Job 13 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Job Wants to Argue His Case with God

Job 13:1

Job 13:1“Look, I have seen all this with my own eyes
and heard it with my own ears, and now I understand.

Job 13:2

Job 13:2I know as much as you do.
You are no better than I am.

Job 13:3

Job 13:3As for me, I would speak directly to the Almighty.
I want to argue my case with God himself.

Job 13:4

Job 13:4As for you, you smear me with lies.
As physicians, you are worthless quacks.

Job 13:5

Job 13:5If only you could be silent!
That’s the wisest thing you could do.

Job 13:6

Job 13:6Listen to my charge;
pay attention to my arguments.

Job 13:7

Job 13:7“Are you defending God with lies?
Do you make your dishonest arguments for his sake?

Job 13:8

Job 13:8Will you slant your testimony in his favor?
Will you argue God’s case for him?

Job 13:9

Job 13:9What will happen when he finds out what you are doing?
Can you fool him as easily as you fool people?

Job 13:10

Job 13:10No, you will be in trouble with him
if you secretly slant your testimony in his favor.

Job 13:11

Job 13:11Doesn’t his majesty terrify you?
Doesn’t your fear of him overwhelm you?

Job 13:12

Job 13:12Your platitudes are as valuable as ashes.
Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot.

Job 13:13

Job 13:13“Be silent now and leave me alone.
Let me speak, and I will face the consequences.

Job 13:14

Job 13:14Yes, I will take my life in my hands
and say what I really think.

Job 13:15

Job 13:15God might kill me, but I have no other hope.[fn]
I am going to argue my case with him.

Job 13:16

Job 13:16But this is what will save me—I am not godless.
If I were, I could not stand before him.

Job 13:17

Job 13:17“Listen closely to what I am about to say.
Hear me out.

Job 13:18

Job 13:18I have prepared my case;
I will be proved innocent.

Job 13:19

Job 13:19Who can argue with me over this?
And if you prove me wrong, I will remain silent and die.

Job Asks How He Has Sinned

Job 13:20

Job 13:20“O God, grant me these two things,
and then I will be able to face you.

Job 13:21

Job 13:21Remove your heavy hand from me,
and don’t terrify me with your awesome presence.

Job 13:22

Job 13:22Now summon me, and I will answer!
Or let me speak to you, and you reply.

Job 13:23

Job 13:23Tell me, what have I done wrong?
Show me my rebellion and my sin.

Job 13:24

Job 13:24Why do you turn away from me?
Why do you treat me as your enemy?

Job 13:25

Job 13:25Would you terrify a leaf blown by the wind?
Would you chase dry straw?

Job 13:26

Job 13:26“You write bitter accusations against me
and bring up all the sins of my youth.

Job 13:27

Job 13:27You put my feet in stocks.
You examine all my paths.
You trace all my footprints.

Job 13:28

Job 13:28I waste away like rotting wood,
like a moth-eaten coat.

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(13:15)

An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text reads God might kill me, but I hope in him.

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