The Message (MSG)

1-2 “My spirit is broken,

my days used up,

my grave dug and waiting.

See how these mockers close in on me?

How long do I have to put up with their insolence?

3-5 “O God, pledge your support for me.

Give it to me in writing, with your signature.

You’re the only one who can do it!

These people are so useless!

You know firsthand how stupid they can be.

You wouldn’t let them have the last word, would you?

Those who betray their own friends

leave a legacy of abuse to their children.

6-8 “God, you’ve made me the talk of the town—

people spit in my face;

I can hardly see from crying so much;

I’m nothing but skin and bones.

Decent people can’t believe what they’re seeing;

the good-hearted wake up and insist I’ve given up on God.

9 “But principled people hold tight, keep a firm grip on life,

sure that their clean, pure hands will get stronger and stronger!

10-16 “Maybe you’d all like to start over,

to try it again, the bunch of you.

So far I haven’t come across one scrap

of wisdom in anything you’ve said.

My life’s about over. All my plans are smashed,

all my hopes are snuffed out—

My hope that night would turn into day,

my hope that dawn was about to break.

If all I have to look forward to is a home in the graveyard,

if my only hope for comfort is a well-built coffin,

If a family reunion means going six feet under,

and the only family that shows up is worms,

Do you call that hope?

Who on earth could find any hope in that?

No. If hope and I are to be buried together,

I suppose you’ll all come to the double funeral!”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/JOB/17-4c68aff40be70347bad15023da13fae5.mp3?version_id=97—

Plunged from Light into Darkness

1-4 Bildad from Shuhah chimed in:

“How monotonous these word games are getting!

Get serious! We need to get down to business.

Why do you treat your friends like slow-witted animals?

You look down on us as if we don’t know anything.

Why are you working yourself up like this?

Do you want the world redesigned to suit you?

Should reality be suspended to accommodate you?

5-21 “Here’s the rule: The light of the wicked is put out.

Their flame dies down and is extinguished.

Their house goes dark—

every lamp in the place goes out.

Their strong strides weaken, falter;

they stumble into their own traps.

They get all tangled up

in their own red tape,

Their feet are grabbed and caught,

their necks in a noose.

They trip on ropes they’ve hidden,

and fall into pits they’ve dug themselves.

Terrors come at them from all sides.

They run helter-skelter.

The hungry grave is ready

to gobble them up for supper,

To lay them out for a gourmet meal,

a treat for ravenous Death.

They are snatched from their home sweet home

and marched straight to the death house.

Their lives go up in smoke;

acid rain soaks their ruins.

Their roots rot

and their branches wither.

They’ll never again be remembered—

nameless in unmarked graves.

They are plunged from light into darkness,

banished from the world.

And they leave empty-handed—not one single child—

nothing to show for their life on this earth.

Westerners are aghast at their fate,

easterners are horrified:

‘Oh no! So this is what happens to perverse people.

This is how the God-ignorant end up!’”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/JOB/18-d1dc9858ecbe40f041787b40f0228ec2.mp3?version_id=97—

I Call for Help and No One Bothers

1-6 Job answered:

“How long are you going to keep battering away at me,

pounding me with these harangues?

Time after time after time you jump all over me.

Do you have no conscience, abusing me like this?

Even if I have, somehow or other, gotten off the track,

what business is that of yours?

Why do you insist on putting me down,

using my troubles as a stick to beat me?

Tell it to God—he’s the one behind all this,

he’s the one who dragged me into this mess.

7-12 “Look at me—I shout ‘Murder!’ and I’m ignored;

I call for help and no one bothers to stop.

God threw a barricade across my path—I’m stymied;

he turned out all the lights—I’m stuck in the dark.

He destroyed my reputation,

robbed me of all self-respect.

He tore me apart piece by piece—I’m ruined!

Then he yanked out hope by the roots.

He’s angry with me—oh, how he’s angry!

He treats me like his worst enemy.

He has launched a major campaign against me,

using every weapon he can think of,

coming at me from all sides at once.

I Know That God Lives

13-20 “God alienated my family from me;

everyone who knows me avoids me.

My relatives and friends have all left;

houseguests forget I ever existed.

The servant girls treat me like a bum off the street,

look at me like they’ve never seen me before.

I call my attendant and he ignores me,

ignores me even though I plead with him.

My wife can’t stand to be around me anymore.

I’m repulsive to my family.

Even street urchins despise me;

when I come out, they taunt and jeer.

Everyone I’ve ever been close to abhors me;

my dearest loved ones reject me.

