4 His sons used to hold feasts in each other's house and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When the days of their feasting were over, Job would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings for each of them, for he said to himself, "Perhaps my sons have sinned in some way." He always did this for them.

6 There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD. Satan also came among them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered, "From walking around on the earth." 8 The LORD said to Satan, "What do you think of My servant Job? There is certainly no one like him on earth, for he is blameless and upright. He fears God and turns from evil." 9 Then Satan said to God, "He does not serve God without a reason." 10 "You have made a hedge around him, his house, and everything he has. You have blessed his work and his possessions and increased his land." 11 "If he loses everything he has he will curse You to Your face." 12 Then the LORD said to Satan, "All right, I will allow you to do what you will with all that he has. Only do not do anything to him." So Satan departed from the LORD.

13 Now on a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the oldest son's house, 14 a messenger came to Job, saying, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them." 15 "The Sabeans attacked and took all of them. They killed the servants, and I am the only one who escaped." 16 While he was speaking, another servant came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who escaped." 17 While he was speaking, yet another came and said, "The Chaldeans came in three bands and made a raid on the camels and killed the servants. I am the only one who escaped." 18 Then still another came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in your oldest son's house." 19 "And a great wind came from the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house causing it fall on the young people and they died. I alone escaped to tell you."

20 Then Job arose, tore his clothes, shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped,

COMMENT: Even when nothing makes sense, worship is appropriate.

21 saying, "I was naked when I came from my mother's womb and I will be naked when my life is over. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." 22 With all that happened, Job did not sin or blame God.

Job 2 - RWB Paraphrase (13 V)
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Satan Gives Job Boils
1 Once again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD. Satan also came among them to present himself.

COMMENT: How much time may have elapsed since the previous meeting of the sons Of God. Perhaps these meeting happen fairly frequently.

2 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, saying, "From walking around on the earth."

3 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth. He is blameless and upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. He continues to hold fast to his integrity, although you have incited Me against him and ruined him without cause." 4 Satan answered the LORD, saying, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life." 5 "If You hurt his body he will curse You to Your face." 6 So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, but you must spare his life."

7 Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and smote Job with boils over his entire body. 8 Job sat in a pile of ashes scraping himself with a broken piece of pottery. 9 His wife said to him, "Why do you continue to claim your integrity? Curse God and die!" 10 Job said to her, "You speak like a foolish women. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

11 Job's three friends heard of all the adversity that had come upon him. They were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. They had agreed on a time to come together to sympathize with Job and comfort him.

12 When they first saw Job from a distance they did not recognize him. They wept at the sight of his condition and each tore his robe and threw dust over his head. 13 For seven days and nights they sat on the ground with him without saying anything, for it was obvious that he was in great pain.

Job 3 - RWB Paraphrase (26 V)
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Job Wishes He Had Never Been Born
1 At the end of seven days Job cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said, 3 "It would be good if the day I was born had never existed. And neither the night when it was said, 'A boy has been conceived.'" 4 "May that day be as though it never was, ignored by God, with no light on it." 5 Let it be claimed by darkness and gloom with a cloud over it. 6 "Let darkness seize that night and let no one rejoice over it or count it as having existed." 7 "Let that night be barren and without joy." 8 "Let it be cursed the way one curses when Leviathan makes an appearance." 9 "Let the stars stop shining at twilight and do not let that day see the sun come up," 10 "because it did not shut up my mother's womb, or hide trouble from my eyes." 11 "Why didn't I die at birth?" 12 "Why should I have been nourished at my mother's breasts?" 13 "I would rather have quietly laid down, slept and been at rest." 14 "I would then be with kings and counselors of the earth who have nothing to show for what they have accomplished," 15 "or with princes who had gold and filled their houses with silver."

COMMENT: When we die we do not have any notoriety or acclaim.

16 "Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, never to see the light of day." 17 "In that place the wicked do not rage, and the weary are at rest."

COMMENT: In death there is no consciousness.

18 "Prisoners rest together and do not hear their taskmaster's voice." 19 "The small and great are there and the slave is free from his master." 20 "Why is light given to him who suffers, and life to the bitter soul," 21 "who longs for death, but cannot find it?" 22 "They actually rejoice when they come to the grave." 23 "Why is light given to the man God has hedged in?" 24 "I loath the sight of food and my cries pour out of me like water." 25 "My worst fears are happening." 26 "I find no rest, only turmoil."

Job 4 - RWB Paraphrase (21 V)
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Eliphaz the Temanite Speaks
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, 2 "you will not mind if I say a word, will you? It is hard to say nothing." 3 "You have admonished many and you have strengthened weak hands." 4 "Your words have helped those who were falling and you have strengthened feeble knees." 5 "But now you are the one who needs to be strengthened. Now it is you are disheartened." 6 "It seems that your fear of God is your confidence and your own integrity is your hope." 7 "Can you recall an innocent man perishing, or the upright being destroyed?" 8 "According what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow wickedness, reap the same." 9 "By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they come to an end." 10 "The fierce lion roars, and the teeth of the young lion are broken." 11 "The lion perishes for lack of prey. And the whelps of the lioness are scattered."

12 "A word came to me very quietly, like a whisper." 13 "It disquieted my thoughts while I slept deeply." 14 "Dread fell over me and I trembled until my bones shook." 15 "A spirit passed before my face and my hair stood up." 16 "The spirit stood still but I could not recognize it. All was silence, and then I heard a voice. It said," 17 "can mankind be just before God? Can he be pure before his Maker?" 18 "God does not trust His servants and His angels He charges with error." 19 "How much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is the dust, and who are crushed more readily than the moth!" 20 "They are broken to pieces somewhere between morning and evening, and perish unobserved." 21 "Their honor is gone and they die without wisdom."

Job 5 - RWB Paraphrase (27 V)
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Eliphaz the Temanite Continues
1 "Call now and see if anyone will answer you? To which of the Holy Ones will you turn?" 2 "Anger slays foolish men and jealousy kills the simple minded." 3 "I have seen the foolish become established and I immediately cursed his abode." 4 "His sons are destined for oppression with no one to deliver them." 5 "Others devour his harvest and thorns take over his field. Some try to take his wealth by deceit." 6 "Affliction does not come from the dust. Trouble does not sprout out of the ground." 7 "A man is born for trouble a surely as a spark flies upward."

8 "If it were me, I would seek God and place my cause before Him." 9 "He does great, unsearchable things and wonders without number." 10 "He gives the earth rain to water the fields." 11 "He sets the lowly on high and those who mourn are lifted to safety." 12 "He frustrates the plots of the shrewd and keeps them from what they have planned." 13 "He is more shrewd then they are and easily thwarts the advice of the cunning." 14 "When it is day they grope in darkness, as though it was night." 15 "He saves the poor from the sword and from the hand of the mighty." 16 "The helpless have hope while the unrighteous have nothing to say."

17 "The man who is reproved by God is happy, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty." 18 "He inflicts pain but also gives relief. He wounds and His hands heal." 19 "He delivers you from six troubles. Even the seventh will not touch you." 20 "During a famine He will keep you from starving, and in war from the power of the sword." 21 "You will not suffer from the scourge of the tongue or be afraid of destruction when it comes." 22 "You will laugh at violence and famine. You will not be afraid of wild beasts." 23 "You will be in league with the stones of the field. The beasts of the field will be at peace with you." 24 "You will know that your tent is secure and visit it with no fear of loss." 25 "Your descendants will be many, like the grass of the earth." 26 "You will come to the grave in full vigor, as a shock of grain is stacked in its season." 27 "Behold, we have looked into this and found it to be true. Hear it and know it for yourself."

Job 6 - RWB Paraphrase (30 V)
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Job Replies To Eliphaz The Temanite
1 Then Job answered, 2 "oh that my grief could be weighed in the balances with my calamity!" 3 "It would be heavier than the sand of all the seashores. This is why my words have been rash." 4 "For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, and they poison my spirit. The terrors of God are arrayed against me." 5 "Does the wild donkey bray over his grass, or does the ox low over his fodder?" 6 "Can something tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the white of an egg?" 7 "I refuse to touch them. They are loathsome to me." 8 "Oh that God would grant my request!" 9 "It would be fine for God to crush me and cut me off!" 10 "But I am consoled and rejoice in that I have not denied the words of the Holy One."

11 "Why should I use my strength to hope? Why should I want my life to be prolonged?" 12 "Do I have the strength of stones? Is my flesh made of bronze?" 13 "Is there no help within me? Has deliverance been driven from me?"

COMMENT: Will it help for me to think correctly?

