The Trial of Job

Table of Contents

Job's Defender

[Radio announcer. Job is smarting from Zophar's 
insult. He's never, ever been called witless before!] 
12:1Then Job answered, saying: 
 
2No doubt you are the ones
 And with you wisdom will die!
3But I have understanding as well as you;
 I am not less than you -- 
 Who does not know such things?
Addressing his friends. 
4I have become like a man who is mocked,
 One who calls upon God, but his neighbor answers.
 The just, the innocent man is a laughingstock.
5Men at ease have contempt for misfortune;
 They take aim at those who stumble,
6While the tents of robbers are undisturbed 
Addressing the crowd. 
His neighbor - i.e. Zophar.
 And those who provoke God are secure,
 Those whose god is their own mighty fist!
Job raises his fist and shakes it as if provoking God. 
7Ask the animals, they will teach you,
 The birds of the sky, they will tell you;
8Or speak to the earth, it will teach you,
 The fish of the sea, they will tell you.
9Who does not know all these things,
 That the hand of Jehovah has done this?
10In his hand is every living soul 
  And the breath of all mankind. 
11Can the ear not tell a word
  Or the mouth what food it tastes?
Addressing Bildad -- 2nd person singular. 
12A grey beard signifies wisdom,
  And a long life brings understanding.
13But wisdom and might are his;
  With him are counsel and understanding.
14He tears down and there is no rebuilding;
  He imprisons and there is no release.
15He holds back the waters and there is drought;
  He lets them loose and they devastate the land.
16With him are power and victory;
  Deceived and deceiver are both his.
17He strips the counselors of their wits 
  And turns judges into fools. 
18He loosens the restraint of kings
  And girds their loins for war.
19He strips the priests of their reaon 
  And overthrows those appointed for life. 
20He deprives the trustworthy of speech 
  And takes away the judgment of the elders. 
21He pours contempt upon the princes 
  And disarms the strong men. 
22He opens the depths of darkness
  And brings forth a great shadow to the light.
23He makes nations great and he destroys them;
  He enlarges nations and he leads them away
24He dements the leaders of the people of the earth;
  He sends them wandering through a trackless waste.
25They grope in darkness where there is no light;
  He makes them stagger like drunkards. 

13:1My eye has seen all this;
 My ear has heard and understood.

Meaning Eliphaz. 
Meaning Bildad. 
Meaning God. 
2What you know, I know too;
 I am not less than you.
Still to his friends. 
3As for me, I would speak to the Almighty
 And argue my case with God; that is my desire.
4But you, you gild the lie and mend the idol,
 Doctors of what is not, all of you.
5If you would just keep silent,
 It would be your wisdom.
Referring to Eliphaz from 5:8. 
6Please listen to my arguments
 Hear the plea of my lips.

But all three speak at once. 
And they won't stop. 
7Is it for God you speak so wickedly?
 Is it for his sake that you lie?
8Looking to please him, are you?
 Lawyers for God?
9If he examines you, what then?
 Can you fool him as you might a man?
10He will sharply rebuke you
  If you are secretly currying favor.
11Won't his splendor overawe you then?
  And the dread of him fall upon you!
12Your parchments will be proverbs of ash then, 
  Your ancient tablets but shards of clay. 
Job raises his voice and finally they quiet down.

13Be silent now that I may speak --
  Then come upon me what may.

14My tongue in my teeth as my oath
  And my hand on my throat, a sign that I know
15He may kill me; I may have no hope,
  But I will defend my ways to his face.

Again all three speak up. 
Job tries to quiet them. 

He suddenly makes a hideous gesture, sticking out his tongue and biting on it, his forefinger across his throat. He meets Eliphaz' eyes and holds them a moment, reasserting himself. 

16This might even be my salvation,
  For no godless man would face him so.
Aside.
17Now listen closely to my speech; 
  Lend your ears to what I say,
18For I have put my case in order
  And I know I will be acquitted.
To his friends again.
 [Radio announcer. Job's wife has helped him up.] 
19Who then will contend with me,
  That I should keep silent and die?
With his wife's help, Job stands and intones v. 19 as a court ritual. 
0Two things only I ask,
  And then I will not hide from your face:
21That you remove your hand far from me
  And that your dread not dismay me.
22Then summon me and I will answer
Addressing God.
  Or let me speak and you reply.