I’m nothing but a bag of bones;

my life hangs by a thread.

21-22 “Oh, friends, dear friends, take pity on me.

God has come down hard on me!

Do you have to be hard on me, too?

Don’t you ever tire of abusing me?

23-27 “If only my words were written in a book—

better yet, chiseled in stone!

Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—

and eventually he’ll take his stand on earth.

And I’ll see him—even though I get skinned alive!—

see God myself, with my very own eyes.

Oh, how I long for that day!

28-29 “If you’re thinking, ‘How can we get through to him,

get him to see that his trouble is all his own fault?’

Forget it. Start worrying aboutyourselves.

Worry about your own sins and God’s coming judgment,

for judgment is most certainly on the way.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/JOB/19-33fb32bbd63832cd335382bcc83f279b.mp3?version_id=97—

Savoring Evil as a Delicacy

1-3 Zophar from Naamath again took his turn:

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing!

You’ve put my teeth on edge, my stomach in a knot.

How dare you insult my intelligence like this!

Well, here’s a piece of my mind!

4-11 “Don’t you even know the basics,

how things have been since the earliest days,

when Adam and Eve were first placed on earth?

The good times of the wicked are short-lived;

godless joy is only momentary.

The evil might become world famous,

strutting at the head of the celebrity parade,

But still end up in a pile of dung.

Acquaintances look at them with disgust and say, ‘What’s that?’

They fly off like a dream that can’t be remembered,

like a shadowy illusion that vanishes in the light.

Though once notorious public figures, now they’re nobodies,

unnoticed, whether they come or go.

Their children will go begging on skid row,

and they’ll have to give back their ill-gotten gain.

Right in the prime of life,

and youthful and vigorous, they’ll die.

12-19 “They savor evil as a delicacy,

roll it around on their tongues,

Prolong the flavor, a dalliance in decadence—

real gourmets of evil!

But then they get stomach cramps,

a bad case of food poisoning.

They gag on all that rich food;

God makes them vomit it up.

They gorge on evil, make a diet of that poison—

a deadly diet—and it kills them.

No quiet picnics for them beside gentle streams

with fresh-baked bread and cheese, and tall, cool drinks.

They spit out their food half-chewed,

unable to relax and enjoy anything they’ve worked for.

And why? Because they exploited the poor,

took what never belonged to them.

20-29 “Such God-denying people are never content with what they have

or who they are;

their greed drives them relentlessly.

They plunder everything

but they can’t hold on to any of it.

Just when they think they have it all, disaster strikes;

they’re served up a plate full of misery.

When they’ve filled their bellies with that,

God gives them a taste of his anger,

and they get to chew on that for a while.

As they run for their lives from one disaster,

they run smack into another.

They’re knocked around from pillar to post,

beaten to within an inch of their lives.

They’re trapped in a house of horrors,

and see their loot disappear down a black hole.

Their lives are a total loss—

not a penny to their name, not so much as a bean.

God will strip them of their sin-soaked clothes

and hang their dirty laundry out for all to see.

Life is a complete wipeout for them,

nothing surviving God’s wrath.

There! That’s God’s blueprint for the wicked—

what they have to look forward to.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/JOB/20-7c8aa439979c6c230964a69578cd39bd.mp3?version_id=97—

Why Do the Wicked Have It So Good?

1-3 Job replied:

“Now listen to me carefully, please listen,

at least do me the favor of listening.

Put up with me while I have my say—

then you can mock me later to your heart’s content.

4-16 “It’s notyouI’m complaining to—it’sGod.

Is it any wonder I’m getting fed up with his silence?

Take a good look at me. Aren’t you appalled by what’s happened?

No! Don’t say anything. I can do without your comments.

When I look back, I go into shock,

my body is racked with spasms.

Why do the wicked have it so good,

live to a ripe old age and get rich?

They get to see their children succeed,

get to watch and enjoy their grandchildren.

Their homes are peaceful and free from fear;

they never experience God’s disciplining rod.

Their bulls breed with great vigor

and their cows calve without fail.

They send their children out to play

and watch them frolic like spring lambs.

They make music with fiddles and flutes,

have good times singing and dancing.

They have a long life on easy street,

and die painlessly in their sleep.

They say to God, ‘Get lost!

We’ve no interest in you or your ways.

Why should we have dealings with God Almighty?

What’s there in it for us?’

But they’re wrong, dead wrong—they’re not gods.

It’s beyond me how they can carry on like this!

17-21 “Still, how often does it happen that the wicked fail,

or disaster strikes,

or they get their just deserts?

How often are they blown away by bad luck?

