Job 17-20 - Prayer Tents

Job 17

Job Continues to Defend His Innocence

17"My spirit is crushed, and my life is nearly snuffed out. The grave is ready to receive me.H7307H2254H3117H2193H69132I am surrounded by mockers. I watch how bitterly they taunt me.H2049H5869H3885H47843"You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me.H7760H6148H8628H30274You have closed their minds to understanding, but do not let them triumph.H6845H3820H7922H73115They betray their friends for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger.H5046H2506H7453H5869H1121H36156"God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face.H3322H4914H5971H6440H86117My eyes are swollen with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self.H5869H3543H3708H3338H67388The virtuous are horrified when they see me. The innocent rise up against the ungodly.H3477H8074H5355H5782H26119The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.H6662H270H1870H2890H3027H3254H55510"As for all of you, come back with a better argument, though I still won't find a wise man among you.H199H7725H935H4672H245011My days are over. My hopes have disappeared. My heart's desires are broken.H3117H5674H2154H5423H4180H382412These men say that night is day; they claim that the darkness is light.H7760H3915H3117H216H7138H6440H282213What if I go to the grave

and make my bed in darkness?H6960H7585H1004H7502H3326H282214What if I call the grave my father, and the maggot my mother or my sister?H7121H7845H1H7415H517H26915Where then is my hope? Can anyone find it?H645H8615H8615H778916No, my hope will go down with me to the grave. We will rest together in the dust!"H3381H905H7585H5183H3162H6083

Job 18

Bildad’s Second Response to Job

18Then Bildad the Shuhite replied.H6030H1085H7747H5592"How long before you stop talking? Speak sense if you want us to answer!H5704H7760H7078H4405H995H310H16963Do you think we are mere animals? Do you think we are stupid?H2803H929H2933H58694You may tear out your hair in anger, but will that destroy the earth? Will it make the rocks tremble?H2963H5315H639H776H5800H6697H6275H47255"Surely the light of the wicked will be snuffed out. The sparks of their fire will not glow.H216H7563H1846H7632H784H50506The light in their tent will grow dark. The lamp hanging above them will be quenched.H216H2821H168H5216H18467The confident stride of the wicked will be shortened. Their own schemes will be their downfall.H6806H202H3334H6098H79938The wicked walk into a net. They fall into a pit.H7971H7568H7272H1980H76399A trap grabs them by the heel. A snare holds them tight.H6341H270H6119H6782H238810A noose lies hidden on the ground. A rope is stretched across their path.H2256H2934H776H4434H541011"Terrors surround the wicked and trouble them at every step.H1091H1204H5439H6327H727212Hunger depletes their strength, and calamity waits for them to stumble.H202H7457H343H3559H676313Disease eats their skin; death devours their limbs.H398H905H5785H1060H4194H398H90514They are torn from the security of their homes and are brought down to the king of terrors.H4009H5423H168H6805H4428H109115The homes of the wicked will burn down; burning sulfur rains on their houses.H7931H168H1097H1614H2219H511616Their roots will dry up, and their branches will wither.H8328H3001H4605H7105H524317All memory of their existence will fade from the earth, No one will remember their names.H2143H6H776H8034H6440H235118They will be thrust from light into darkness, driven from the world.H1920H216H2822H5074H839819They will have neither children nor grandchildren, nor any survivor in the place where they lived.H5209H5220H5971H8300H403320People in the west are appalled at their fate; people in the east are horrified.H314H8074H3117H6931H270H817821They will say, 'This was the home of a wicked person, the place of one who rejected God.'"H4908H5767H4725H3045H410

Job 19

Job’s Sixth Speech: A Response to Bildad

19Then Job spoke again.H347H6030H5592"How long will you torture me? How long will you try to crush me with your words?H3013H5315H1792H44053You have already insulted me ten times. You should be ashamed of treating me so badly.H6235H6471H3637H954H19704Even if I have sinned, that is my concern, not yours.H551H7686H4879H38855You think you're better than I am, using my humiliation as evidence of my sin.H551H1431H3198H27816But it is God who has wronged me, capturing me in his net