14 "When a man is despairing his friends should be kind to him so that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty." 15 "My brothers have acted deceitfully like a stream that dries up," 16 "which had been turbid from melting ice and snow." 17 "When they dry up they are silent, and when it is hot they vanish." 18 "Their paths wind along and they become nothing." 19 "The caravans of Tema looked, the travelers of Sheba were hopeful." 20 "They had trusted in them and were disappointed." 21 "You have become the same. You see terror and are afraid." 22 "Have I asked for anything, even a ransom from your wealth?" 23 "Have I asked you to deliver me from my adversary?" 24 "Teach me and I will be silent. Show me where I have erred." 25 "Honest words are painful, but what has your argument proved?" 26 "Do you intend to reprove me when my words of despair is as wind?" 27 "You would overwhelm orphans and dig a pit for your friend."

COMMENT: You do not seem to really care about my dilemma.

28 "Please examine me and see if I have lied." 29 "Stop saying these things to me. My righteousness is in tact." 30 "Have I spoken with iniquity? Can I not discern truth?"

Job 7 - RWB Paraphrase (21 V)
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Job Continues His Reply to Eliphaz the Temanite
1 "Isn't a man limited to a certain number of days on earth to work like a hired man?" 2 "He is like the slave who wishes for the shade and as a hired man who waits eagerly for his wages."

COMMENT: Wages were paid at the end of the day and that is what the hired man is waiting for.

3 "So I have been alotted a few months of vanity, but nights of trouble is what I have." 4 "I lie down and think about when it will be time to get up. I toss and turn all night." 5 "My flesh is clothed with worms under a crust of dirt. My skin is broken and disgusting." 6 "My days have gone by as quickly as a weaver's shuttle. My end is without hope." 7 "Remember that my life is a wind and my eyes will not see good any more." 8 "Your eyes will see me no longer, for I will not be." 9 "When a cloud vanishes, it is gone. So is he who goes down to the grave to come up no more." 10 "He will not come again to his house or be remembered." 11 "So I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak from the anguish of my soul." 12 "Am I the sea, or a sea monster, that You set a guard over me?" 13 "If I say, 'My bed will comfort me and ease my complaint,'" 14 "Then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions," 15 "so that my soul would choose suffocation and death rather than live with pain." 16 "I waste away. I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath." 17 "What is man that you magnify him and show Your concern for him," 18 "that You visit him every morning, and try him every moment of the day?" 19 "Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone for even an instant?" 20 "What is my sin, O Watcher of men? Why have You set me up as Your target?" 21 "Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? I am about to lie down in the dust and be no more."

Job 8 - RWB Paraphrase (22 V)
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Bildad The Shuhite Answers Job
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, 2 "how long will you talk like this? Your words are like a strong wind." 3 "Does God pervert justice?" 4 "If your sons sinned against Him, then He delivered them into the power of their transgression."

COMMENT: He is suggesting that Job's sons died because they had sinned.

5 "If you would seek God imploring His compassion," 6 "and if you are pure and upright, surely He will restore you to your righteous state." 7 "Though your beginning was small, yet your end will be greatly increased." 8 "Please consider past generations and what they have discovered." 9 "We have been around such a short time and know nothing. Our time on earth is but a shadow." 10 "Will you learn from those who have gone before you?" 11 "Can the papyrus grow outside of a marsh? Can it grow without water?"

COMMENT: In other words, can you be were you are without just cause for your sins?

12 "It will only grow a little while before it withers." 13 "So are the paths of those who forget God. The godless will perish without hope." 14 "Their confidence is fragile and their trust as a spider's web." 15 "He trusts in his house but it does not stand." 16 "He thrives before the sun, and his shoots spread out over his garden." 17 "His roots wrap around a rock pile, he grasps a house of stones." 18 "Once he is removed, it will be as though he was never there." 19 "Others will spring up where he once was." 20 "God will not reject a man of integrity. Neither will He support evil doers." 21 "He will once more fill you with laughter and give you reasons to shout." 22 "Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and cease to exist."

Job 9 - RWB Paraphrase (35 V)
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Job Answers Bildad The Shuhite
1 Then Job answered, 2 "I know what you say is true. But how can a man be right with God?" 3 "If one wished to dispute with Him, he could not answer Him even one time in a thousand." 4 "He is wise and mighty in strength. Who has defied Him without coming to harm?" 5 "God can overturn mountains in His anger." 6 "He makes the earth tremble." 7 "He commands the sun to stop shining and seals up the stars." 8 "He alone stretches out the heavens and tramples down the waves of the sea." 9 "He has made the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, as well as the constellations of the south." 10 "His wondrous works are without number. They are too great to fathom." 11 "If He were to pass by me I would not see or perceive Him." 12 "No one can stop Him from doing as He wishes. They cannot even question Him." 13 "If God will not withdraw His anger, the proud who would help must accept it." 14 "How can I answer Him? What could I possibly say?" 15 "Even if I am right, what can I say? I must rely on the mercy of my Judge." 16 "If I called, and He answered, I could not believe that He actually heard me." 17 "For He bruises me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds seemingly without number." 18 "He does not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness." 19 "If it is a matter of power, He is the strong one! If it is a matter of justice, who can question Him?" 20 "Though I am righteous, my mouth condemns me. Though I think I am without guilt, He will declare me guilty." 21 "Even though I might be perfect, I do not know myself. I despise my life." 22 "He destroys the guiltless with the wicked."

COMMENT: Job is saying, it feels like I am being treated as a wicked man.

23 "If the scourge kills suddenly, He laughs at the despair of the innocent."

COMMENT: It seems as though God does not care about my predicament.

24 "The earth is controlled by the wicked who keep the judges from seeing." 25 "My days flee away with nothing good to show for." 26 "They disappear like ships on the horizon, as quickly as a eagle swoops on its prey." 27 "Though I intend to forget my complaint and try to be cheerful," 28 "in my pain and fear You will not recognize my innocence." 29 "I am counted as wicked, so why should I try?" 30 "If I should wash myself in snow and clean my hands with lye," 31 "still You would plunge me into the pit. Even my clothes would be disgusted with me." 32 "For God is not a man that we can go to court together." 33 "There is no one to arbitrate between us." 34 "Let Him take away His rod from me so that I am no longer terrified of Him." 35 "Then I would speak and not be afraid of Him. But as it stands, this is not possible."

Job 10 - RWB Paraphrase (22 V)
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Job Continues His Response To Bildad The Shuhite
1 "I am tired of living and I want to speak freely of my soul's bitterness." 2 "I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me. Let me know why You are unhappy with me.'" 3 "Is it right for You to reject the one You have created, while you look with favor on the wicked?" 4 "Can You see the way a man sees?" 5 "Are Your days and years like a man's?" 6 "How do look for my sin?" 7 "Your knowledge sees that I am not guilty, yet I am not delivered from Your hand." 8 "Your hands made me. Will You destroy the work of Your hands?" 9 "Remember that I am clay. Will You turn me once again into dust?"

COMMENT: Job had a clear understanding that God formed Adam out of the ground. And he must have seen how when a man died his body decomposes to dust.

10 "Didn't you pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?" 11 "You clothed me with flesh and skin, and knit my bones together with sinews." 12 "You granted me life and loving kindness, preserving my spirit." 13 "I know you have done this, though You have concealed it in Your heart." 14 "If I sin, You know it and do not acquit me." 15 "If I am wicked, woe is me. And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am full of disgrace and aware of my affliction."

COMMENT: Even my righteousness is not as right as I may think.

16 "If I should lift my head, You would hunt me like a lion, showing Your power against me."

COMMENT: We must remain humble.

17 "You review your opinion of me and increase Your anger. I have one hardship after another." 18 "Why did you let me be born? I wish I had died and no one had ever seen me." 19 "I should have been as though I had never been, carried from the womb to the tomb.'" 20 "Why won't God leave me alone for the few days I have? Might He not withdraw from me and let me have a little cheer?" 21 "When I go I shall not return from the land of darkness and deep shadow." 22 "It is a place of utter gloom, and deep shadows without order."

Job 11 - RWB Paraphrase (20 V)
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Zophar The Naamathite Speaks To Job
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered, 2 "shall so many words go unanswered. Can a man be acquitted by many words?" 3 "Shall men be silenced by your boasts? Can you scoff without being rebuked?" 4 "You have said that as far as you can tell you are innocent." 5 "What if God were to speak against you," 6 "and show you what He knows. He does not require of you an accounting of your every iniquity."

7 "Can you discover everything about God?" 8 "His ways are higher than the heavens and deeper than hell. What can you know of that?" 9 "Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea." 10 "Whatever He does, who can restrain Him?" 11 "He knows who has iniquity without having to investigate." 12 "A simpleton will become intelligent when the foal of a donkey is born a man."

