Is God Fair? - Excerpts from Job
ELIPHAZ:
2 “If someone should attempt a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can refrain from speaking?
3 Look, you have instructed many;
you have strengthened feeble hands.
4 Your words have supported those who stumbled,
and you have strengthened the knees that gave way.
5 But now the same thing comes to you,
and you are discouraged; it strikes you,
and you are terrified.
6 Is not your piety your confidence, and your blameless ways your hope?
7 Call to mind now: Who, being innocent, ever perished?
And where were upright people ever destroyed?
8 Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
10 There is the roaring of the lion and the growling of the young lion,
but the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The mighty lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
5:17 “Therefore, blessed is the man whom God corrects,
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18 For he wounds, but he also bandages;
he strikes, but his hands also heal.
JOB:
6:14 “To the one in despair, kindness should come from his friend
even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brothers have been as treacherous as a seasonal stream,
and as the riverbeds of the intermittent streams
that flow away.
6:28 “Now then, be good enough to look at me;
and I will not lie to your face!
29 Relent, let there be no falsehood;
reconsider, for my righteousness is intact!
30 Is there any falsehood on my lips?
Can my mouth not discern evil things?
BILDAD:8:11 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.
8:20 “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.”
JOB:
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.
9:14 “How much less, then, can I answer him
and choose my words to argue with him.
15 Although I am innocent,
I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my judge for mercy.
16 If I summoned him, and he answered me,
I would not believe
that he would be listening to my voice—
17 he who crushes me with a tempest,
and multiplies my wounds for no reason.
18 He does not allow me to recover my breath,
for he fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a matter of strength,
most certainly he is the strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice,
he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’
20 Although I am innocent,
my mouth would condemn me,
although I am blameless,
it would declare me perverse.
21 I am blameless. I do not know myself.
I despise my life