Insignificance of Humans

17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,

and that you pay attention to them?

18  And that you visit them every morning,

and try them every moment?

19  Will you never look away from me,

will you not let me alone

long enough to swallow my spittle?

20  If I have sinned – what have I done to you,

O watcher of men?

Why have you set me as your target?

Have I become a burden to you?

21  And why do you not pardon my transgression,

and take away my iniquity?

For now I will lie down in the dust,

and you will seek me diligently,

but I will be gone.”

8  Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said:

2 “How long will you speak these things,

seeing that the words of your mouth

are like a great wind?

3  Does God pervert justice?

Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?

4  If your children sinned against him,

he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

5  But if you will look to God,

and make your supplication to the Almighty,

6  if you become pure and upright,

even now he will rouse himself for you,

and will restore your righteous abode.

7  Your beginning will seem so small,

since your future will flourish.

8 “For inquire now of the former generation,

and pay attention to the findings

of their ancestors;

9  For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge,

since our days on earth are but a shadow.

10  Will they not instruct you and speak to you,

and bring forth words

from their understanding?

11  Can the papyrus plant grow tall where there is no marsh?

Can reeds flourish without water?

12  While they are still beginning to flower

and not ripe for cutting,

they can wither away

faster than any grass!

13  Such is the destiny of all who forget God;

the hope of the godless perishes,

14  whose trust is in something futile,

whose security is a spider’s web.

15  He leans against his house but it does not hold up,

he takes hold of it but it does not stand.

16  He is a well-watered plant in the sun,

its shoots spread over its garden.

17  It wraps its roots around a heap of stones

and it looks for a place among stones.

18  If he is uprooted from his place,

then that place will disown him, saying,

‘I have never seen you!’

19  Indeed, this is the joy of his way,

and out of the earth others spring up.

20 “Surely, God does not reject a blameless man,

nor does he grasp the hand

of the evildoers.

21  He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,

and your lips with gladness.

22  Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

9  Then Job answered:

2 “Truly, I know that this is so.

But how can a human be just before God?

3  If someone wishes to contend with him,

he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.

4  He is wise in heart and mighty in strength –

who has resisted him and remained safe?

5  He who removes mountains suddenly,

who overturns them in his anger;

6  he who shakes the earth out of its place

so that its pillars tremble;

7  he who commands the sun and it does not shine

and seals up the stars;

8  he alone spreads out the heavens,

and treads on the waves of the sea;

9  he makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

and the constellations of the southern sky;

10  he does great and unsearchable things,

and wonderful things without number.

11  If he passes by me, I cannot see him,

if he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

12  If he snatches away, who can turn him back?

Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

13  God does not restrain his anger;

under him the helpers of Rahab lie crushed.