Not very often.

You might say, ‘God is saving up the punishment for their children.’

I say, ‘Give it to them right now so they’ll know what

they’ve done!’

They deserve to experience the effects of their evil,

feel the full force of God’s wrath firsthand.

What do they care what happens to their families

after they’re safely tucked away in the grave?

Fancy Funerals with All the Trimmings

22-26 “But who are we to tell God how to run his affairs?

He’s dealing with matters that are way over our heads.

Some people die in the prime of life,

with everything going for them—

fat and sassy.

Others die bitter and bereft,

never getting a taste of happiness.

They’re laid out side by side in the cemetery,

where the worms can’t tell one from the other.

27-33 “I’m not deceived. I know what you’re up to,

the plans you’re cooking up to bring me down.

Naively you claim that the castles of tyrants fall to pieces,

that the achievements of the wicked collapse.

Have you ever asked world travelers how they see it?

Have you not listened to their stories

Of evil men and women who got off scot-free,

who never had to pay for their wickedness?

Did anyone ever confront them with their crimes?

Did they ever have to face the music?

Not likely—they’re given fancy funerals

with all the trimmings,

Gently lowered into expensive graves,

with everyone telling lies about how wonderful they were.

34 “So how do you expect me to get any comfort from your nonsense?

Your so-called comfort is a tissue of lies.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/JOB/21-197eaa44c105871ff2154ea156bc001f.mp3?version_id=97—

Come to Terms with God

1-11 Once again Eliphaz the Temanite took up his theme:

“Are any of us strong enough to give God a hand,

or smart enough to give him advice?

So what if you were righteous—would God Almighty even notice?

Even if you gave a perfect performance, do you think

he’d applaud?

Do you think it’s because he cares about your purity

that he’s disciplining you, putting you on the spot?

Hardly! It’s because you’re a first-class moral failure,

because there’s no end to your sins.

When people came to you for help,

you took the shirts off their backs, exploited their helplessness.

You wouldn’t so much as give a drink to the thirsty,

or food, not even a scrap, to the hungry.

And there you sat, strong and honored by everyone,

surrounded by immense wealth!

You turned poor widows away from your door;

heartless, you crushed orphans.

Nowyou’rethe one trapped in terror, paralyzed by fear.

Suddenly the tables have turned!

How do you like living in the dark, sightless,

up to your neck in flood waters?

12-14 “You agree, don’t you, that God is in charge?

He runs the universe—just look at the stars!

Yet you dare raise questions: ‘What does God know?

From that distance and darkness, how can he judge?

He roams the heavens wrapped in clouds,

so how can he see us?’

15-18 “Are you going to persist in that tired old line

that wicked men and women have always used?

Where did it get them? They died young,

flash floods sweeping them off to their doom.

They told God, ‘Get lost!

What good is God Almighty to us?’

And yet it was God who gave them everything they had.

It’s beyond me how they can carry on like this!

19-20 “Good people see bad people crash, and call for a celebration.

Relieved, they crow,

‘At last! Our enemies—wiped out.

Everything they had and stood for is up in smoke!’

21-25 “Give in to God, come to terms with him

and everything will turn out just fine.

Let him tell you what to do;

take his words to heart.

Come back to God Almighty

and he’ll rebuild your life.

Clean house of everything evil.

Relax your grip on your money

and abandon your gold-plated luxury.

God Almighty will be your treasure,

more wealth than you can imagine.

26-30 “You’ll take delight in God, the Mighty One,

and look to him joyfully, boldly.

You’ll pray to him and he’ll listen;

he’ll help you do what you’ve promised.

You’ll decide what you want and it will happen;

your life will be bathed in light.

To those who feel low you’ll say, ‘Chin up! Be brave!’

and God will save them.

Yes, even the guilty will escape,

escape through God’s grace in your life.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/JOB/22-17fae0c4bce5a5bee6edadcf448f3b92.mp3?version_id=97—

I’m Completely in the Dark

1-7 Job replied:

“I’m not letting up—I’m standing my ground.

My complaint is legitimate.

God has no right to treat me like this—

it isn’t fair!

If I knew where on earth to find him,

I’d go straight to him.

I’d lay my case before him face-to-face,

give him all my arguments firsthand.

I’d find out exactly what he’s thinking,

discover what’s going on in his head.

Do you think he’d dismiss me or bully me?

No, he’d take me seriously.

He’d see a straight-living man standing before him;

my Judge would acquit me for good of all charges.

8-9 “I travel East looking for him—I find no one;

then West, but not a trace;

I go North, but he’s hidden his tracks;

then South, but not even a glimpse.

