The Trial of Job

Job's Charge

[Radio announcer. The crowd appears ready to do some harm to Job's friends! Here's Job again.] ^21:1Then Job answered, saying: ²Listeners, hear my words, Learn what solace can be; ³Bear with me, that I, too, may speak.		Quieting the crowd.
Then when I have done, mock on. ⁴As for me, is my complaint against man? So why should I not be impatient? ⁵Pay heed and be astonished, With your hand over your mouth. ⁶When I think of it myself I am appalled And I begin to shudder. ⁷Why do the wicked live on To a flourishing old age? ⁸Their family is established around them, Yes, their children, before their eyes. ⁹In peaceful homes they dwell, free from fear; The rod that God wields is not for them. ¹⁰The bull of such a one never fails to breed And the cows never miscarry. ¹¹They send their children out like a flock to pasture And the boys go scampering about. ¹²They raise their voices to tambourine and harp And dance to the sound of the pipe. ¹³They spend their days in happiness And when they descend to Sheol, they go easily, ¹⁴The ones who said to God, "Leave us; We do not want to know your ways. ¹⁵What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit is ours if we pray to him?" ¹⁶Happiness is not secure in their grasp; Far from me be the thoughts of the wicked! ¹⁷Yet how often is it their lamp is put out Or disaster comes upon them And suffering from God is their portion, ¹⁸Harried like straw before the wind, Like chaff blown aloft by a gale? ¹⁹God lays up a man's sins against his children? Better he should reward the man so he knows it, ²⁰So his eyes see the cup of his fate From which he will drink the rage of the Almighty. ²¹For what pleasure has he in his family after him When the number of his months is cut short?		To Zophar, second person sing. Aside. Impatient with God.
²²Is it of God his knowledge tells? And this other one, he judges those on high? ²³One man dies in full vigor, Secure and at ease, ²⁴Sleek of thigh, The marrow of his bones still moist. ²⁵Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, One who has never tasted happiness.		Pointing at Zophar. Pointing at Eliphaz.
²⁶They lie down alike in the dust And the worm covers them both just the same. ²⁷See how I know what you are thinking, The trap you would lay for me -- ²⁸You would ask, "Where does this great man live?" And "Just where are the tents of the wicked?" ²⁹But have you not spoken with travelers Or do you not understand their portents,		Job walks the edge of the crowd, noting faces. Looking back at his friends.
³⁰How on the day of disaster the sinner was spared, *How on the day of thick clouds* they escaped? ³¹So who will tell him what he is to his face And who will repay him for what he has done? ³²He'll be borne in procession to the grave,**		He searches the crowd, finally singling out for attention a conspicuously overdressed and overfed merchant.
Where he will watch over the tomb. ³³The wadi stones will nestle him; Yes, all mankind follows in his train And beyond number are those who go before. ³⁴How then can you comfort me with what is not, For your answers are reduced to lies. [Radio announcer. Eliphaz is not about to give up.] 22:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, saying:		Looking up to God.
²Is it God a man profits, That a wise man should serve him?		Asking the crowd.
³Does the Almighty find pleasure in your innocence Or gain somehow from your perfection? ⁴Is it for your fear he rebukes you And brings you to court? ⁵Is it not rather for your great wickedness And your sins unending, ⁶For taking your brother's pledge without cause And stripping a man, leaving him naked, ⁷For the water you withheld from the weary to drink And the bread from the hungry to eat? ⁸No man of the soil, but a man of might, Looked up to by all in your country seat,		Speaking to Job.
⁹Yet you sent widows away empty And mistreated the orphan to his ruin...? ¹⁰Of course you are surrounded by snares And overwhelmed by sudden terror, ¹¹Or by darkness so you cannot see And rushing floods that cover you! ¹²Is not God in the height of heaven? Consider the topmost stars, how high they are! ¹³Yet you ask, "What does God really know? Can he rule through dark shadow, *¹⁴Concealed by thick clouds, unable to see* As he walks the vault of heaven?" ¹⁵Will you keep the road the ages have kept, Tread the steps that wicked men trod, ¹⁶Who were taken before their time, Their foundations washed away by the river?		Barest hint of a questionmark.
¹⁷They were the ones who said to God, "Leave us!" Asking what the Almighty could do for them, ¹⁸When it was he who filled their houses with goods --		Indicating the crowd, who jeer him in return.
But far from me be the thoughts of the wicked. ¹⁹(The righteous will see and rejoice, And the innocent one will laugh at him.) ²⁰If not, then our witness be as if unsaid And fire consume the rest unread!		Job laughs at Eliphaz' confusion. Eliphaz takes the scroll in which the scribe has been writing, threatening to throw it on the smoldering ash heap.