23How many are my wrongs and my sins?
  Tell me how I have sinned or given offense.

Job pauses so God may summon him. 

24Why do you hide your face
  And regard me as your enemy?
25Will you harry a driven leaf?
  Pursue dry chaff?
26For your sentences against me are bitter
  And you fault me for the errors of my youth.
27You shackle my ankles
  And watch all my paths;
  You brand the soles of my feet.
Job pauses so God may reply.
[Radio announcer. Job is shuffling over to the Pit.] 
28Like something that decays he wastes away,
  Like a moth-eaten garment.
14:1Man born of woman,
  Few of days and full of trouble.
2He flowers and dies;
 Like a fleeting shadow, he is gone.
3Yet you watch him,
 And bring him to be judged in your court!
4Who can bring the clean from the unclean? 
 No one! So let him be. 
5His days are measured;
 The number of his months is with you; 
 You have set the bounds and he cannot pass.
6So turn your gaze,
 Give him leave to enjoy his day of hire.

7There is hope for a tree
 If it is cut down, that it will sprout again
 And that its new growth will not fail.
8Though its roots grow old in the earth
 And its stump die in the dust,
9Still at the smell of water it may bud
 And put forth new shoots like a seedling.
10But a man when he dies, where is he?
  He breathes his last and is no more.
11As water fails from a lake, 
  As a riverbed dries and cakes, so 
12Man lies down and he does not get up. 

Job shuffles to the edge of the burial pit. 
  While the sky is above, they wake not;
  They will not be roused from sleep.
Those in the pit. 
13O that you would hide me in Sheol,
  Conceal me till your anger has passed,
  Set me a time and then remember me.
Job sinks to his knees. 
14Could it be that a man die and yet live?
  Then all my embattled days I would endure
  Until my relief should come.
Aside. 
The actor playing Job is Job's relief!  He rises and bows. 
15You would summon me and I would answer;
  You would tremble to see your handiwork again.
16That now you might count my steps,
  Spying out my sin no more.
17The record of my wrongs would be sealed up;
  You would gloss over my error.

18But no, a mountain falls away to nothing;
  The rock itself is moved from its place.
19Water wears away the stone
  And storm rains wash away the dirt;
  Thus you destroy man's hope.
20You trample him down to stay and he goes;
  You change his look and send him away. 
21His sons are honored but he does not know it,
  Or humiliated and he thinks nothing of it.
22Only his flesh upon him keeps aching
  And his soul within him keeps mourning.

Addressing God. 

Job means now -- the time of the play.

[Radio announcer. Eliphaz has put his arm around 
Job and is walking him away from the Pit.] 

15:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, saying: 

2Does a wise man answer empty conceit,
 Fill his belly with the hot east wind?

Musical interlude. 
Eliphaz puts his arm around Job's shoulders and walks him away from the edge of the Pit. 

He speaks gently to Job, who is touched. 

