Job 13

VBL · Chapter 13/42

1Mira, he visto todo esto con mis propios ojos, y lo he oído con mis propios oídos, y lo entiendo.

2Sé lo que sabes. No eres mejor que yo.

3Pero aun así me gustaría hablar con el Todopoderoso: ¡Quiero probarme ante Dios!

4En cuanto a ustedes, ¡encubren las cosas diciendo mentiras! ¡Todos ustedes son como los médicos que no pueden curar a nadie!

5¡Cuánto desearía que se callaran todos! Eso sería lo más sensato para ustedes.

6Escuchen mi argumento y presten atención a lo que tengo que decir.

7¿Creen que pueden decir mentiras para defender a Dios? ¿Hablan con engaño en su nombre?

8¿O es que quieren demostrar su favoritismo a Dios? ¿Argumentarán en favor de Dios?

9¿Concluirá Dios que hacen el bien cuando los examine? ¿Podrán engañarlo como si se tratara de un ser humano?

10¡No, definitivamente los reprenderá si le muestran secretamente su favoritismo!

11¿No les aterra su majestad? ¿Acaso no se paralizarían de miedo ante él?

12Sus dichos son tan útiles como la ceniza; sus argumentos tan débiles como el barro.

13Callen y no me hablen. Déjenme hablar, pase lo que pase.

14Me hago responsable de mí mismo y estoy dispuesto a arriesgar mi vida.

15Aunque me mate, esperaré en él. Todavía seguiré defendiendo mis caminos ante él.

16Haciendo esto me salvaré, ya que ningún impío podría presentarse ante él.

17Escuchen atentamente lo que digo, y presten atención a mi explicación.

18Miren que he preparado mi caso y sé que se me dará la razón.

19¿Quién quiere discutir conmigo? Si se demuestra que estoy equivocado, estoy dispuesto a callar y morir.

20Dios, tengo dos peticiones, entonces podré enfrentarme a ti.

21Deja de golpearme, y deja de aterrorizarme.

22Entonces llama, y yo responderé. O déjame hablar, y luego respóndeme.

23¿Cuáles son mis pecados e iniquidades? Muéstrame qué he hecho mal; ¿cómo me he rebelado contra ti?

24¿Por qué eres tan hostil conmigo? ¿Por qué me tratas como tu enemigo?

25¿Asustarías a una hoja movida por el viento o cazarías un pedazo de paja?

26Porque escribes cosas amargas contra mí y me haces pagar por los pecados de mi juventud.

27Pones mis pies en el cepo. Vigilas cada uno de mis pasos. Incluso inspeccionas mis huellas.

28Me deshago como algo podrido, como ropa apolillada.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Job calls his friends "worthless physicians" and asks them to be silent so he can present his case directly before God. He boldly declares that even if God should slay him, he will still trust in Him, and asks to know exactly what his transgressions are.

Explanation

The expression "worthless physicians" (verse 4) is a direct criticism of the quality of comfort offered by the friends, who diagnose Job's situation without truly understanding the cause of his suffering. The famous declaration "though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" (verse 15) is one of the highest points of faith in the entire book, showing that Job's confidence in God remains even amid the deepest doubt and pain, without depending on a satisfying explanation for his suffering. Application for today: it is possible to maintain a fundamental trust in God even when the difficulties one faces are not understood or explained.

Fun facts

  • The phrase "though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" (verse 15) is one of the best-known and most-quoted lines in the book of Job in contexts of faith under extreme suffering, appearing in hymns and liturgies to this day.
  • The term "worthless physicians," or literally "physicians of no value" in the Hebrew, is one of Job's most direct and sarcastic criticisms, especially ironic considering that the three friends had initially come with the intention of comforting him.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Job 13:1Job affirms he has seen all this with his own eyes and heard and understood it with his own ears — he is not repeating hearsay, this is his own direct experience and observation.
  2. Job 13:2“What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you” sums up Job’s complaint against his friends’ lecturing tone.
  3. Job 13:3Job declares what he really wants: not to argue with his friends anymore, but to speak directly to the Almighty and plead his case before God.
  4. Job 13:4“Physicians of no value” is one of the most direct insults in the book — Job calls his friends incompetent healers, people who should have kept quiet.
  5. Job 13:5Job delivers a biting reply: “O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.”
  6. Job 13:6He asks them to hear his defense and the arguments of his lips — he wants real attentive listening, not interruption.
  7. Job 13:7Job asks whether his friends are speaking wickedness “for God,” inventing excuses in His name — he accuses them of lying to defend a theology, not the truth.
  8. Job 13:8He asks whether they are showing partiality toward God, defending Him like biased lawyers instead of seeking the truth of the facts.
  9. Job 13:9Job warns: will it go well for them when God examines them? Deceiving God is not like deceiving a man — “religious” lies will also be held to account.
  10. Job 13:10God will surely reprove them, says Job, if in secret they are showing Him favoritism at the expense of the truth.
  11. Job 13:11Job asks whether God’s majesty will not terrify his friends themselves — suggesting that the judgment they fear will fall on Job could fall on them too.
  12. Job 13:12“Maxims of ashes” and “defenses of clay” is how Job labels his friends’ sayings — pretty wisdom on the outside, with no real strength underneath.
  13. Job 13:13Job asks for silence so he can speak, come what may — he is willing to take the risk of speaking freely.
  14. Job 13:14“Taking my flesh in my teeth” and “putting my life in mine hand” are expressions of risking everything — Job knows challenging God this way is dangerous, but decides to go through with it anyway.
  15. Job 13:15The line “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” is one of the most quoted in the book — defiance and trust at once, Job holding onto faith even while expecting the worst.
  16. Job 13:16Job believes the very act of appearing before God is already evidence in his favor, because a true hypocrite would never dare come before Him.
  17. Job 13:17He insists again that they listen carefully to his statement — repeating his request for a fair hearing.
  18. Job 13:18Job says he has already prepared his case and is certain he will be found righteous — total confidence in his own cause, if judged impartially.
  19. Job 13:19He challenges anyone to prove otherwise: if someone could, he himself would fall silent and accept death.
  20. Job 13:20Job turns to speak directly to God, asking only two conditions before he presents himself without hiding.
  21. Job 13:21The two conditions: that God withdraw His hand from him and that divine terror stop frightening him — only then could Job speak freely, picking up the request from chapter 9.
  22. Job 13:22Job proposes a real dialogue: “Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me” — he wants a two-way conversation, not a one-sided monologue.
  23. Job 13:23Job demands to know exactly how many faults and sins he has — he wants the concrete list of charges, because he recognizes none that would justify this much suffering.
  24. Job 13:24Job accuses God of hiding His face and treating him as an enemy without saying why. This is his central complaint: he wants a formal trial, not silence.
  25. Job 13:25Job compares himself to a leaf blown by the wind or dry stubble — he asks why a God so great would spend energy chasing something as insignificant as he feels himself to be.
  26. Job 13:26He wonders whether God is charging him for old sins of his youth, things perhaps long forgotten — an attempt to understand where so much punishment could be coming from.
  27. Job 13:27Job describes himself locked “in the stocks,” his very footsteps watched and marked — the sense of being treated like a prisoner under constant surveillance.
  28. Job 13:28The closing image compares man to something rotting away, like a garment eaten by moths — it ends the chapter, setting up the meditation on human frailty that continues into chapter 14.

Chapters

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.