Job 13

Job Continues: Still I Will Hope in God

1 "Behold, my eye has seen all this,
my ear has heard and understood it.
 2 c What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
 3 d But I would speak to the Almighty,
and I desire to e argue my case with God.
 4 As for you, f you whitewash with lies;
g worthless physicians are you all.
 5 Oh that you would h keep silent,
and it would be your wisdom!
 6 Hear now my argument
and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
 7 Will you i speak falsely for God
and speak i deceitfully for him?
 8 Will you show partiality toward him?
Will you j plead the case for God?
 9 Will it be well with you when he k searches you out?
Or l can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?
 10 He will surely rebuke you
if in secret you show partiality.
 11 Will not his m majesty terrify you,
and the dread of him fall upon you?
 12 Your maxims are proverbs of n ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.

13 "Let me have silence, and I will speak,
and let come on me what may.
 14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
and o put my life in my hand?
 15 p Though he slay me, I will q hope in him; 1
yet I will r argue my ways to his face.
 16 This will be my salvation,
that the godless shall not come before him.
 17 s Keep listening to my words,
and let my declaration be in your ears.
 18 Behold, I have t prepared my case;
I know that I shall be in the right.
 19 u Who is there who will contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.
 20 Only grant me two things,
then I will not v hide myself from your face:
 21 w withdraw your hand far from me,
and let not x dread of you terrify me.
 22 y Then call, and I will answer;
or let me speak, and you reply to me.
 23 How many are my iniquities and my sins?
z Make me know my transgression and my sin.
 24 Why a do you hide your face
and b count me as your enemy?
 25 Will you frighten c a driven leaf
and pursue dry d chaff?
 26 For you e write bitter things against me
and make me inherit f the iniquities of my youth.
 27 You put my feet in g the stocks
and h watch all my paths;
you set a limit for 2 the soles of my feet.
 28 Man 3 wastes away like i a rotten thing,
like a garment that is j moth-eaten.

  1. Cross References
    Job 12:3
    But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
    Job 15:9
    What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
  2. Cross References
    Job 23:4
    I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
    Job 31:35
    Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
  3. Cross References
    Job 13:15
    Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.
    Job 13:18
    Behold, I have prepared my case; I know that I shall be in the right.
  4. Cross References
    Psalms 119:69
    The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts.
  5. Cross References
    Job 16:2
    I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all.
  6. Cross References
    Proverbs 17:28
    Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
  7. Cross References
    Job 27:4
    My lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit.
  8. Cross References
    Job 27:4
    My lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit.
  9. Cross References
    Judges 6:31
    But Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.
  10. Cross References
    Proverbs 28:11
    A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has understanding will find him out.
  11. Cross References
    Galatians 6:7
    Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
  12. Cross References
    Job 31:23
    For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 44:20
    He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?
  14. Cross References
    Judges 12:3
    And when I saw that you would not save me, I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?
  15. Cross References
    Proverbs 14:32
    The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing, but the righteous finds refuge in his death.
  16. Cross References
    Job 14:14
    If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.
  17. Cross References
    Job 13:3
    But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.
    Job 27:5
    Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
  18. Cross References
    Job 21:2
    Keep listening to my words, and let this be your comfort.
  19. Cross References
    Job 33:5
    Answer me, if you can; set your words in order before me; take your stand.
  20. Cross References
    Isaiah 50:8 - 9
    He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.
  21. Cross References
    Genesis 3:8
    And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
  22. Cross References
    Job 9:34
    Let him take his rod away from me, and let not dread of him terrify me.
    Psalms 39:10
    Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
  23. Cross References
    Job 9:34
    Let him take his rod away from me, and let not dread of him terrify me.
    Job 33:7
    Behold, no fear of me need terrify you; my pressure will not be heavy upon you.
  24. Cross References
    Job 14:15
    You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.
  25. Cross References
    Psalms 19:12
    Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
  26. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:20
    And he said, 'I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
  27. Cross References
    Job 19:11
    He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary.
    Job 33:10
    Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me as his enemy.
    Lamentations 2:5
    The Lord has become like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel; he has swallowed up all its palaces; he has laid in ruins its strongholds, and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
  28. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:36
    And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues.
  29. Cross References
    Job 21:18
    That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?
    Psalms 83:13
    O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind.
  30. Cross References
    Psalms 149:9
    To execute on them the judgment written! This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the Lord!
  31. Cross References
    Psalms 25:7
    Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
  32. Cross References
    Job 33:11
    He puts my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths.
  33. Cross References
    Job 10:14
    If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity.
  34. Cross References
    Proverbs 12:4
    An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.
    Proverbs 14:30
    A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.
    Habakkuk 3:16
    I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.
  35. Cross References
    Job 4:19
    How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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