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Job 29; Job 30; Job 31
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Job 29
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Job continued his poems and said,
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"If only my life could be like it used to be, in the days when God watched over me,
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when he made his lamp shine on my head, when I walked through the dark in his light.
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If only I were in the prime of my life [again], when God was an adviser in my tent.
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When the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
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my steps were bathed in buttermilk, and the rocks poured streams of olive oil on me.
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When I went through the city gate and took my seat in the town square,
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young men saw me and kept out of sight. Old men stood up straight out of respect [for me].
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Princes held back [their] words and put their hands over their mouths.
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The voices of nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
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"[Any] ears that heard me blessed me. [Any] eyes that saw me spoke well of me,
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because I rescued the poor who called [for help] and the orphans who had no one to help them.
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I received a blessing from the dying. I made the widow's heart sing for joy.
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I put on righteousness, and it was my clothing. I practiced justice, and it was my robe and my turban.
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I was eyes for the blind person. I was feet for the lame person.
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I was father to the needy. I carefully investigated cases brought by strangers.
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I broke the teeth of the wicked person and made him drop the prey out of his mouth.
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"I thought, 'I may die in my own house, but I will make my days as numerous as the sand.
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My roots will grow toward the water, and dew will lie on my branches all night.
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My power will be fresh [every day], and the bow in my hand will remain new.'
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"People listened to me eagerly, quietly waiting for my advice.
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After I had spoken, they wouldn't speak again. After all, my words fell gently on them.
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They were as eager to hear me as they were for rain. They opened their mouths wide as if waiting for a spring shower.
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When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it, but the expression on my face did not change.
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I decided how they should live. I sat as their leader. I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Job 30
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"But now those who are younger than I am laugh at me. I didn't think their fathers were fit to sit with the dogs of my flock.
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Of what use to me was the strength of their hands? Their strength is gone.
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Shriveled up from need and hunger, they gnaw at the dry and barren ground during the night.
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They pick saltwort from the underbrush, and the roots of the broom plant are their food.
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They are driven from the community. People shout at them in the same way they shout at thieves.
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They have to live in dry riverbeds, in holes in the ground, and among rocks.
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They howl in bushes and huddle together under thornbushes.
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Godless fools and worthless people are forced out of the land with whips.
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"And now they make fun of me with songs. I have become a joke to them.
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Since they consider me disgusting, they keep their distance from me and don't hesitate to spit in my face.
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Because God has untied my cord and has made me suffer, they are no longer restrained in my presence.
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They have attacked me on my right side like a mob. They trip my feet and then prepare ways to destroy me.
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Yes, they remove all traces of my path in order to destroy me. No one is there to help me against them.
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They come through a wide hole [in the wall]. They crawl through the ruins.
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Terrors are directed toward me. They blow away my dignity like the wind. My prosperity vanishes like a cloud.
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"Now my life is pouring out of me. Days of suffering seize me.
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At night God pierces my bones. My body doesn't rest.
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With great strength he grabs my clothes. He seizes me by the collar of my robe.
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He throws me into the dirt so that I become like dust and ashes.
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"I call to you for help, but you don't answer me. I stand up, but you just look at me.
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You have begun to treat me cruelly. With your mighty hand you assault me.
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You pick me up and let the wind carry me away. You toss me around with a storm.
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I know you will lead me to death, to the dwelling place appointed for all living beings.
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"But God doesn't stretch out his hand against one who is ruined when that person calls for help in his disaster.
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Didn't I cry for the person whose days were difficult? Didn't my soul grieve for the poor?
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When I waited for good, evil came. When I looked for light, darkness came.
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My insides are churning and won't calm down. Days of misery are ahead of me.
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I walk in the dark without the sun. I stand up in public and call for help.
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I'm a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.
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My skin turns dark and peels. My body burns with fever.
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So my lyre is used for mourning and my flute for loud weeping.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Job 31
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"I have made an agreement with my eyes. Then how can I look with lust at a virgin?
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What would God above do [to me]? What would be my inheritance from the Almighty on high?
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Aren't there catastrophes for wicked people and disasters for those who do wrong?
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Doesn't he see my ways and count all my steps?
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"If I have walked with lies or my feet have run after deception,
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[then] let God weigh me on honest scales, and he will know I have integrity.
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"If my steps have left the [proper] path, or my heart has followed [the desire of] my eyes, or my hands are stained [with sin],
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[then] let someone else eat what I have planted, and let my crops be uprooted.
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"If I have been seduced by a woman or I have secretly waited near my neighbor's door,
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[then] let my wife grind for another [man], and let other [men] kneel over her.
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That would be a scandal, and that would be a criminal offense.
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It would be a fire that burns even in Abaddon. It would uproot my entire harvest.
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"If I have abused the rights of my servants, male or female, when they have disagreed with me,
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then what could I do if God rises up? If he examines me, how could I answer him?
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Didn't he who made me in my mother's belly make them? Didn't the same God form us in the womb?
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"If I have refused the requests of the poor or made a widow's eyes stop [looking for help],
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or have eaten my food alone without letting the orphan eat any of it....
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(From my youth the orphan grew up with me as though I were his father, and from my birth I treated the widow kindly.)
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If I have seen anyone die because he had no clothes or a poor person going naked....
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(If his body didn't bless me, or the wool from my sheep didn't keep him warm....)
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If I have shaken my fist at an orphan because I knew that others would back me up in court,
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[then] let my shoulder fall out of its socket, and let my arm be broken at the elbow.
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"A disaster from God terrifies me. In the presence of his majesty I can do nothing.
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"If I put my confidence in gold or said to fine gold, 'I trust you'....
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If I enjoyed being very rich because my hand had found great [wealth]....
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If I saw the light shine or the moon move along in its splendor
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so that my heart was secretly tempted, and I threw them a kiss with my hand,
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then that, too, would be a criminal offense, and I would have denied God above.
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"If I enjoyed the ruin of my enemy or celebrated when harm came to him
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(even though I didn't speak sinfully by calling down a curse on his life)....
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"If the people who were in my tent had said, 'We wish we had never filled [our stomachs] with his food'....
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(The visitor never spent the night outside, because I opened my door to the traveler.)
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"If I have covered my disobedience like Adam and kept my sin to myself,
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because I dreaded the large, noisy crowd and because the contempt of the [local] mobs terrified me so that I kept quiet and didn't go outside....
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"If only I had someone who would listen to me! Look, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me. Let the prosecutor write [his complaint] on a scroll.
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I would certainly carry it on my shoulder and place it on my head like a crown.
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I would tell him the number of my steps and approach him like a prince.
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"If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept ....
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If I have eaten its produce without paying for it and made its owners breathe their last,
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[then] let it grow thistles instead of wheat, and foul-smelling weeds instead of barley." This is the end of Job's words.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.