Lamentations 3:22-33

“If a man dies, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14)

As the discussion comes to the end of the first cycle (Job 3–14), Job is not persuaded by the arguments of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. All three of the friends agree that Job must repent of his sin and then God will restore him to the blessing he enjoyed previously. In the first part of this long speech of seventy-five verses, Job speaks to his friends (12:1–13:12). After a transitional section (13:13–19), in which Job decides to turn away from his friends, he addresses God (13:20–14:22). Job sees that his only hope is to argue his case before God, because he cannot convince his friends that he is innocent. In chapter 12, Job presents evidence from his observation of life that indicates God often acts in ways that do not fit the retribution principle, which the friends have insisted on using as their measure for evaluating Job’s situation.

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