COMMENT: In other words, there is no hope for those without intelligence.

13 "If you would rightly direct your heart to Him," 14 "and put away your iniquity, removing wickedness from your tents," 15 "then you could lift your head without moral defect or fear." 16 "Then you would forget your troubles and remember them no more." 17 "Your life would be brighter than noonday and darkness would be like morning." 18 "Then you would trust and have hope. You could rest securely." 19 "When you would lie down nothing would disturb you. Many would entreat your favor." 20 "But the eyes of the wicked shall fail and their hope will elude them as they take their last breath."

Job 12 - RWB Paraphrase (25 V)
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Job Answers Zophar The Naamathite
1 Then Job responded, 2 "without doubt wisdom will die with you!" 3 "Everyone knows what you have said. I too have intelligence." 4 "I am a joke to my friends." 5 "Those who are not having problems hold calamity in contempt as they watch someone else's feet slip."

COMMENT: When we are not having problems we are prone to think that those with difficulties did something to disserve their predicament.

6 "Destroyers prosper and those who provoke God are secure." 7 "Ask the birds and the beasts and learn from them. They will tell you." 8 "Or speak to the earth and let the fish of the sea explain it to you." 9 "Even they know that the hand of the LORD has done this." 10 "In His hand is the life of every living thing, including the breath of all mankind." 11 "Does not the ear test words the way the palate tastes food?" 12 "Wisdom is with aged men and those with long life have understanding." 13 "With God are wisdom and might. To Him belong counsel and understanding." 14 "What He tears down cannot be rebuilt. If He imprisons a man, there can be no release." 15 "Behold, He restrains the waters causing them to dry up, And He can send them out so that they cover the earth." 16 "With Him are strength and sound wisdom. Those who are misled, as well as those who mislead, belong to Him." 17 "He makes counselors walk barefoot and judges to be fools." 18 "He loosens the bond of kings and girds their loins with a girdle." 19 "He makes priests walk barefoot And overthrows those who think they are secure." 20 "He takes speech away from those who are trusted as well as the discernment of the elders." 21 "He pours contempt on princes and weakens the mighty." 22 "He reveals mysteries from the darkness and brings the darkness into the light." 23 "He makes the nations great and then destroys them. He enlarges the nations that they may then be led away." 24 "He deprives the chiefs of intelligence and makes them wander in a wilderness." 25 "They grope in darkness and stagger like drunken men."

Job 13 - RWB Paraphrase (28 V)
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Job Continues His Reply to Zophar the Naamathite
1 "My eyes have seen all this and my ears have heard and understood it." 2 "Like you I know these things." 3 "But I would like to speak to the Almighty, and argue my case." 4 "You are speaking untruths. You are worthless physicians." 5 "If only you would keep quiet. Then you would show some wisdom."

6 "Please hear my argument And listen to the pleadings of my mouth." 7 "Will you put unjust and deceitful words in God's mouth?" 8 "Will you say He shows partiality and then take His side in the matter?" 9 "Will you be better off when He examines you? Or will you try to deceive Him the way one deceives a man?" 10 "He will surely reprove you if you secretly show partiality." 11 "You will be terrified at His majesty and the dread of Him will fall on you." 12 "Your proverbs will be as ashes and your defenses will crumble." 13 "Be quiet while I speak. Then let come what may on me."

14 "Why should I trust my future to my own devising?" 15 "Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him. But I still want to make my case before Him." 16 "I will be justified, for a hypocrite may not come before Him."

17 "Pay close attention to what I am about to say." 18 "I have prepared my case and I know I will be vindicated." 19 "Who will plead my case? If I keep silent I shall die." 20 "I ask only two things. Do not hide Your face from me." 21 "And remove Your hand from me so that I am not terrified of You." 22 "Then call to me, and I will answer. Or let me speak and then make Your reply to me."

23 "Make known my iniquity. Show me my rebellion and my sin." 24 "Why do You hide Your face, treating me like I am Your enemy?" 25 "Will You break off a leaf shaken in the wind, or go after dry chaff blown about?" 26 "For You write bitter things against me and cause me to inherit the iniquities of my youth." 27 "You place my feet in stocks and watch all my paths, setting a limit to where I may walk," 28 "while I continue to decay like a garment eaten by moths."

Job 14 - RWB Paraphrase (22 V)
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Job Continues To Make His Case To God
1 "Man is born of woman and lives a little while with much turmoil." 2 "Like a flower he comes forth and withers. His life is short," 3 "and then You bring him into judgment." 4 "Who can make what is unclean clean? No one!" 5 "Since his days and months are determined by You, and You have set limits which he cannot pass," 6 "turn Your eyes from him so that he may rest until he has put in his time the way a hired man does." 7 "For when a tree has been cut down, there is hope that it will sprout again." 8 "Though its roots grow old and its stump dies in the dry soil," 9 "at the first sign of water it will begin to grow and to flourish." 10 "But when a man dies he lies prostrate. He has expired. And where is he?" 11 "As water evaporates from the sea, and a river dries up," 12 "so man lies down and does not rise. He will not awaken or be aroused from his sleep." 13 "Oh that You would hide me in the grave, and conceal me until Your wrath has returned to You, that You would set a limit for me and remember me!" 14 "If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait until my change comes." 15 "You will call, and I will answer. You will long for the work of Your hands." 16 "For the present You number my steps and do not observe my sin." 17 "My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and You sew it shut." 18 "As the mountains crumble, and the rocks are moved from their place," 19 "as water wears away stones, its torrents washing away the dust of the earth, so You destroy man's hope." 20 "He is forever overpowered by You and then he departs. You change his appearance and send him away." 21 "His sons may achieve honor, but he does not know it. Or they may become insignificant, but he does not perceive it." 22 "But for the present his body pains him, and his soul mourns within him."

Job 15 - RWB Paraphrase (35 V)
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Eliphaz The Temanite Responds
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded, saying, 2 "Should a wise man answer with such windy knowledge, filling himself with the east wind?" 3 "Should he argue with useless and unprofitable words?" 4 "What you have said is irreverent and hinders meditation before God." 5 "Your language is crafty and the result of your own guilt." 6 "Your words condemn you." 7 "Do you think you were the first one born?" 8 "Do you think that you alone have heard the wisdom of God?" 9 "Do you have more understanding than we do?" 10 "We represent the gray haired and those older than your father." 11 "Are you too good to hear God's consolation from us?" 12 "Why do your eyes flash so when we speak?" 13 "It is surprising to hear you speak such words against God."

14 "Who can be pure? Who is born righteous?" 15 "Even the heavens are not pure in God's sight." 16 "How much less a man who drinks iniquity like water!" 17 "Listen to what I have to say," 18 "that which wise men have told and have not concealed from their fathers," 19 "to whom the land was first given." 20 "The wicked writhe in pain all their days. The number of years have been appointed for the oppressor."

COMMENT: So he is calling Job wicked and saying that he is getting what he deserves.

21 "While he is at peace the destroyer comes upon him." 22 "He does not think he will escape the darkness. He is destined for the sword." 23 "He wanders about looking for food, knowing his day of darkness is at hand." 24 "He is overpowered by distress and anguish," 25 "because in his arrogance he has stretched out his hand against the Almighty." 26 "He rushes against Him with a massive shield." 27 "For he has covered his face and thigh with a thick covering." 28 "He has lived in desolate cities, in houses that have been condemned." 29 "His wealth will not endure. Neither will his grain come to harvest." 30 "He will not escape the darkness. By the breath of God's mouth he will be gone." 31 "If he trusts in emptiness, emptiness will be his reward." 32 "His end will be accomplished before his life is over." 33 "What he hopes to produce will come to nothing." 34 "For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tents of the corrupt." 35 "Their minds conceive deception and bring forth iniquity."

Job 16 - RWB Paraphrase (22 V)
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Job Answers Eliphaz The Temanite
1 Then Job answered, 2 "I have heard such things before. You are all sorry comforters." 3 "Is there no limit to windy words? What makes you answer as you do?" 4 "I could say what you say if I were in your place. I could speak against you and shake my head." 5 "But instead I would comfort you and try to lessen your pain." 6 "But as I speak, my pain is not lessened." 7 "I am exhausted. My reserves are used up." 8 "O God, You have caused me to shrivel. My gauntness testifies of my condition." 9 "In His anger God has hunted me down and torn me." 10 "They have all looked at me with contempt and slapped my face. They are all against me." 11 "God has handed me over to ruffians and into the hands of the wicked." 12 "When I was at ease He shattered my composure, shaking me to pieces." 13 "Without mercy He slashes open my kidneys and pours out my gall on the ground." 14 "He breaks through me with breach after breach, running at me like a warrior." 15 "I have sewed sackcloth over my skin and defiled my horn in the dust." 16 "My face is flushed from weeping, and deep darkness spreads over me." 17 "All this, though I have no violence in my hand. My prayer is pure." 18 "O earth, do not cover my blood. Let there be no resting place for my cry." 19 "Even now, behold, heaven is my witness, and my advocate is on high." 20 "My friends scoff while I weep to God." 21 "O that a man might plead with God as with his neighbor!" 22 "For in a few more years I will go the way of no return."