²¹Oh, get used to him and be at peace; Then from them shall good come to you. ²²Accept the instructions of his mouth		Get used to God. From the crowd.
And treasure his words in your heart; ²³Come back to the Almighty and be restored. Put evil far from your tent		Returning the scroll to Job, who hugs it before handing it to the scribe.
²⁴And adorn the dust with silver, [Radio announcer. Look at this! Eliphaz has thrown off his silver necklace, and now he is tossing gold coins from his purse.] The wadi stone with Ophir gold. ²⁵Let the Almighty be your treasure And your stacks of silver. ²⁶Then he will be all your delight And you will lift up your face to God. ²⁷When you pray, he will hear you; What you vow, you will fulfill. ²⁸As you decide, so it shall be; A light will shine on your ways. ²⁹You will say to the humbled, "Arise," For he saves the man with the downcast eyes.		He slips off a silver necklace and throws it down carelessly. From a pocket of his robe he takes a handful of gold coins, which he throws far into the wadi.
³⁰Even one not innocent he will deliver, Who may escape by your clean hands. [Radio announcer. Job seems much recovered.] ^23:1Then Job answered, saying:		Looking at the dead man in the pit.
²But today my complaint is rebellion itself And my groans are not easily suppressed. ³Who can tell me where to find him That I might go to his dwelling place? ⁴I would lay my case before him And fill my mouth with arguments, ⁵Hear the words of his reply And discern what he has to say. ⁶Would he send some lawyer to dispute with me? No, surely he would lay charge against me himself! ⁷There an upright man might reason with him; There I might bring my case to issue at last.		Job turns full circle in place as he speaks to the crowd. Where to find God.
⁸But look how I go forward and he is not there, Backward and I do not perceive him. ⁹I turn to the left and I cannot find him, To the right, but I catch no glimpse of him.... ¹⁰For he has been on the path that I tread.		Displaying a new vigor, Job marches forward and back, to the left and to the right.
Test me! I will shine like gold! ¹¹My feet have followed his steps closely; I have kept his way without turning aside, ¹²The commands of his lips, never slipping; I have treasured his words in my breast. ¹³But once he decides, who can stop him? What he desires to do, that he does. ¹⁴His sentence against me he will complete And many such things he has in store! ¹⁵That is why I fear his presence; When I consider, I am afraid of him. ¹⁶God has made my heart tremble; The Almighty has filled me with dread; ¹⁷For though the darkness does not shroud me,		Speaking to God. To the crowd again.
Yet I am cloaked in gloom.		Job's ashen cloak turns black.
^26:5The shades below are trembling, The waters and all their residents. ⁶Sheol is naked before him; Abaddon is uncovered. ⁷He stretches out Mount Zaphon over the void And founds the earth on the emptiness. ⁸He wraps the waters in cloud And the mists are not torn by the weight. ⁹He veils the face of the full moon And spreads his cloud over it. ¹⁰He draws a circle upon the waters To separate the light from the dark.		After a short musical interlude, Job speaks again. He has fallen into a prophetic trance.
¹¹The pillars of heaven reverberate, Shaken by the flash of his anger. ¹²By his power he stirs up the waves; By his cunning he strikes down the Dragon. ¹³He trawls the sea with his breath; His hand pierces the elusive serpent. ¹⁴And these are but stories of his might, Only the whisper of his truth in our ears. The thunder of his power, who could grasp it?		A drum rolls lightly.
*^24:1Why does the anger of the Almighty not* mount up? Why do his friends never see his Days of Wrath? ²Boundary stones are removed, Flock and shepherd seized. ³The orphan's donkey is driven away, The widow's ox taken in pledge. ⁴Beggars are pushed out of the way And the wretched of the earth must seek refuge. ⁵Like zebras they forage in the wilderness; The desert must provide for their children. ⁶In another man's field they reap, Glean in the vineyard of the wicked. ⁷Naked they sleep, with no blanket; They have no covering against the cold. ⁸They are soaked by the mountain rains, Hugging the rocks to find shelter. ⁹The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; The infant of the poor is taken for a debt.**		The drum bangs suddenly, loudly. Job returns to himself.
¹⁰Naked they go, with no garment, And hungry, they carry in the harvest. ¹¹In unlit workhouses they press the olive, And thirstly, they tread the grape. ¹²The dead are cast forth from the city		Looking into the pit.
And the slain cry out in their souls, Yet God thinks nothing amiss!		Groans from the pit. The crowd is amazed.

Continued...
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last changed January 19, 2002