.H3045H645H433H5791H5362H46867"I cry out, 'Help!' but no one answers me. I protest, but there is no justice.H6817H2555H6030H7768H49418God has blocked my way so I cannot move. He has plunged my path into darkness.H1443H734H5674H7760H2822H54109He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.H6584H3519H5493H5850H721810He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished. He has uprooted my hope like a fallen tree.H5422H5439H3212H8615H5265H608611His fury burns against me; he counts me as an enemy.H2734H639H2803H686212His troops advance. They build up roads to attack me. They camp all around my tent.H1416H935H3162H5549H1870H2583H5439H16813"My relatives stay far away, and my friends have turned against me.H7368H251H7368H3045H211414My family is gone, and my close friends have forgotten me.H7138H2308H3045H791115My servants and maids consider me a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them.H1481H1004H519H2803H2114H5237H586916When I call my servant, he doesn't come; I have to plead with him!H7121H5650H6030H2603H1119H631017My breath is repulsive to my wife. I am rejected by my own family.H7307H2114H802H2589H1121H99018Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me.H5759H3988H6965H169619My close friends detest me. Those I loved have turned against me.H5475H4962H8581H157H201520I have been reduced to skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.H6106H1692H5785H1320H4422H5785H812721"Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for the hand of God has struck me.H2603H2603H7453H3027H433H506022Must you also persecute me, like God does? Haven't you chewed me up enough?H7291H410H7646H132023"Oh, that my words could be recorded. Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument,H5414H4405H645H3789H5414H2710H561224carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock.H2672H1270H5842H5777H6697H570325"But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last.H3045H1350H2416H6965H314H608326And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!

H310H5785H5362H1320H2372H43327I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!H2372H5869H7200H2114H3629H3615H243628"How dare you go on persecuting me, saying, 'It's his own fault'?H559H7291H8328H1697H467229You should fear punishment yourselves, for your attitude deserves punishment. Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment."H1481H2719H2534H5771H6440H2719H3045H1779H1779

Job 20

Zophar’s Second Response to Job

20Then Zophar the Naamathite replied.H6030H6691H5284H5592"I must reply because I am greatly disturbed.H5587H7725H23633I've had to endure your insults, but now my spirit prompts me to reply.H8085H4148H3639H7307H998H60304"Don't you realize that from the beginning of time, ever since people were first placed on the earth,H3045H5703H120H7760H7765the triumph of the wicked has been short lived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?H7445H7563H7138H8057H2611H72816Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens and their heads touch the clouds,H7863H5927H8064H7218H5060H56457yet they will vanish forever, thrown away like their own dung. Those who knew them will ask, 'Where are they?'H6H5331H1561H7200H559H3358They will fade like a dream and not be found. They will vanish like a vision in the night.H5774H2472H4672H5074H2384H39159Those who once saw them will see them no more. Their families will never see them again.H5869H7805H3254H4725H778910Their children will beg from the poor, for they must give back their stolen riches.H1121H7521H1800H3027H7725H20211Though they are young, their bones will lie in the dust.H6106H4390H5934H7901H608312"They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness, letting it melt under their tongue.H7451H4985H6310H3582H395613They savored it, holding it long in their mouths.H2550H5800H4513H8432H244114But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour, a poisonous venom in their stomach.H3899H4578H2015H4846H6620H713015They will vomit the wealth they swallowed. God won't let them keep it down.H1104H2428H6958H410H3423H99016They will suck the poison of cobras. The viper will kill them.H3243H7219H6620H660H3956H202617They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey.H7200H6390H5104H5158H1706H252918They will give back everything they worked for. Their wealth will bring them no joy.H3022H7725H1104H2428H8545H596519For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute. They foreclosed on their homes.H7533H5800H1800H1497H1004H112920They were always greedy and never satisfied. Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about.H3045H7961H990H4422H253021Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves. Therefore, their prosperity will not endure.H400H8300H2342H289822"In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble and be overcome by misery.H4390H4390H5607H3334H3027H6001H93523May God give them a bellyful of trouble. May God rain down his anger upon them.H4390H990H7971H2740H639H4305H389424When they try to escape an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them.H1272H1270H5402H7198H5154H249825The arrow is pulled from their back, and the arrowhead glistens with blood

. The terrors of death are upon them.H8025H3318H1465H1300H1980H4846H36726Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness. A wildfire will devour their goods, consuming all they have left.H2822H2934H6845H784H5301H398H3415H8300H16827The heavens will reveal their guilt, and the earth will testify against them.H8064H1540H5771H776H696528A flood will sweep away their house. God's anger will descend on them in torrents.H2981H1004H1540H5064H3117H63929This is the reward that God gives the wicked. It is the inheritance decreed by God."H2506H7563H120H430H5159H561H410