Job

Job 13

1 Look — my eye has seen all this,

and my ear has heard it.

2 I know everything you know;

I understand no less than you do.

3 But it is to the Lord that I will speak;

I will argue my case in front of him, if he is willing.

4 You are physicians who deal unjustly,

and every one of you a healer of evils.

5 If only you would keep quiet —

it would turn out to be wisdom in you.

6 Hear the case my mouth argues;

pay attention to the judgment of my lips.

Deceit in Front of the Lord

7 Is it not in front of the Lord that you are speaking,

and in his presence that you are uttering deceit?

8 Or will you back away?

Then be the judges yourselves.

9 It will be a fine thing if he searches you out.

For if you do everything you can to attach yourselves to him,

10 he will convict you just the same;

and if in secret you admire faces,

11 will his terrors not whirl you about,

and fear from him fall on you?

12 Your boasting will turn out to be ashes,

and your body clay.

I Will Speak All the Same

13 Be quiet, and let me speak,

and let my anger have its rest,

14 while I take my own flesh in my teeth

and hold my life in my hand.

15 If the Sovereign lays hands on me — and he has begun already —

I will speak all the same, and argue my case in front of him.

16 And this itself will turn out to be my rescue:

no deceit ever gets in before him.

17 Hear, hear my words;

I will say it out while you are listening.

18 Look, I am close to my judgment;

I know that I will be shown righteous.

19 For who is there to go to court with me?

Then I would fall silent at once and let my life go out.

Two Things, and I Will Not Hide

20 Grant me two things, and then I will not hide from your face:

21 keep your hand away from me,

and do not let the fear of you strike me down.

22 Then call, and I will answer you;

or speak, and I will give you a reply.

23 How many are my sins and my lawless deeds?

Teach me what they are.

24 Why do you hide yourself from me,

and count me as your enemy?

25 Will you shy away from me as from a leaf shaken by the wind,

or set yourself against me as against grass carried off on the breeze?

26 For you have written down evil things against me,

and hung the sins of my youth around me.

27 You have put my foot in the stocks,

you have kept watch on everything I do,

and you have come down to the roots of my feet —

28 to a thing that wears out like a wineskin, or like a garment the moths have eaten.