3Does he offer a useless rebuke?
 Or words that have no profit in them?
And then harshly to Zophar.
More quietly to Bildad. 
4But you, you are casting off fear
 And dishonoring prayer!
5For it is your guilt that guides your mouth;
 You choose the tongue of guile.
6Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
 Your own lips testify against you.
7Are you Adam born before Adam,
 Older than the hills,
8A listener at God's inner circle?
 Keeping your wisdom to yourself, are you?
9So what do you know that we do not know?
 And what understanding is yours and not ours?
10For among us are the old and gray, 
  Older by far than your father. 
11Is comfort from God not enough for you,
  Words that treat you gently?
But then Eliphaz spins Job around to face him and launches an attack.
[Radio Job only. Enough!]
12Has your heart so carried you away,
  Have your eyes so failed you,
Job turns his back on Eliphaz and faces the Pit again. 
13That you turn your spirit against God
  And say what you say?
14How can mortal man be pure?
  Born of woman, how can he be righteous?
Eliphaz turns Job around once more. 
15See how God has no faith in his angels,
  How he faults the heavens and the stars!
16What then of the loathsome and corrupt,
  What of man, who drinks his sin like water?
17I will tell you -- listen!
  I will say what I have seen,
18What wise men have declared,
  What our fathers saw fit to pass on
19To whom alone the land was given, 
  When no stranger passed among them:
20The wicked man is in torment all his days,
  The tyrant all the years set in store for him.
21He hears the sound that he fears --
  In the midst of prosperity, thieves breaking in.
22He despairs of escape from darkness;
  He is marked for the sword.
23He wanders, food for vultures,
  And he knows his ruin is at hand.
24Dread of that dark day is upon him;
  Trouble and anguish loom over him
  Like a king poised to attack.
Job breaks away to sit by his wife.
25For he lifted his hand against God,
  Bid defiance against the Almighty
26Charged him headlong 
  With his thick studded shield.
27He grew jowly and sleek 
  With fat dimpled hips. 
28But he will dwell in the ruins of cities, 
  In houses uninhabited 
  That are ready to collapse. 
29He will not grow rich 
  And his wealth will not mount up; 
  His treasure will not reach to the grave.
30He will not escape darkness;
  Flames will scorch his new growth; 
  God's breath will blow him away.

31He is misled who trusts what is not,
  For his pay will be nought,
32Paid in full before due. He is 
  Like a palm whose frond grows dry, 
33Like a vine that shakes off its unripe grapes, 
  Like an olive that casts down its blossoms. 
34For the company of the godless will prove barren
  And the tents of the venal will burn.
35Trouble they conceive and evil they bear,
  But their womb nurtures a mirage.

[Radio announcer. Job is beside himself with misery. 
Just for a moment, Eliphaz had seemed a true friend.] 
16:1Then Job answered, saying: 

Raising a fist.
2I have often heard such things.
 You are miserable comforters, all of you!
To his three friends - 2nd plural.
3Have empty words no end?
 Or what is it keeps you answering?
4I could speak as you do 
 If your soul were where mine is. 
 I could fill your ears with words 
 And be shaking my head over you, 
5Encouraging you with my mouth, 
 Comforting you with my bouncing lips. 
To Eliphaz - 2nd person singular. 
To all three - plural again. 
6If I speak, my pain is not less;
 If I stop, it does not leave me.
Aside.
7But now he has wearied me. Meaning Eliphaz. 
You have forsaken my company;
8You took hold of me, to be witness;
Addressing Eliphaz.
But he rose up against me,
 Called me liar to my face!
9With his tearing rage and his hate, 
 With his gnashing teeth in pursuit, 
Turning to address the crowd. 
 My enemy sharpens his eyes against me. 
10Their mouths wide open to rip me, 
  Their insults like slaps in the face, 
  They mass in numbers against me. 
11God has given me into the hands of cruel youth, 
  Handed me over to the godless.
12I was at ease and he crushed me;
  Yes he took me by the neck and hammered me.
  Now he sets me up for his target;
Catcalls from the audience. 
13His archers ring me round.
  He pierces my kidneys and does not care; 
  He pours out my bile on the ground, 
14He drives me through, blow after blow,
  Running to the attack like a mighty warrior.

15I have made my dress of sackcloth,
  Cast my pride in the dust.
16My face is red with weeping;
  Deep shadows are round my eyes.
17But my hands are free from violence
  And my prayer is undefiled.

Meaning the crowd. 
18Earth cover not my blood;
  Give my cry no resting place.

{Storyteller. Just then a falcon flew up with 
piercing cries. I was there. I saw it happen!}

Job again. 
19See now in the heavens, testifying for me,
  It is my witness on high,
20Interpreter of my thoughts, a cry --
  Tears unto God from my eye! --
21Arguing for a man with God
  As a man might argue for his friend.

Job cries out, Ayyah! and gashes 
his arm with the potsherd.

Continued...

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last changed July 5, 2012