I cannot pass; he has added darkness to my difficult path9He has plundered me of my glory, and he has stolen the crown from my head10He has destroyed me on every side, and I am lost, and, like an uprooted tree, he has taken away my hope11His fury has raged against me, and in this way he has treated me like his enemy12His troops have gathered together, and they have made their way to me, and they have besieged my tabernacle all around13He has put my brothers far from me, and my friends have withdrawn from me like strangers14My kinsmen have forsaken me, and those who knew me, have forgotten me15The inhabitants of my house and my maidservants treat me just as if I were a stranger, and I have been like a sojourner in their eyes16I called my servant, and he did not respond; I pleaded with him with my own mouth17My wife has shuddered at my breath, and I have begged the sons of my loins18Even the foolish have looked down on me, and, when I withdrew from them, they spoke ill of me19Those who were sometimes my counselors, treat me like an abomination; and he whom I valued the most has turned against me20Since my flesh has been consumed, my bone adheres to my skin, and only my lips have been left around my teeth21Have mercy on me, have compassion on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord has touched me22Why do you pursue me just as God does, and satiate yourselves with my flesh23Who will grant to me that my words may be written down? Who will grant to me that they may be inscribed in a book24with an iron pen and a plate of lead, or else be carved in stone25For I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day I will rise out of the earth26And I will be enveloped again with my skin, and in my flesh I will see my God27It is he whom I myself will see, and he whom my eyes will behold, and no other. This, my hope, has taken rest in my bosom28Why then do you now say: "Let us pursue him, and let us find a basis to speak against him?29So then, flee from the face of the sword, for the sword is the avenger of iniquities; but know this: there is to be a judgment
1Then Zophar the Naamathite answered by saying2In response, various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind moves quickly through different ideas3The teaching you use to admonish me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding will respond for me4This, I know, is from the beginning, from the time that man was set over the earth5that the praise of the impious shall be short, and the joy of the hypocrite lasts only a moment6If his pride ascends even towards the heavens, and his head touches the clouds7in the end, he will be destroyed like a trash heap, and those who had seen him will say: "Where is he?8Like a dream that flies away, he will not be found; he will pass away like a nightmare9The eyes that had seen him, will not see him; no longer will his own place admire him10His sons will be worn away by poverty, and his own hands will deliver his grief to him11His bones will be filled with the vices of his youth, and they will sleep with him in the dust12For, when evil will be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue13He will permit it, and not abandon it, and he will conceal it in his throat14His bread in his belly will be turned into the venom of snakes within him15The riches that he devours, he will vomit up, and from his stomach God will draw them out16He will suck the head of snakes, and the tongue of the viper will kill him17(May he never see the streams of the river, the torrents of honey and butter.18He will be repaid for all he has done, yet he will not be consumed; according to the multitude of his schemes, so also will he suffer19For, having broken in, he stripped the poor. He has quickly stolen away a house he did not build20And yet his stomach will not be satisfied, and when he has the things he desires, he will not be able to possess them21Nothing remained of his portion, and, because of this, nothing will continue of his kind22When he will be satisfied, he will be constrained; he will seethe, and all anguish will fall upon him23May his stomach be filled, so that God may send forth the fury of his wrath to him and may rain down his battle upon him24He will flee from weapons of iron, and he will fall in an arc of brass25which had been drawn and had issued forth from its sheath, glittering in its bitterness: the horrible ones will go forth and approach over him26All darkness has been hidden in his secrecy. A fire that has not been set will devour him; he will be thrown down and forsaken in his tabernacle27The heavens will reveal his sinfulness, and the earth will rise up against him28The offspring of his house will be exposed; he will be pulled down in the day of God’s wrath29This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his words from the Lord
1Then Job responded by saying2I beseech you to hear my words and to do penance3Permit me, and I will speak, and afterwards, if you see fit, you can laugh at my words4Is my dispute against man, so that I would have no reason to be discouraged5Listen to me and be astonished, and place a finger over your mouth6As for me, when I think it over, I am afraid, and trembling convulses my body7Why then do the impious live, having been lifted up and strengthened with riches8They see their offspring continue before them: a commotion of close relatives and of children’s children in their sight9Their houses have been secure and peaceable, and there is no staff of God over them10Their cattle have conceived and have not miscarried; their cow has given birth and is not deprived of her newborn11Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children jump around playfully12They take up the timbrel and the lyre, and they rejoice at the sound of the organ13Their days are prolonged in wealth, yet, in an instant, they descend into hell14Who has said to God, "Depart from us, for we do not want the knowledge of your ways15Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And how is it helpful to us if we pray to him?16It is true that their good things are not in their power. May the counsel of the impious be far from me17How often will the lamp of the wicked be extinguished, and a deluge overtake them, and how often will he distribute the afflictions of his wrath18They will be like chaff before the face of the wind, and like ashes that the whirlwind scatters19God will preserve the grief of the father for his sons, and, when he repays, then he will understand20His eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the wrath of the Almighty21For what does he care what happens to his house after him, or if the number of its months are reduced by half22Can anyone teach holy knowledge to God, who judges the exalted23This one dies strong and healthy, rich and happy24His gut is full of fat and his bones are moistened with marrow25In truth, another dies in bitterness of soul, without any resources26And yet they will sleep together in the dust, and worms will cover them27Surely, I know your thoughts and your sinful judgments against me28For you say, "Where is the house of the ruler, and where are the tabernacles of the impious?29Ask any passerby whom you wish, and you will realize that he understands these same things30that the evil-doer is reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be led to the day of wrath31Who will reprove his way to his face, and who will repay him for what he has done32He will be led to the tomb, and he will remain awake in the chaos of the dead33He has been found acceptable to the banks of the River of Lamentation, and he will draw any man towards him, and there are countless before him34Therefore, how long will you console me in vain, when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth