Darkness/ deep darkness etc

From Susan Quigley, with thanks,

Tom

18-JOB.usfm

@@ -894,7 +894,7 @@
 \v 1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
 \q
 \v 2 "Should not such a multitude of words be answered?
-\q Should this man, so full of talk, be acquitted?
+\q Should this man, so full of talk, be believed?
 \q
 \v 3 Should your boasting make others remain silent?
 \q When you mock, will no one make you feel ashamed?
@@ -902,13 +902,13 @@
 \s5
 \q
 \v 4 For you say to God, 'My beliefs are pure,
-\q I am clean in your eyes.'
+\q I am blameless in your eyes.'
 \q
 \v 5 But, oh, that God would speak
 \q and open his lips against you;
 \q
 \v 6 that he would show you the secrets of wisdom!
-\q For sound wisdom has two sides.
+\q For he is great in understanding.
 \q Know then that God demands from you less than your iniquity deserves.
 
 \s5
@@ -925,13 +925,13 @@
 \s5
 \q
 \v 10 If he passes through and shuts anyone up,
-\q if he calls an assembly, then who can stop him?
+\q if he calls anyone to judgment, then who can stop him?
 \q
-\v 11 For he knows deceitful people;
+\v 11 For he knows false people;
 \q when he sees iniquity, does he not notice it?
 \q
-\v 12 But foolish people will gain understanding
-\q when the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.
+\v 12 But foolish people have no understanding;
+\q they will get it when a wild donkey gives birth to a man.
 
 \s5
 \q
@@ -946,7 +946,7 @@
 \v 15 Then you will certainly lift up your face without a sign of shame;
 \q indeed, you will be steadfast and will not fear.
 \q
-\v 16 You will forget your trouble;
+\v 16 You will forget your misery;
 \q you will remember it only like waters that have flowed away.
 \q
 \v 17 Your life will be brighter than the noonday;
@@ -963,7 +963,7 @@
 \s5
 \q
 \v 20 But the eyes of wicked people will fail;
-\q they will have no refuge;
+\q they will have no way to flee;
 \q their only hope will be a last gasp of life."
 
 \s5
@@ -1020,7 +1020,7 @@
 \v 13 With God are wisdom and might;
 \q he has counsel and understanding.
 \q
-\v 14 See, he tears down, and it cannot be built again;
+\v 14 See, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again;
 \q if he imprisons someone, there can be no release.
 \q
 \v 15 See, if he withholds the waters, they dry up;
@@ -1034,7 +1034,7 @@
 \v 17 He leads counselors away barefoot in sorrow;
 \q he turns judges into fools.
 \q
-\v 18 He removes the bond of kings;
+\v 18 He takes off the chain of authority from kings;
 \q he wraps a cloth about their waists.
 
 \s5
@@ -1046,12 +1046,12 @@
 \q and takes away the understanding of the elders.
 \q
 \v 21 He pours contempt upon princes
-\q and unfastens the belt of the strong.
+\q and unfastens the belt of strong people.
 
 \s5
 \q
 \v 22 He reveals the deep things of darkness
-\q and brings thick darkness into the light.
+\q and brings utter darkness into the light.
 \q
 \v 23 He makes nations strong, and he also destroys them;
 \q He enlarges nations, and he also leads them along as prisoners.
@@ -1080,7 +1080,7 @@
 \q I wish to reason with God.
 \q
 \v 4 But you whitewash the truth with lies;
-\q you are all worthless healers.
+\q you are all physicians of no value.
 \q
 \v 5 Oh, that you would altogether hold your peace!
 \q That would be your wisdom.
@@ -1090,7 +1090,7 @@
 \v 6 Hear now my own reasoning;
 \q listen to the pleading of my own lips.
 \q
-\v 7 Will you speak unrighteousness for God,
+\v 7 Will you speak unrighteously for God,
 \q and will you talk deceitfully for him?
 \q
 \v 8 Will you show him partiality?
@@ -1098,7 +1098,7 @@
 
 \s5
 \q
-\v 9 Will it be good for you when he examines you?
+\v 9 Will it be good for you when he searches you out?
 \q Could you deceive him as you might deceive men?
 \q
 \v 10 He would surely reprove you
@@ -1134,10 +1134,10 @@
 \s5
 \q
 \v 18 See now, I have set my defense in order;
-\q I know that I will be vindicated.
+\q I know that I am innocent.
 \q
 \v 19 Who is the one who would argue against me in court?
-\q If you came to do so, and if I were proved wrong, then I would be silent and die.
+\q If you came to do so, and if I were proved wrong, then I would be silent and give up my life.
 
