New International Version NIV
Good News Translation GNT
1 “Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
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Call out, Job. See if anyone answers. Is there any angel to whom you can turn?
2 Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
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To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.
3 I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
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I have seen fools who looked secure, but I called down a sudden curse on their homes.
4 His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
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Their children can never find safety; no one stands up to defend them in court.
5 The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
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Hungry people will eat the fool's crops - even the grain growing among thorns - and thirsty people will envy his wealth.
6 For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
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Evil does not grow in the soil, nor does trouble grow out of the ground.
7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
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No indeed! We bring trouble on ourselves, as surely as sparks fly up from a fire.
8 “But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.
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If I were you, I would turn to God and present my case to him.
9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
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We cannot understand the great things he does, and to his miracles there is no end.
10 He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside.
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He sends rain on the land and he waters the fields.
11 The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
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Yes, it is God who raises the humble and gives joy to all who mourn.
12 He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
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He upsets the plans of cunning people, and traps the wise in their own schemes, so that nothing they do succeeds;
13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
14 Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.
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even at noon they grope in darkness.
15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
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But God saves the poor from death; he saves the needy from oppression.
16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
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He gives hope to the poor and silences the wicked.
17 “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
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Happy is the person whom God corrects! Do not resent it when he rebukes you.
18 For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.
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God bandages the wounds he makes; his hand hurts you, and his hand heals.
19 From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you.
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Time after time he will save you from harm;
20 In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
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when famine comes, he will keep you alive, and in war protect you from death.
21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes.
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God will rescue you from slander; he will save you when destruction comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals.
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You will laugh at violence and hunger and not be afraid of wild animals.
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
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The fields you plow will be free of rocks; wild animals will never attack you.
24 You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
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Then you will live at peace in your tent; when you look at your sheep, you will find them safe.
25 You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
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You will have as many children as there are blades of grass in a pasture.
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season.
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Like wheat that ripens till harvest time, you will live to a ripe old age.
27 “We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself.”
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Job, we have learned this by long study. It is true, so now accept it.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.