Parallel Chapters Job Replies: My Complaint is Just | 1Then Job replied: | 1Then Job answered and said: | 1Then Job answered, | 1But Job answered and said, | 1Then Job answered: |
| 2"If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! | 2“Oh that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! | 2"Oh that my grief were actually weighed And laid in the balances together with my calamity! | 2Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! | 2If only my grief could be weighed and my devastation placed with it in the scales. |
| 3It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas-- no wonder my words have been impetuous. | 3For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash. | 3"For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; Therefore my words have been rash. | 3For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up. | 3For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas! That is why my words are rash. |
| 4The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God's terrors are marshaled against me. | 4For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me. | 4"For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, Their poison my spirit drinks; The terrors of God are arrayed against me. | 4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. | 4Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks their poison. God's terrors are arrayed against me. |
| 5Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder? | 5Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass, or the ox low over his fodder? | 5"Does the wild donkey bray over his grass, Or does the ox low over his fodder? | 5Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder? | 5Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass or an ox low over its fodder? |
| 6Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow? | 6Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow? | 6"Can something tasteless be eaten without salt, Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? | 6Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg? | 6Is bland food eaten without salt? Is there flavor in an egg white? |
| 7I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill. | 7My appetite refuses to touch them; they are as food that is loathsome to me. | 7"My soul refuses to touch them; They are like loathsome food to me. | 7The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat. | 7I refuse to touch them; they are like contaminated food. |
| 8"Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, | 8“Oh that I might have my request, and that God would fulfill my hope, | 8"Oh that my request might come to pass, And that God would grant my longing! | 8Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for! | 8If only my request would be granted and God would provide what I hope for: |
| 9that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut off my life! | 9that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! | 9"Would that God were willing to crush me, That He would loose His hand and cut me off! | 9Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off! | 9that He would decide to crush me, to unleash His power and cut me off! |
| 10Then I would still have this consolation-- my joy in unrelenting pain-- that I had not denied the words of the Holy One. | 10This would be my comfort; I would even exult in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One. | 10"But it is still my consolation, And I rejoice in unsparing pain, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One. | 10Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One. | 10It would still bring me comfort, and I would leap for joy in unrelenting pain that I have not denied the words of the Holy One. |
| 11"What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? | 11What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient? | 11"What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should endure? | 11What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life? | 11What strength do I have that I should continue to hope? What is my future, that I should be patient? |
| 12Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? | 12Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? | 12"Is my strength the strength of stones, Or is my flesh bronze? | 12Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass? | 12Is my strength that of stone, or my flesh made of bronze? |
| 13Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me? | 13Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me? | 13"Is it that my help is not within me, And that deliverance is driven from me? | 13Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me? | 13Since I cannot help myself, the hope for success has been banished from me. |
| 14"Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. | 14“He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. | 14"For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; So that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty. | 14To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. | 14A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends, even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty. |
| 15But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow | 15My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed, as torrential streams that pass away, | 15"My brothers have acted deceitfully like a wadi, Like the torrents of wadis which vanish, | 15My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away; | 15My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi, as seasonal streams that overflow |
| 16when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow, | 16which are dark with ice, and where the snow hides itself. | 16Which are turbid because of ice And into which the snow melts. | 16Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid: | 16and become darkened because of ice, and the snow melts into them. |
| 17but that stop flowing in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels. | 17When they melt, they disappear; when it is hot, they vanish from their place. | 17"When they become waterless, they are silent, When it is hot, they vanish from their place. | 17What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. | 17The wadis evaporate in warm weather; they disappear from their channels in hot weather. |
| 18Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go off into the wasteland and perish. | 18The caravans turn aside from their course; they go up into the waste and perish. | 18"The paths of their course wind along, They go up into nothing and perish. | 18The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish. | 18Caravans turn away from their routes, go up into the desert, and perish. |
| 19The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope. | 19The caravans of Tema look, the travelers of Sheba hope. | 19"The caravans of Tema looked, The travelers of Sheba hoped for them. | 19The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them. | 19The caravans of Tema look for these streams. The traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them. |
| 20They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed. | 20They are ashamed because they were confident; they come there and are disappointed. | 20"They were disappointed for they had trusted, They came there and were confounded. | 20They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed. | 20They are ashamed because they had been confident of finding water. When they arrive there, they are frustrated. |
| 21Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid. | 21For you have now become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid. | 21"Indeed, you have now become such, You see a terror and are afraid. | 21For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid. | 21So this is what you have now become to me. When you see something dreadful, you are afraid. |
| 22Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth, | 22Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’? Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’? | 22"Have I said, 'Give me something,' Or, 'Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,' | 22Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance? | 22Have I ever said: "Give me something" or "Pay a bribe for me from your wealth" |
| 23deliver me from the hand of the enemy, rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless'? | 23Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’? Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’? | 23Or, 'Deliver me from the hand of the adversary,' Or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the tyrants '? | 23Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty? | 23or "Deliver me from the enemy's power" or "Redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless"? |
| 24"Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. | 24“Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray. | 24"Teach me, and I will be silent; And show me how I have erred. | 24Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred. | 24Teach me, and I will be silent. Help me understand what I did wrong. |
| 25How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove? | 25How forceful are upright words! But what does reproof from you reprove? | 25"How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove? | 25How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove? | 25How painful honest words can be! But what does your rebuke prove? |
| 26Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat my desperate words as wind? | 26Do you think that you can reprove words, when the speech of a despairing man is wind? | 26"Do you intend to reprove my words, When the words of one in despair belong to the wind? | 26Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind? | 26Do you think that you can disprove my words or that a despairing man's words are mere wind? |
| 27You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend. | 27You would even cast lots over the fatherless, and bargain over your friend. | 27"You would even cast lots for the orphans And barter over your friend. | 27Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend. | 27No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child and negotiate a price to sell your friend. |
| 28"But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? | 28“But now, be pleased to look at me, for I will not lie to your face. | 28"Now please look at me, And see if I lie to your face. | 28Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie. | 28But now, please look at me; would I lie to your face? |
| 29Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. | 29Please turn; let no injustice be done. Turn now; my vindication is at stake. | 29"Desist now, let there be no injustice; Even desist, my righteousness is yet in it. | 29Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it. | 29Reconsider; don't be unjust. Reconsider; my righteousness is still the issue. |
| 30Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice? | 30Is there any injustice on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity? | 30"Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern calamities? | 30Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things? | 30Is there injustice on my tongue or can my palate not taste disaster? |
THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica®. ESV® Text Edition® (2016): The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960 - 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. King James Bible Text courtesy of BibleProtector.comSection Headings Courtesy INT Bible © 2012, Used by Permission.
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