 \s5
 \q
@@ -1158,7 +1158,7 @@
 \v 24 Why do you hide your face from me
 \q and treat me like your enemy?
 \q
-\v 25 Will you cause a driven leaf to tremble?
+\v 25 Will you persecute a driven leaf?
 \q Will you pursue dry stubble?
 
 \s5
@@ -1216,7 +1216,7 @@
 \q indeed, man stops breathing, and then where is he?
 \q
 \v 11 As water disappears from a lake,
-\q and as a river becomes dry and dries up,
+\q and as a river loses water and dries up,
 \q
 \v 12 so people lie down and do not rise again.
 \q Until the heavens are no more, they will not awake
@@ -1230,7 +1230,7 @@
 \q that you would set me a fixed time to stay there and then call me to mind!
 \q
 \v 14 If a man dies, will he live again?
-\q All my time of service there I will wait
+\q If so, I would wish to wait all my weary time there
 \q until my release should come.
 
 \s5
@@ -1247,7 +1247,7 @@
 
 \s5
 \q
-\v 18 But even mountains fall and crumble to nothing;
+\v 18 But even mountains fall and come to nothing;
 \q even rocks are moved out of their place;
 \q
 \v 19 the waters wear down the stones;
@@ -1256,7 +1256,7 @@
 
 \s5
 \q
-\v 20 You forever defeat him, and he passes away;
+\v 20 You always defeat him, and he passes away;
 \q you change his face and send him away to die.
 \q
 \v 21 If his sons are honored, he does not know it;
@@ -1279,10 +1279,10 @@
 \s5
 \q
 \v 4 Indeed, you diminish respect for God;
-\q you obstruct meditation before him,
+\q you obstruct devotion to him,
 \q
 \v 5 for your iniquity teaches your mouth;
-\q you choose to have the tongue of the crafty.
+\q you choose to have the tongue of a crafty man.
 \q
 \v 6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
 \q indeed, your own lips testify against you.
@@ -1322,7 +1322,7 @@
 \v 15 See, God puts no trust even in his holy ones;
 \q indeed, the heavens are not clean in his sight;
 \q
-\v 16 how much less clean is one who is abhorrent and corrupt,
+\v 16 how much less clean is one who is abominable and corrupt,
 \q a man who drinks iniquity like water!
 
 \s5
@@ -1347,7 +1347,7 @@
 \s5
 \q
 \v 22 He does not think that he will return out of darkness;
-\q he has been marked out for the sword.
+\q the sword waits for him.
 \q
 \v 23 He goes to various places for bread, saying, 'Where is it?'
 \q He knows that the day of darkness is at hand.
@@ -1387,7 +1387,7 @@
 \q for uselessness will be his reward.
 \q
 \v 32 It will happen before his time should come to die;
-\q his palm branch will not be green.
+\q his branch will not be green.
 \q
 \v 33 He will drop his unripe grapes like a grapevine;
 \q he will cast off his flowers like the olive tree.
@@ -1406,7 +1406,7 @@
 \v 1 Then Job answered and said,
 \q
 \v 2 "I have heard many such things;
-\q you are all troublesome comforters.
+\q you are all miserable comforters.
 \q
 \v 3 Will useless words ever have an end?
 \q What is wrong with you that you answer like this?
@@ -1467,7 +1467,7 @@
 \q I have thrust my horn into the ground.
 \q
 \v 16 My face is red with weeping,
-\q on my eyelids is thick darkness;
+\q on my eyelids is utter darkness;
 \q
 \v 17 although there is no violence in my hands,
 \q and my prayer is pure.
@@ -1495,7 +1495,7 @@
 \c 17
 \m
 \q
-\v 1 My spirit is broken, and my days are over;
+\v 1 My spirit is consumed, and my days are over;
 \q the grave is ready for me.
 \q
 \v 2 Surely there are mockers with me;
@@ -1520,9 +1520,9 @@
 \q they spit in my face.
 \q
 \v 7 My eye is also dim because of sorrow;
-\q all my members are as thin as shadows.
+\q all the parts of my body are as thin as shadows.
 \q
-\v 8 Upright men will be appalled by this;
+\v 8 Upright men will be stunned by this;
 \q the innocent man will stir himself up against godless men.
 