Job 17 - RWB Paraphrase (16 V)
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Job continues His Answer to Eliphaz the Temanite
1 "My spirit is broken. My days are over and the grave is ready for me." 2 "Surely mockers are with me, and I am looking at those who provoke me." 3 "Lay down Your pledge, O God. Who will be my guarantor." 4 "You have kept them from understanding and will not exalt them." 5 "He who informs against friends for a share of the spoil will see his children languish."

6 "I have become a byword of the people. Men spit on me." 7 "My eyes have grown dim from grief. I am a shadow of my former self." 8 "I cause the upright to be appalled and the innocent to rise up against the godless." 9 "Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger."

10 "But as for each of you, I do not find a wise man among you." 11 "My days are past, my plans and wishes have been destroyed." 12 "They make night into day when they say, 'The light is near to the darkness.'" 13 If I wait, the grave will be my house. I make my bed in the darkness. 14 "I have said to corruption, 'You are my father. And to the worm, you are my mother and my sister.'" 15 "Where now is my hope? Who hopes with me?" 16 "Shall we go down to the grave together?"

Job 18 - RWB Paraphrase (21 V)
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Bildad The Shuhite Responds To Job
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded. 2 "How long will you hunt for the right words? When you make some sense then we can talk." 3 "Why do you regard us as dumb beasts?" 4 "In your anger you tear at yourself. Shall the earth be abandoned for your sake?" 5 "Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out and his fire gives no light." 6 "His light has become darkness." 7 "His vigorous stride is shortened, and his own scheme brings him down." 8 "He steps into his own net." 9 "A snare seizes him by the heel, and a trap snaps shut on him." 10 "A noose is hidden in the ground for him." 11 "Terrors frighten him at every step." 12 "His strength diminishes, and calamity waits for him." 13 "His skin is devoured by disease. The firstborn of death devours his limbs."

COMMENT: He could not have pointed more directly at Job with boils all over his skin.

14 "He is torn from the security of his tent, and is marched before the king of terrors."

COMMENT: He is telling Job that he must face God.

15 Nothing in his tent belongs to him. Brimstone is scattered on his habitation. 16 "His roots are dried up and his branch is cut off above." 17 "The memory of him perishes from the earth."

COMMENT: He is telling Job that will not be remembered.

18 "He is driven from light into darkness, having been chased out of the world." 19 "He has no posterity among his people. No one survives where he lived."

COMMENT: Bildad says that even Job's family will not survive his calamity.

20 "Those in the west are appalled at his fate, and those in the east are horrified." 21 "Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked. This is the place of him who does not know God."

COMMENT: He is implying that Job does not actually know God. He must therefore be wicked.

Job 19 - RWB Paraphrase (29 V)
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Job Responds to Bildad the Shuhite
1 Then Job responded, saying, 2 "How long will you torment and crush me with your words?" 3 "You have insulted me ten times. Have you no shame to wronged me in this way?" 4 "Even if I have erred, my error is mine to deal with on my own." 5 "If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me and prove my disgrace," 6 "know that God has wronged me and closed His net around me." 7 "I cry out of the wrong done to me, but there is no justice offered to me." 8 "I cannot escape for I am walled in. Darkness cover my paths." 9 "My honor has been stripped from me." 10 "I am broken down on every side. My hope is like a tree that has been uprooted." 11 "God has kindled His anger against me and treated me as His enemy." 12 "His troops come against me and camp around my tent." 13 "My brothers are far from me and my acquaintances are completely estranged from me." 14 "My relatives have failed me and my close friends have forgotten me." 15 "I am a foreigner in my own house. Even my maids treat me like a stranger." 16 "I call to my servant, but he does not answer. I have to beg him." 17 "My wife finds my breath offensive. I am loathsome to my own brothers." 18 "Little children despise me and speak against me." 19 "All my associates abhor me and those I love have turned against me." 20 "My skin hangs on my bones. So far I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth." 21 "Pity me my friends, for the hand of God has struck me." 22 "Why do you join God in persecuting me?"

COMMENT: When someone is down they do not need for anyone to push them farther down.

23 "Oh that my words could be written in a book!"

COMMENT: Job had no idea a book would be written about his experience.

24 "I wish they could be engraved in stone forever!" 25 "But I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last day He will take His stand on the earth."

COMMENT: God will prevail even though we cannot always make sense of our circumstances. And we cling to the fact that He will redeem us.

26 "Even after my skin is destroyed and I am dust, yet in my flesh I shall see God." 27 "I shall see with my own eyes. My heart thrills at this thought." 28 "If you think to persecute me and come up with a case against me," 29 "then you should fear the sword of punishment for yourselves, and know that there is coming judgment."

COMMENT: The evidence may seem to suggest that someone else is more favored of God, but the judgment is yet to come when all will be made clear.

Job 20 - RWB Paraphrase (29 V)
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Zophar The Naamathite Answered Job
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered, and said, 2 "My disquieting thoughts agitate me and I must respond." 3 "I listened to your reproof. I am insulted and I must answer." 4 "Don't you know that since the earth was established," 5 "the triumph of the wicked is short lived and their joy lasts for only a moment." 6 "No matter how great he becomes," 7 "he will perish forever. Those who have seen him will say," 8 "he is gone like a dream and cannot be found." 9 "Those who see him no longer think of him when he is gone." 10 "His sons favor the poor and he will give back his wealth." 11 "Though he once had youthful vigor, he has become dust." 12 "Even though evil is sweet in his youth," 13 "something he likes to remember," 14 "once it reaches his stomach it is changed to the venom of a cobra."

COMMENT: This verse is something like Revelation 9, sweet in the mouth but bitter in the belly.

15 "He swollows riches but God causes him to vomits them up." 16 "He has sucked the poison of the cobra and the viper's tongue slays him." 17 "He no longer looks at the rivers and streams flowing with honey and curds." 18 "What he has attained he cannot take from this life." 19 "For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor and seized houses he has not built." 20 "He does not attain peace of mind, nor anything he in which he delights." 21 "His prosperity has depended on what he could devour, so it does not endure." 22 "Though he had plenty, it will never be enough and everyone he made to suffer will be against him." 23 "When he eats, God's fierce anger will make it rain on him even while he eats." 24 "Though he may flee from the iron weapon, the bronze bow will pierce him through." 25 "The arrow goes into him and comes out his back bringing with it his gall. He experiences terror." 26 "Complete darkness is his only treasure. Fire will consume him." 27 "The heavens will reveal his iniquity and the earth will rise up against him." 28 "The increase of his house will depart. His possessions will all be gone." 29 "This is what God has declared to be the wicked man's portion and heritage."

Job 21 - RWB Paraphrase (34 V)
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Job Answers Zophar The Naamathite
1 Then Job answered, 2 "listen carefully to what I say and let it give you consolation." 3 "Bear with me while I speak. When I have finished you may mock." 4 "Am I complaining to man? Why shouldn't I be impatient?" 5 "Look at me. I am astonishing to behold." 6 "Even now I am horrified by what has happened to me."

7 "Why do the wicked continue to live and attain such power?" 8 "Their descendants are established while they watch." 9 "Their houses are safe from the rod of God." 10 "His ox mates and his cow always has a calf." 11 "He has many children who skip happily about." 12 "They sing to the timbrel and harp and rejoice at the sound of the flute." 13 "They are prosperous all their days until they go to the grave." 14 "They have no interest in God." 15 "They say, 'Who is the Almighty that we should serve Him? What will we gain by calling on His name?'" 16 "They are not really prosperous and I do not listen to their counsel."

17 "How often does the lamp of the wicked go out? Does God apportion destruction to them in His anger?" 18 "They are as stubble before the wind, as chaff to be carried away." 19 "You say, 'God stores a man's iniquity for his sons.' May he know that God repays." 20 "Let him see his own end and drink the wrath of the Almighty." 21 "For what does he care about his own household when his life is cut short?" 22 "Can anyone teach God, Who judges the powerful?" 23 "One dies in his full strength, being completely satisfied." 24 "He is fat and in good health." 25 "Then there is someone else who dies with a bitter soul, never having tasted anything good." 26 "Both lie down in the dust and the worms cover them." 27 "Behold, I know your thoughts, And the ideas by which you would argue against me." 28 "For you say, 'Where is the house of the nobleman, And where is the dwelling places of the wicked?'" 29 "Even those passing by recognize that." 30 "The wicked are reserved for the day of calamity." 31 "Who will comfort them? Who will repay them for what they have done?" 32 "While he is carried to the grave while men watch." 33 "Clods of earth gently cover him. It will be a big funeral procession." 34 "How then will you comfort me in vain, for your answers are full of falsehood?"

Job 22 - RWB Paraphrase (30 V)
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Eliphaz The Temanite Responds
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded, saying, 2 "Can a vigorous or wise man be useful to God?" 3 "Does God care one way or the other if you are righteous? Does it profit Him for you to be perfect?" 4 "Does He reprove you in your reverence? Does it cause Him to enter into judgment against you?" 5 "Is not your wickedness great, and your iniquities without end?" 6 "For you have taken pledges of your brothers without cause, and stripped men naked." 7 "You have not given water to the weary and you have withheld bread from the hungry." 8 "But the earth belongs to the mighty and honorable man who dwells in it." 9 "You have sent widows away empty, and crushed the strength of the orphans." 10 "This is why snares surround you." 11 "You cannot see because of the darkness." 12 "Is not God in the highest heaven where the distant stars are?" 13 "You think God cannot see you in the thick darkness." 14 'Clouds hide Him as He walks among the farthest stars. 15 "Will you continue walking the ancient path of the wicked?" 16 "The wicked are snatched away before their time." 17 "They wanted nothing to do with God, seeing no profit in calling on Him." 18 "Yet He has filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me." 19 "The righteous see and are glad, and the innocent mock them." 20 "They say, 'Surely our adversaries are cut off and their abundance has been consumed by the fire.'" 21 "Yield now and be at peace with Him, Then good will come to you." 22 "Please receive instruction from His mouth and establish His words in your heart." 23 "If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent," 24 "and place your gold in the dust, throwing your gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks," 25 "then the Almighty will be your gold and silver." 26 "Then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to him." 27 "You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will pay your vows." 28 "You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways." 29 "When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence, for He saves the humble." 30 "He will deliver one who is not innocent, through the cleanness of your hands."

Job 23 - RWB Paraphrase (17 V)
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Job Answers Eliphaz The Temanite
1 Then Job replied, 2 "even today my complaint is bitter. While I groan His hand is heavy." 3 "Oh that I knew where I might find Him, and go to where He sits!" 4 "I would present my case to Him and make my arguments." 5 "I would learn how to ask. Then He would answer me and I would understand." 6 "Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power? Surely He would listen to me." 7 "In that place the upright reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge."

8 "Behold, I go forward but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot find Him." 9 When He goes to the left, I cannot see Him. Neither can I see Him when He turns to the right. 10 "But He knows my ways and when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

11 "I have remained on His path, keeping His way and not turning aside." 12 "I have not departed from the command of His lips, but have treasured His words more than food itself."

13 "He is of one mind and no one can turn Him. What He desires He does." 14 "He is performing what He has appointed for me. This is what He does for many." 15 "Therefore, if I saw Him, I would be dismayed at His presence, and be terrified." 16 "It is God who has made my heart faint." 17 But I am not silenced by the darkness, or the deep gloom which covers me.

Job 24 - RWB Paraphrase (25 V)
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Job Continues His Response To Eliphaz The Temanite
1 "Nothing is hidden from the LORD, so why do those who know Him not see His days?" 2 "Some remove the landmarks. They seize and devour flocks."

COMMENT: The landmarks establish boundaries.

3 "They drive away the donkeys belonging to orphans and take the widow's ox for a pledge." 4 "They push the needy aside. The poor of the land must hide themselves." 5 "They go forth as wild donkeys in the wilderness, seeking food for them and their children." 6 "They harvest their fodder in the field and glean the vineyard of the wicked." 7 "They spend the night naked, without clothing, and have no covering against the cold." 8 "They are wet with the mountain rains and hug the rock for want of a shelter." 9 "Others snatch the orphan from the breast, and take a pledge from the poor." 10 "They cause the poor to go naked, and take food from the hungry." 11 "They produce olive oil within the walls and tread the wine press, yet suffer thirst." 12 "Men groan and their souls cry out, but God does not pay attention to their folly." 13 "Others have been among those who rebel against the light. They do not want to know its ways or abide in its paths." 14 "The murderer arises at dawn, killing the poor and needy. At night he is as a thief." 15 "The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight. He says, 'No eye will see me,' as he disguises his face." 16 "They shut themselves up in houses during the day, but in the dark they dig through houses they have planned to ransack. They do not know the light." 17 "For morning to him is the same as thick darkness." 18 "Such people are as swift as the water, and their portion is cursed on the earth. They do not behold the way of the vineyards." 19 "Drought and heat consume the snow waters, just as the grave those who have sinned." 20 "A mother will forget him. The worm feeds sweetly till he is no longer remembered. And wickedness will be broken like a tree." 21 "He wrongs the barren woman And does no good for the widow." 22 "He drags off the valiant by His power. He rises up, and no man is sure of life." 23 "He provides them with safety, and His eyes follow their ways." 24 "They are exalted a little while, and then they are gone." 25 "Who can prove me a liar, and show that what I say is incorrect?"

Job 25 - RWB Paraphrase (6 V)
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Bildad The Shuhite Gives Job An Answer
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, saying, 2 "Dominion and awe belong to Him Who establishes peace in His heights." 3 "Can His troops be numbered? And upon whom does His light not shine?" 4 "How then can a man be just with God? How can he be clean who is born of woman?" 5 "In His sight even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure." 6 "How much less a man, who is but a worm."

Job 26 - RWB Paraphrase (14 V)
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Job answers Bildad the Shuhite
1 Then Job responded and said, 2 "What a help you are to the weak! How you have saved the arm without strength!" 3 "What counsel you have given to one without wisdom! How is your insight helpful?" 4 "To whom are you talking? Whose spirit was expressed through you?" 5 "The departed spirits tremble under the waters." 6 "Those in the grave are naked before Him, and they have no covering in that place." 7 "He stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing." 8 "He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet they do not burst." 9 "He obscures the face of the full moon by spreading His cloud over it." 10 "He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters showing the boundary of light and darkness." 11 "The pillars of heaven tremble at His rebuke." 12 "He quieted the sea with His power, and by His understanding He shattered the proud."

COMMENT: Jesus stilled the storm. Did the disciples eventually remember Job's description of God?

13 "By His spirit He has garnished the heavens. His hand pierced the writhing serpent."

COMMENT: Satan will one day be destroyed by God's hand.

14 "Behold, these are just the fringes of what He has done. We cannot begin to understand His power."

Job 27 - RWB Paraphrase (23 V)
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Job Continues Answering Bildad the Shuhite
1 Then Job continued his discourse and said, 2 "As God lives, who has taken away what was my right, and embittered my soul," 3 "for as long as life is in me," 4 "my lips will not speak unjustly, or utter deceit." 5 "Far be it from me that I should declare that the LORD is right or wrong." 6 "I will hold fast to my claim to righteousness." 7 "May my enemy be as the wicked and my opponent as the unjust." 8 "For what hope does the godless have when God requires his life?" 9 "Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?" 10 "Will he delight in God and call on Him at that time?"

11 "I will teach you by the power of God and conceal nothing of the Almighty." 12 "Behold, all of you have seen it. Why do they act like you haven't?" 13 "This is the portion of a wicked man, and the inheritance which those who oppress shall receive from the Almighty." 14 "He may have many sons, but they are destined for the sword. And his descendants will not be satisfied with bread." 15 "Any who survive will die from the plague. Their widows will have no tears left." 16 "He may accumulate silver and raiment," 17 "but the just will wear it and the innocent will divide the silver." 18 "His life is like that of a moth." 19 "He lies down rich and then does not wake up." 20 "Terrors overwhelm him like a flood." 21 "The east wind carries him away as it whirls him away from his place." 22 "Though he flees from its power, God will not spare him." 23 "No one will be sorry to see his demise."