10-12 “But he knows where I am and what I’ve done.

He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors.

I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints,

not once swerving from his way.

I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken,

and not just obeyed his advice—I’vetreasuredit.

13-17 “But he is singular and sovereign. Who can argue with him?

He does what he wants, when he wants to.

He’ll complete in detail what he’s decided about me,

and whatever else he determines to do.

Is it any wonder that I dread meeting him?

Whenever I think about it, I get scared all over again.

God makes my heart sink!

God Almighty gives me the shudders!

I’m completely in the dark,

I can’t see my hand in front of my face.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/JOB/23-ac079a7360b9864f07cf01e9e1d04134.mp3?version_id=97—

An Illusion of Security

1-12 “But if Judgment Day isn’t hidden from the Almighty,

why are we kept in the dark?

There are people out there getting by with murder—

stealing and lying and cheating.

They rip off the poor

and exploit the unfortunate,

Push the helpless into the ditch,

bully the weak so that they fear for their lives.

The poor, like stray dogs and cats,

scavenge for food in back alleys.

They sort through the garbage of the rich,

eke out survival on handouts.

Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street;

they’ve no place to lay their heads.

Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen,

they huddle in makeshift shelters.

Nursing mothers have their babies snatched from them;

the infants of the poor are kidnapped and sold.

They go about patched and threadbare;

even the hard workers go hungry.

No matter how backbreaking their labor,

they can never make ends meet.

People are dying right and left, groaning in torment.

The wretched cry out for help

and God does nothing, acts like nothing’s wrong!

13-17 “Then there are those who avoid light at all costs,

who scorn the light-filled path.

When the sun goes down, the murderer gets up—

kills the poor and robs the defenseless.

Sexual predators can’t wait for nightfall,

thinking, ‘No one can see us now.’

Burglars do their work at night,

but keep well out of sight through the day.

They want nothing to do with light.

Deep darkness is morning for that bunch;

they make the terrors of darkness their companions in crime.

18-25 “They are scraps of wood floating on the water—

useless, cursed junk, good for nothing.

As surely as snow melts under the hot, summer sun,

sinners disappear in the grave.

The womb has forgotten them, worms have relished them—

nothing that is evil lasts.

Unscrupulous,

they prey on those less fortunate.

However much they strut and flex their muscles,

there’s nothing to them. They’re hollow.

They may have an illusion of security,

but God has his eye on them.

They may get their brief successes,

but then it’s over, nothing to show for it.

Like yesterday’s newspaper,

they’re used to wrap up the garbage.

You’re free to try to prove me a liar,

but you won’t be able to do it.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/JOB/24-b792d776fbd49953b406e39f64d81c71.mp3?version_id=97—

Even the Stars Aren’t Perfect in God’s Eyes

1-6 Bildad the Shuhite again attacked Job:

“God is sovereign, God is fearsome—

everything in the cosmos fits and works in his plan.

Can anyone count his angel armies?

Is there any place where his light doesn’t shine?

How can a mere mortal presume to stand up to God?

How can an ordinary person pretend to be guiltless?

Why, even the moon has its flaws,

even the stars aren’t perfect in God’s eyes,

So how much less, plain men and women—

slugs and maggots by comparison!”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/JOB/25-9eb9310043dc3fe961f6d8b0d36da462.mp3?version_id=97—

God Sets a Boundary Between Light and Darkness

1-4 Job answered:

“Well, you’ve certainly been a great help to a helpless man!

You came to the rescue just in the nick of time!

What wonderful advice you’ve given to a mixed-up man!

What amazing insights you’ve provided!

Where in the world did you learn all this?

How did you become so inspired?

5-14 “All the buried dead are in torment,

and all who’ve been drowned in the deep, deep sea.

Hell is ripped open before God,

graveyards dug up and exposed.

He spreads the skies over unformed space,

hangs the earth out in empty space.

He pours water into cumulus cloud-bags

and the bags don’t burst.

He makes the moon wax and wane,

putting it through its phases.

He draws the horizon out over the ocean,

sets a boundary between light and darkness.

Thunder crashes and rumbles in the skies.

Listen! It’s God raising his voice!

By his power he stills sea storms,

by his wisdom he tames sea monsters.

With one breath he clears the sky,

with one finger he crushes the sea serpent.

And this is only the beginning,

a mere whisper of his rule.

Whatever would we do if hereallyraised his voice!”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/85/32k/JOB/26-7de566c6a27740da6c30d53a4f7079c5.mp3?version_id=97—