 \s5
@@ -1598,7 +1598,7 @@
 \q and a trap for him in the way.
 \q
 \v 11 Terrors will make him afraid on every side;
-\q they will chase him at every step.
+\q they will chase him at his heels.
 
 \s5
 \q
@@ -1632,8 +1632,8 @@
 \v 19 He has no offspring or descendants among his people,
 \q no survivor where he once lived.
 \q
-\v 20 Those who live in the west are appalled at what happens to him one day,
-\q and horror seizes those who live in the east.
+\v 20 Those who live in the west will be horrified at what happens to him one day;
+\q those who live in the east will be frightened by it.
 
 \s5
 \q
@@ -1645,8 +1645,8 @@
 \p
 \v 1 Then Job answered and said,
 \q
-\v 2 "How long will you torment me
-\q and crush me with words?
+\v 2 "How long will you make me suffer
+\q and break me into pieces with words?
 
 \s5
 \q
@@ -1701,12 +1701,12 @@
 \q I am an alien in their sight.
 \q
 \v 16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer
-\q although I seek his favor with my mouth.
+\q although I entreat him with my mouth.
 
 \s5
 \q
 \v 17 My breath is offensive to my wife;
-\q I am even detestable to those who were born from my mother's womb.
+\q I am even disgusting to those who were born from my mother's womb.
 \q
 \v 18 Even young children despise me;
 \q if I rise to speak, they speak against me.
@@ -1777,7 +1777,7 @@
 \v 6 Though his height reaches up to the heavens,
 \q and his head reaches to the clouds,
 \q
-\v 7 yet such a person will perish forever like his own dung;
+\v 7 yet such a person will perish permanently like his own feces;
 \q those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'
 
 \s5
@@ -1805,7 +1805,7 @@
 \q but keeps it still in his mouth—
 \q
 \v 14 the food in his intestines turns bitter;
-\q it becomes the poison of vipers inside him.
+\q it becomes the poison of asps inside him.
 
 \s5
 \q
@@ -1820,7 +1820,7 @@
 \v 17 He will not enjoy the streams,
 \q the torrents of honey and butter.
 \q
-\v 18 He will give back the fruit of his labor and will not be able to swallow it;
+\v 18 He will give back the fruit of his labor and will not be able to eat it;
 \q he will not enjoy the wealth earned by his commerce.
 \q
 \v 19 For he has oppressed and neglected poor people;
@@ -1828,14 +1828,14 @@
 
 \s5
 \q
-\v 20 Because he has known no satisfaction in his belly,
+\v 20 Because he has known no satisfaction himself,
 \q he will not be able to save anything in which he takes pleasure.
 \q
 \v 21 There is nothing left that he did not devour;
 \q therefore his prosperity will not be permanent.
 \q
-\v 22 In the fullness of his abundance he will fall into trouble;
-\q the hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.
+\v 22 In the abundance of his wealth he will fall into trouble;
+\q the hand of everyone who is in poverty will come against him.
 
 \s5
 \q
@@ -1882,7 +1882,7 @@
 \v 4 As for me, is my complaint to a person?
 \q Why should I not be impatient?
 \q
-\v 5 Look at me and be appalled,
+\v 5 Look at me and be astonished,
 \q and lay your hand upon your mouth.
 \q
 \v 6 When I think about my sufferings, I am terrified,
@@ -2465,7 +2465,7 @@
 \s5
 \q
 \v 3 A man sets an end to darkness
-\q and searches out to the farthest limit,
+\q and searches out to the farthest limit
 \q the stones in the blackest darkness.
 \q
 \v 4 He breaks open a shaft away from where people live,

24-JER.usfm

@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@
 \q
 \v 6 They did not say, 'Where is Yahweh, who brought us up from the land of Egypt?
 \q Where is Yahweh, who led us to the wilderness, into the land of the Arabah and pits,
-\q in a land of drought and utter darkness,
+\q in a land of drought and thick darkness,
 \q a land through which no one passes and where no one lives?'
 
 \s5