Job 28 - RWB Paraphrase (28 V)
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Job Has Even More To Say To Bildad The Shuhite
1 "There is a mine for silver and a place where they refine gold." 2 "Iron is taken from the ground, and copper is smelted from rock." 3 "Man makes a light to help him see where he mines metal from within the earth." 4 "He sinks a shaft down deep." 5 "And he makes a living with what he finds." 6 "In the rocks he finds sapphires and gold." 7 "He goes where no bird has ever been able to see." 8 "Neither has any beast walked where he works." 9 "He goes to the roots of the mountains looking for wealth," 10 "making channels through the rock as he looks for anything precious." 11 "He even alters the course of streams as he looks in the stream's bed for something of value."

12 "But where can wisdom be found? Where do you look for understanding?" 13 "Man does not properly value it. It is not found in the land of the living." 14 "The deep says, 'It is not here.' The sea says, 'Its not with me.'" 15 "Gold, even if it is pure, cannot buy it. Neither is there enough silver to pay its price." 16 "Even the gold of Ophir, onyx or sapphire cannot buy it." 17 "Gold or crystal cannot be exchanged for it." 18 "Neither coral or crystal can be used to acquire wisdom, for its value is greater than rubies." 19 "The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it. Pure gold has less value."

20 "Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding?" 21 "It is hidden from everyone. Even if you fly as high as a bird you cannot perceive it." 22 "Abaddon and Death may claim that they have heard of it."

23 "Only God understands its way and knows its place," 24 "for He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens." 25 "When He gave weight to the wind and measured the waters," 26 "when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt," 27 "then He saw it and declared it. He establishes it and has searched it out." 28 "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the LORD is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding."

Job 29 - RWB Paraphrase (25 V)
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Job Has Still More To Say
1 Job continued his discourse, saying, 2 "Oh that it could be as it once was, when God watched over me." 3 "His lamp shown over me and by his light I walked through the darkness." 4 "It was then that God's friendship covered me." 5 "When the Almighty was yet with me, my children were around me." 6 "My steps were bathed in butter. Streams of oil poured out of the rock for me." 7 "I took my seat in the city gate." 8 "The young men saw me and showed respect. Old men stood up for me." 9 "The princes stopped talking and remained quiet." 10 The voice of nobles was hushed and they seemed unable to speak. 11 "I was called blessed by those who saw me or heard of me." 12 "This was because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the orphan who had no one to help them." 13 "Those who were about to perish blessed me. I made the widow's heart sing for joy." 14 "I was clothed with righteousness. My judgment was like a robe and a turban." 15 "I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame." 16 "I was a father to the needy, and I investigated what I thought should be looked into." 17 "I broke the jaws of the wicked and snatched the prey from his teeth." 18 "I thought, 'I shall die in comfort after living many days.'" 19 "My roots spread out to the waters, and dew collected all night on my branches." 20 "My glory was always new with me, and my bow was renewed in my hand." 21 "People listened to me and waited for my counsel." 22 "When I had spoken it was as though there was nothing more to say." 23 "They waited for me like the way they waited for the spring rain." 24 "I smiled when they did not believe me and they then responded well." 25 "I sat as their chief and was as a king among the troops."

Job 30 - RWB Paraphrase (31 V)
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Job Continues
1 "But now those younger than me mock me. It was their fathers who I would not have thought to be equal to my sheepdogs." 2 "They had no vigor and were of no value to my operation." 3 "They were gaunt and lacked initiative." 4 "They subsisted on mallow from the bushes and juniper roots." 5 "They were driven from the community and accused of being thieves." 6 "So they went to live in holes in the rocks." 7 "They gather under the nettles and cry out from the bushes." 8 "They are a scourge in the land, fools without a name." 9 "But now they taunt me. I am a byword among them." 10 "They abhor me and stand aloof. They even spit in my face." 11 "Since God has afflicted me they feel they will never have anything more to do with me." 12 "Their youth rise up against me and trip me up." 13 "They seek to profit from my destruction and no one restrains them." 14 "They roll over me like a tempest." 15 "They pursue my honor like the wind. My prosperity is as though it never was." 16 "My soul is poured out as the days of my affliction seize me." 17 "At night gnawing pains pierce my bones. I have no rest." 18 "My garments wrap around me, binding me and making me uncomfortable."

COMMENT: You know how your clothing can sometimes make you feel restricted while you sleep? What if, like Job, you had trouble rolling over or sitting up?

19 "God has cast me into the mire and I am like dust and ashes." 20 "I cry out to Him for help, but He does not answer. I stand up and He turns away." 21 "Your persecution, O God, has become cruel." 22 "You lift me up to ride the wind and then dissolve me in a rain storm." 23 "I know that You will bring me to my death where all the living go." 24 "Yet even from the heap of ruins that I am I reach out my hand to cry for help." 25 "Didn't I weep for those with a hard life? Wasn't I grieved for the needy?" 26 "When I expected good, then evil came. When I waited for light, darkness was the result." 27 "I cannot relax while affliction confronts me." 28 "I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. I mourn without comfort." 29 "I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches." 30 "My skin turns black, and my bones burn with fever." 31 "Therefore my harp is only for mourning. My flute accompanies those who weep."

Job 31 - RWB Paraphrase (40 V)
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Job Makes His Final Statement
1 "I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I look at a young woman?" 2 "And what is the portion of God from above or the heritage of the Almighty from on high?" 3 "Is it not a calamity to the unjust and disaster to those who work iniquity?" 4 "Does He not see my ways and number all my steps?" 5 "If I have walked with falsehood, hastened after deceit," 6 "then let Him weigh me with His scales. He will know my integrity." 7 "If have turned from the right way, or let my heart follow my eyes, or if I have done anything wrong," 8 "let me sow and another eat, and let my crops be uprooted." 9 "If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's doorway," 10 "may my wife grind for another, and let others have her." 11 "For it would be a crime of lust, and worthy of judgment." 12 "It would be a burning fire to me and it would uproot my increase." 13 "If I have ignored the claim of my male or female slaves when they filed a complaint against me," 14 "how could I face God when my judgment comes and I am called to account? How then could I answer Him?" 15 "Did He not fashion us alike in the womb." 16 "If I have kept the poor from their needs, or caused the eyes of the widow to have no hope," 17 "or have eaten my morsel without sharing it with the orphan," 18 "even though he grew up with me from infancy," 19 "if I have seem anyone perish from lack of clothing," 20 "if I have not made sure that he has been warmed with the fleece of my sheep," 21 "if I have lifted my hand against the orphan, because no one at the gate would interfere," 22 "let my shoulder be dislocated and my arm broken off at the elbow." 23 "For calamity from God is a terror to me, and because of His majesty I can do nothing."

24 "If I have put my confidence in gold and made it what I trust in," 25 "if I have gloated because of my wealth," 26 "if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon in its splendor," 27 "and my heart became secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth," 28 "that would be an iniquity calling for judgment, for I would have denied God's command." 29 "Have I rejoiced when my enemy is vanquished, or exulted when evil befell him?" 30 "No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by cursing his life." 31 "Have the men of my tent not said, 'Who has not been satisfied with his meat?'" 32 "I have opened my doors to the alien traveler." 33 "Have I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom," 34 "because I was afraid of what people would say?" 35 "Oh that someone would listen and the Almighty would answer me." 36 "Surely I would pay attention and value the answer." 37 "I would approach Him like a prince and tell Him everything." 38 "If I have misused my land," 39 "or eaten its fruit without paying for it, or caused others to lose their lives," 40 "let briars grow in place of wheat, and stinkweed in instead of barley."

The words of Job are ended.

Job 32 - RWB Paraphrase (22 V)
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Elihu The Son Of Barachel The Buzite Speaks Up
1 Then these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 But Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was angry with Job because he justified himself before God. 3 He was also angry with his three friends because they had condemned Job without refuting his questions.

4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were much older than he. 5 Seeing that the three men had no answer, Elihu's anger burned. 6 So he spoke up, saying, "I am younger than you, so I was afraid to speak up." 7 "I thought those of a greater age should do the talking and teach wisdom." 8 "But it is obvious that the Spirit of the Almighty gives understanding." 9 "Those of many years may not always be wise and understand justice." 10 "So I will ask you to listen to what I think." 11 "I listened to you and considered your reasonings."

12 "I paid close attention and though you refuted Job's words, none of you answered his questions." 13 "Do not say in your wisdom that God has brought all this on him." 14 "He has not directed his words against me and I will not use your arguments." 15 "You have failed him." 16 "Should I remain silent because you could not answer him?" 17 "No, I will also give my opinion." 18 "For I am full of words and constrained by the Spirit." 19 "These ideas are bursting within me." 20 "I need to speak in order to get relief." 21 "I do not wish to be partial to any man. Flattery is not my way." 22 "Were I to use flattery I feel that my Maker would take me away."

