Job 17:1 - 20:29

Job 17:1-16 (NASB) 
¹ "My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.
² "Surely mockers are with me, And my eye gazes on their provocation.
³ "Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Yourself; Who is there that will be my guarantor?
⁴ "For You have kept their heart from understanding, Therefore You will not exalt them.
⁵ "He who informs against friends for a share of the spoil, The eyes of his children also will languish.
⁶ "But He has made me a byword of the people, And I am one at whom men spit.
⁷ "My eye has also grown dim because of grief, And all my members are as a shadow.
⁸ "The upright will be appalled at this, And the innocent will stir up himself 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 come again all of you now, For I do not find a wise man among you.
¹¹ "My days are past, my plans are torn apart, Even the wishes of my heart.
¹² "They make night into day, saying, 'The light is near,' in the presence of darkness.
¹³ "If I look for Sheol as my home, I make my bed in the darkness;
¹⁴ If I call to the pit, 'You are my father'; To the worm, 'my mother and my sister';
¹⁵ Where now is my hope? And who regards my hope?
¹⁶ "Will it go down with me to Sheol? Shall we together go down into the dust?"

Job 18:1-21 (NASB) 
¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,
² "How long will you hunt for words? Show understanding and then we can talk.
³ "Why are we regarded as beasts, As stupid in your eyes?
⁴ "O you who tear yourself in your anger— For your sake is the earth to be abandoned, Or the rock to be moved from its place?
⁵ "Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out, And the flame of his fire gives no light.
⁶ "The light in his tent is darkened, And his lamp goes out above him.
⁷ "His vigorous stride is shortened, And his own scheme brings him down.
⁸ "For he is thrown into the net by his own feet, And he steps on the webbing.
⁹ "A snare seizes him by the heel, And a trap snaps shut on him.
¹⁰ "A noose for him is hidden in the ground, And a trap for him on the path.
¹¹ "All around terrors frighten him, And harry him at every step.
¹² "His strength is famished, And calamity is ready at his side.
¹³ "His skin is devoured by disease, The firstborn of death devours his limbs.
¹⁴ "He is torn from the security of his tent, And they march him before the king of terrors.
¹⁵ "There dwells in his tent nothing of his; Brimstone is scattered on his habitation.
¹⁶ "His roots are dried below, And his branch is cut off above.
¹⁷ "Memory of him perishes from the earth, And he has no name abroad.
¹⁸ "He is driven from light into darkness, And chased from the inhabited world.
¹⁹ "He has no offspring or posterity among his people, Nor any survivor where he sojourned.
²⁰ "Those in the west are appalled at his fate, And those in the east are seized with horror.
²¹ "Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, And this is the place of him who does not know God."

Job 19:1-29 (NASB) 
¹ Then Job responded,
² "How long will you torment me And crush me with words?
³ "These ten times you have insulted me; You are not ashamed to wrong me.
⁴ "Even if I have truly erred, My error lodges with me.
⁵ "If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me And prove my disgrace to me,
⁶ Know then that God has wronged me And has closed His net around me.
⁷ "Behold, I cry, 'Violence!' but I get no answer; I shout for help, but there is no justice.
⁸ "He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, And He has put darkness on my paths.
⁹ "He has stripped my honor from me And removed the crown from my head.
¹⁰ "He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.
¹¹ "He has also kindled His anger against me And considered me as His enemy.
¹² "His troops come together, And build up their way against me And camp around my tent.
¹³ "He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
¹⁴ "My relatives have failed, And my intimate friends have forgotten me.
¹⁵ "Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight.
¹⁶ "I call to my servant, but he does not answer; I have to implore him with my mouth.
¹⁷ "My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
¹⁸ "Even young children despise me; I rise up and they speak against me.
¹⁹ "All my associates abhor me, And those I love have turned against me.
²⁰ "My bone clings to my skin and my flesh, And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
²¹ "Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me.
²² "Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
²³ "Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
²⁴ "That with an iron stylus and lead They were engraved in the rock forever!
²⁵ "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.
²⁶ "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;
²⁷ Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!
²⁸ "If you say, 'How shall we persecute him?' And 'What pretext for a case against him can we find?'
²⁹ "Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, So that you may know there is judgment."

Job 20:1-29 (NASB) 
¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,
² "Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me respond, Even because of my inward agitation.
³ "I listened to the reproof which insults me, And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.
⁴ "Do you know this from of old, From the establishment of man on earth,
⁵ That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless momentary?
⁶ "Though his loftiness reaches the heavens, And his head touches the clouds,
⁷ He perishes forever like his refuse; Those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'
⁸ "He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him; Even like a vision of the night he is chased away.
⁹ "The eye which saw him sees him no longer, And his place no longer beholds him.
¹⁰ "His sons favor the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.
¹¹ "His bones are full of his youthful vigor, But it lies down with him in the dust.
¹² "Though evil is sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue,
¹³ Though he desires it and will not let it go, But holds it in his mouth,
¹⁴ Yet his food in his stomach is changed To the venom of cobras within him.
¹⁵ "He swallows riches, But will vomit them up; God will expel them from his belly.
¹⁶ "He sucks the poison of cobras; The viper's tongue slays him.
¹⁷ "He does not look at the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and curds.
¹⁸ "He returns what he has attained And cannot swallow it; As to the riches of his trading, He cannot even enjoy them.
¹⁹ "For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; He has seized a house which he has not built.
²⁰ "Because he knew no quiet within him, He does not retain anything he desires.
²¹ "Nothing remains for him to devour, Therefore his prosperity does not endure.
²² "In the fullness of his plenty he will be cramped; The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.
²³ "When he fills his belly, God will send His fierce anger on him And will rain it on him while he is eating.
²⁴ "He may flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.
²⁵ "It is drawn forth and comes out of his back, Even the glittering point from his gall. Terrors come upon him,
²⁶ Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures, And unfanned fire will devour him; It will consume the survivor in his tent.
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 flow away in the day of His anger.
²⁹ "This is the wicked man's portion from God, Even the heritage decreed to him by God."