Job 33 - RWB Paraphrase (33 V)
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Elihu the Son of Barachel Continues
1 "However, Job, please hear me out." 2 "Behold, I open my mouth, and my tongue wants to speak." 3 "My words are from uprightness of heart, and I speak from sincerity." 4 "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life." 5 "Refute me if you can."

6 "Like you, I belong to God. I too have been formed out of clay." 7 "There is nothing in me to be afraid of or cause you to feel pressured." 8 "And I have heard your words," 9 "that you are pure and without transgression. You are innocent and without guilt." 10 "You say that God has invented a pretext against you counting you as His enemy." 11 "He has put your feet in the stocks and He watches everything you do." 12 "Let me say that this is not right thinking, for God is greater than man." 13 "Why have you complained against Him because He does not give an account of everything He does?"

14 "Indeed, God may speak once or twice, yet no one listens." 15 "It may be in a dream, or a vision of the night while one sleeps." 16 "He gives instruction," 17 "that He may turn men from what they are doing and protect them from pride." 18 "He wants to keep a man's soul from the grave." 19 "Man is chastened with pain on his bed, and continual complaint in his bones," 20 "so that he comes to hate food." 21 "His flesh wastes away and his bones stick out." 22 "Then his soul draws near to the grave." 23 "If someone mediates for him, reminding him of what is right," 24 "then let him be gracious to him, and say, 'Deliver me from the grave. I have found a ransom.'" 25 "Let his flesh become youthful and may he return to his former vigor." 26 "Then he will pray to God, and be accepted by Him, that he may see His face with joy, and that He may restore His righteousness to man." 27 "He will then sing, saying, 'I have sinned and perverted what is right, and it is not proper for me.'" 28 "He has redeemed my soul from going to the grave, and my life now sees the light."

29 "God has done this many times with men," 30 "bringing their souls back from the grave, and enlightening their lives." 31 "Pay close attention, Job. Listen and let me finish." 32 "Then if you have anything to say, answer me, for I desire to justify you." 33 "Perhaps I can teach you wisdom."

Job 34 - RWB Paraphrase (37 V)
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Elihu Continues
1 Then Elihu continued, saying, 2 "Hear my words, you wise men, and listen to me." 3 "For the ear tests words the way the palate tastes food." 4 "Let us choose for ourselves what is right and good." 5 "Job has said that he is righteous, but that God has taken away his justice." 6 "He has said that he has an incurable wound though he has not sinned." 7 "What man is like Job, who has steadfastly made his claim to righteousness." 8 "Who keeps company with workers of iniquity?" 9 "For he has said that there is no profit in pleasing God."

10 "So please listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do any wicked thing." 11 "He pays a man according to his work." 12 "Surely, God will not act wickedly, perverting justice." 13 "He has authority over the earth? But who made Him responsible for everything?" 14 "If He desired to take His breath back from all mankind," 15 "all flesh would perish and man would return to dust." 16 "But hear these sound words." 17 "Will you condemn the righteous Almighty God," 18 "who takes down kings and rulers," 19 "who shows no partiality to princes, and neither regards the rich above the poor, because they are all the work of His hands?" 20 "They may die at any time. The mighty have no advantage." 21 "For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, and He sees all his steps." 22 "There is no place they can hide." 23 "He does not have to wait for a man to go before Him to judgment in order to do with them as He wishes." 24 "He breaks mighty men without inquiry, setting others in their place." 25 "He knows their works, and overthrows them whenever He wishes." 26 "He strikes them like the wicked in a public place," 27 "because they turned from following Him, and did not regard any of His ways." 28 "They caused the poor to cry out to Him, and He heard their cry." 29 "When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn Him? And when He hides His face, who can behold Him. This is true for both the nation and man." 30 "This is done so godless men will not rule." 31 "Someone may say, 'I have been punished and will not offend again,'" 32 "Teach me to know the better way." 33 "Are you the one to decide the terms of your punishment? Can you reject what has been declared?" 34 "Some may say," 35 "Job speaks without knowledge, or wisdom." 36 "Job ought to be tried to the limit, because he answers like the wicked," 37 "for he adds rebellion to his sin, multiplying his words against God."

Job 35 - RWB Paraphrase (16 V)
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Elihu Continues
1 Then Elihu continued and said, 2 "Do you think it is righteous to say that you are more righteousness than God?" 3 "You have asked what advantage will it be to you to have not sinned?" 4 "I will answer you and your friends." 5 "Like the clouds in the heavens, some things are higher than you." 6 "If you sin, what do you accomplish against God?" 7 "If you are righteous, what does He receive from you?" 8 "Whether you are wicked or righteous, you are only a man." 9 "Many are the wrongs that cry out to God." 10 "But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,'" 11 "Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?" 12 "If they cry out and He does not answer, it is because of their pride." 13 "Surely God will not listen to the empty cry of such men." 14 "How much less when you demand to be heard by Him. You must learn to wait." 15 "So now, when He does not explain His anger," 16 "Job opens his mouth, multiplying empty words without knowledge."

Job 36 - RWB Paraphrase (33 V)
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Elihu Continues
1 Then Elihu continued, saying, 2 "Wait a bit and I will say yet more in God's behalf." 3 "I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and ascribe righteousness to my Maker." 4 "My words are not false."

5 "Behold, God is mighty in strength and understanding and does not despise anyone." 6 "He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives justice to the afflicted." 7 "He does not take His eyes from the righteous, but exalts kings on their thrones forever." 8 "Some are bound in cords of affliction," 9 "then He declares to them their transgressions, with which they have magnified themselves." 10 "He opens their ears to instruction, and commands that they turn from evil." 11 "If they hear and serve Him, He will bring years of prosperity and pleasure to them." 12 "But if they do not listen, they shall die without knowledge." 13 "The godless lay up anger against themselves." 14 "They perish in their youth among the unclean." 15 "He delivers the afflicted in their affliction." 16 "He removed you from your distress into a broad place where there is no constraint of what is good." 17 "But you were filled with judgment against the wicked." 18 "Beware that your wrath is not your undoing." 19 "Will your riches keep you from distress? No, not with gold, or with all the force of your strength?" 20 "Do not long for night where people are used to hiding?" 21 "Be careful not to turn to evil." 22 "Behold, God in His power is exalted. Who can teach as He does?" 23 "Who has told Him what He must do, or when He is wrong?" 24 "Remember, you should exalt His work, for men have sung about Him."

25 "All men have seen this." 26 "Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him. Neither can we fathom the number of His years." 27 "He draws up the drops of water creating rain from the mist." 28 "Then the clouds pour down upon man with abundance." 29 "Can anyone understand the science of the clouds and the thunder in His pavilion?" 30 "Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him, and He covers the depths of the sea." 31 "So He is well able to judge people. He gives food in abundance." 32 "From His hands He makes the lightning to strike its mark." 33 "His presence is made known by its noise. Even the cattle are stirred by its coming."

Job 37 - RWB Paraphrase (24 V)
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Elihu Continues
1 "The thought of it makes my heart skip a beat." 2 "Listen closely to the thunder of His voice, and the rumbling that goes out from His mouth." 3 "He lets it loose from the heavens. His lightning shines to the ends of the earth." 4 "Again His majestic voice thunders." 5 "With His voice He does things too great for us to comprehend." 6 "He tells the snow to fall and instructs the rain to come in a strong downpour." 7 "He stops a man's hand so that he may take the time to witness His work." 8 "Then the beast goes into its den and stays there." 9 "The storm comes out of the south while cold comes down from the north." 10 "God's breath makes ice and freezes the water." 11 "He loads the thick cloud with moisture. Then He scatters His bright cloud." 12 "It goes where He sends it over the face of the earth, doing what He commands." 13 "He causes this to happen for whatever reason He chooses." 14 "Listen, Job, and consider God's wonders." 15 "Do you know how God makes the clouds or the lightening?" 16 "Do you understand the clouds at their different heights? Neither can you understand His perfect knowledge?" 17 "You cannot stop the south wind." 18 "Can you know how He stretches out the skies, strong as molten glass?"

19 "Teach us what to say to Him for our ways of thinking are as darkness." 20 "If a man should think to tell God what to do, that man would be swollowed up." 21 "Men cannot see the bright light in the clouds until the wind blows them away." 22 "Out of the north comes the golden splendor of God's awesome majesty." 23 "We cannot touch the Almighty or find Him out. He is perfect in power, justice and righteousness." 24 "Men fear Him because He has no regard for those who are wise in their own eyes."

Job 38 - RWB Paraphrase (41 V)
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The Lord Answered Job Out Of The Whirlwind
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

COMMENT:

1 Kings 19:11 Then God said, "Go stand on the mountain before the LORD." And the LORD passed by! A great and strong wind was rending the mountain, blowing pieces of rock about. But the LORD was not in the wind. The wind was followed by an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

2 "Who is this that gives counsel a bad name by using words without knowledge?" 3 "Gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you questions, and you can instruct Me!"

4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me if you know." 5 "Who determined its size and put things where they are?" 6 "Where are its foundations and who laid its cornerstone," 7 "when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" 8 "Or who set limits for the sea so that it would stays where it belongs?" 9 "When I made clouds its dark garment," 10 "and set its boundaries." 11 I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther. 12 "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning to come, causing the dawn to know its place," 13 "that it might reach to the ends of the earth, displacing the darkness which the wicked prefer?" 14 "It stands like a garment and is as clay under the seal."

COMMENT: These are some of the evidences God gives of Who He is.

15 "There light is withheld from the wicked and their upraised arm is broken."

16 "Have you known of the springs under the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?" 17 "Have you seen the gates of death where there is deep darkness?" 18 "Have you understood how big the earth is? Tell Me, if you know all this." 19 "Where does light come from? And where is the place of darkness?" 20 "Can you discern its place and know its paths?" 21 "To know this you would have to have been born when it came to be and the number of your days would be very great." 22 "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or the hail?" 23 "I have reserved these for times of distress, for the day of war and battle." 24 "Where is the way that the light is divided, or how the east wind scattered on the earth?" 25 "Who has made a channel for the flood, or a way for the lightening," 26 "bringing rain on a land without people, and on a desert without a man in it," 27 "to satisfy the waste and desolate land to make the seeds of grass to sprout?"

28 "Has the rain a father? Where did the drops of dew come from?" 29 "Where was the ice born and where did the frost come from?" 30 "Water becomes hard as stone, and the surface of the deep is imprisoned." 31 "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?" 32 "Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, and guide Arcturus with his sons?" 33 "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, or can you fix where they are over the earth?" 34 "Can you with your voice open the clouds and make them rain?" 35 "Can you command the lightning?"

36 "Who has put wisdom and understanding into the mind?" 37 "Who can count the clouds or start them raining," 38 "when the ground becomes so hard you cannot see tracks." 39 "Can you hunt as the lion does," 40 "crouching and lying in wait?" 41 "Who prepares for the raven that it may nourish its young when they cry to God and wander about without food?"

Job 39 - RWB Paraphrase (30 V)
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God Continues Talking To Job
1 "Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer?" 2 "Do you know the number of months until they give birth?" 3 "They kneel down, bring forth their young and are finished with the labor pains." 4 "Their offspring become strong and grow up in the open field, and eventually are on their own."

5 "Who sent out the wild donkey and loosed their bonds?" 6 "I gave them the wilderness for their home and the salt land for their dwelling place?" 7 "They scorn the hustle and bustle of the city. They do not hear the shouts of the driver." 8 "They explore the mountains looking for green pasture."

9 "Will the wild ox consent to serve you, or spend the night at your manger?" 10 "Can you use the wild ox to make a furrow or pull the harrow?" 11 "Will you trust his great strength to work for you?" 12 "Can you expect him to come home in the evening to eat the grain from your threshing floor?"

13 "The ostriches' wings flap joyously when mating." 14 "Then she lets the warm earth incubate her eggs." 15 "She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild beast may trample them." 16 "She is unconcerned for her young, treating as if they were not hers," 17 "because God has made her without wisdom and has not given her understanding." 18 "When she runs she laughs at the horse and its rider."

19 "Do you give the horse his might or clothe his neck with a mane?" 20 "Do you make him able leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrible." 21 "He paws the earth, rejoicing in his strength and challenging any threat." 22 "He laughing at fear and does not turn back from the sword." 23 "Implements of war are all around him." 24 "He shakes with rage as he races over the ground and nothing deters him." 25 "As often as the trumpet sounds he smells the scent of battle and hears the captains' war cry."

26 "Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, stretching his wings toward the south?" 27 "Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?" 28 "He dwells on the cliff, lodging upon the inaccessible rocky crag." 29 "From there he can see his food which is far away." 30 "His young suck up blood, and where the slain are, there he is."

Job 40 - RWB Paraphrase (24 V)
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God Continues Talking with Job
1 Then the LORD said to Job, 2 "will he who contends with the Almighty instruct Him? Let the one who reproves God give an answer."

3 Job answered the LORD and said, 4 "Behold, I am insignificant. I have to be quiet." 5 "Having spoken I have no answer. Ask me again, but I have nothing more to say."

6 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm and said, 7 "Gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask of you, that you may instruct Me." 8 "Will you condemn Me so that you may be justified?" 9 "Or do you have an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like His?" 10 "Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity, and clothe yourself with honor and majesty." 11 "Pour out all of your anger, looking on everyone who is proud, making him low." 12 "Humble the proud and tread down the wicked where they stand." 13 "Grind them into the dust until they are gone." 14 "If you can do this then I will confess that your own right hand can save you."

15 "I made the Behemoth just as I made you. He eats grass like an ox." 16 "Behold now, his strength is in his loins and he has power in the muscles of his belly." 17 "He bends his tail which is thick like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are knit together." 18 "His bones are as bronze and his limbs are like iron." 19 "He is the first of the ways of God. And His Maker bring near His sword." 20 "Surely he finds his food in the mountains where the beasts of the field play." 21 "He lies down under the shady trees, hiding in the reeds in the marsh." 22 "The willow trees give him their shade along the brook." 23 "No matter how deep the rushing river, he is not alarmed." 24 "Can anyone capture him with hooks to pierce his nose while he watches for them?"

Job 41 - RWB Paraphrase (34 V)
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God Keeps Talking With Job
1 "Can you catch Leviathan with a hook? Or restrain his tongue with a rope?" 2 "Can you put a hook into his nose or his jaw?" 3 "Will he plead with you using soft words?" 4 "Will he make a deal with you to become your servant forever?" 5 "Will you keep him as you would a bird or bind him for your maidens?" 6 "Will the traders bargain for him to divide him among themselves?" 7 "Can you fill his skin with harpoons, or his head with fishing spears?" 8 "Lay your hand on him and you will do it only once." 9 "The idea is preposterous. Just the sight of him will lay you low." 10 "No one dares arouse him. Who then can stand before Me?"

COMMENT: As the Creator of the largest creatures, God is greater than they are. If we are in awe of these great animals, how much more we should stand in awe of God.

11 "To whom do I owe anything? Everything under the whole heaven is Mine."

12 "I will continue to point out his mighty strength and wonderful frame." 13 "Who can strip off his outer armor or his two layers of mail?" 14 "Who can open his mouth? His teeth are a terror." 15 "His strong scales are his pride. Nothing can get through them." 16 "Even air cannot get between his scales." 17 "They are interlocked and cannot be separated." 18 "When he sneezes light flashes. His eyes are like the morning light." 19 "His mouth belches fire." 20 "Smoke pours from his nostrils." 21 "His breath makes coals to burn." 22 "In his neck is strength and everything before him is dismayed."

23 "There is no way to get through the folds of his flesh." 24 "His heart is as strong as stone." 25 "When he raises himself up, the mighty fear and are bewildered." 26 "No spear or javelin can harm him." 27 "To him iron is as straw and bronze as rotten wood." 28 "He does not run from arrows and stones slung at him are as nothing." 29 "He laughs at clubs and the rattling of the javelin." 30 "His underparts are also safe from attack." 31 "When he moves quickly the depths boil like a pot." 32 "As he moves he leaves a wake behind him." 33 "Nothing on earth is like him. He is without fear." 34 "He is king over everything he sees."

Job 42 - RWB Paraphrase (17 V)
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God Makes His Final Statement and Restores Job
1 Then Job answered the LORD and said, 2 "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted." 3 "Who can give counsel without knowledge? I declared what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know." 4 "I will speak and ask You, and You will instruct me." 5 "I have heard of You, but now my eye has seen You," 6 "therefore I retract what I said, and repent in dust and ashes."

7 "After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about Me as My servant Job has. 8 "Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves and he will pray for you. And I will hear his prayer so that I will not do with you according to your folly in not speaking the truth about Me as My servant Job has." 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD told them, and the LORD heard Job's prayer.

10 The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends and He gave Job twice as much as he had lost. 11 Then all his brothers and sisters, as well as everyone who had known him before, came to him, ate bread with him in his house, and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him. Each one gave him a piece of money, and a ring of gold.

12 The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Kerenhappuch. 15 Job's daughters were the fairest in all the land. And He gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. 17 He died, an old man full of days.

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42