Job 4:1–14:22

FIRST SERIES OF SPEECHES

ELIPHAZ SPEAKS

4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 Should anyone try to speak with you

when you are exhausted?

Yet who can keep from speaking?

3 Indeed, you have instructed many

and have strengthenedg weak hands.

4 Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling

and braced the knees that were buckling.h

5 But now that this has happened to you,

you have become exhausted.

It strikesi you, and you are dismayed.

6 Isn’t your piety your confidence,

and the integrity of your lifeB your hope?j

7 Consider: Who has perished when he was innocent?

Where have the honestC been destroyed?k

8 In my experience, those who plow injustice

and those who sow troublel reap the same.m

9 They perish at a single blastn from God

and come to an end by the breath of his nostrils.o

10 The lion may roar and the fierce lionp growl,

but the teeth of young lions are broken.q

11 The strong lion dies if it catches no prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.r

12 A word was brought to me in secret;

my ears caught a whisper of it.s

13 Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night,t

when deep sleepu comes over men,

14 fear and trembling came over mev

and made all my bones shake.

15 I felt a draftD on my face,

and the hair on my body stood up.

16 A figure stood there,

but I could not recognize its appearance;

a form loomed before my eyes.

I heard a whispering voice:

17 “Can a mortal be righteous before God?

Can a man be more pure than his Maker?”w

18 If God puts no trust in his servants

and he charges his angels with foolishness,E,x

19 how much more those who dwell in clay houses,y

whose foundation is in the dust,

who are crushed like a moth!

20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;

they perish forever while no one notices.z

21 Are their tent cords not pulled up?

They die without wisdom.aa

5 Call out! Will anyone answer you?

Which of the holy onesab will you turn to?

2 For anger kills a fool,

and jealousy slays the gullible.ac

3 I have seen a fool taking root,

but I immediately pronounced a curse on his home.

4 His children are far from safety.

They are crushed at the city gate,ad

with no one to rescue them.

5 The hungry consume his harvest,

even taking it out of the thorns.A

The thirstyB pant for his children’s wealth.

6 For distress does not grow out of the soil,

and trouble does not sprout from the ground.

7 But humans are born for troublea

as surely as sparks fly upward.

8 However, if I were you, I would appeal to God

and would present my case to him.b

9 He does greatc and unsearchable things,

wonders without number.d

10 He gives rain to the earth

and sends water to the fields.e

11 He sets the lowly on high,

and mourners are lifted to safety.f

12 He frustrates the schemes of the crafty

so that theyC achieve no success.

13 He traps the wise in their craftiness

so that the plans of the deceptive

are quickly brought to an end.g

14 They encounter darkness by day,

and they grope at noon

as if it were night.h

15 He saves the needy from their sharp words* i

and from the clutches of the powerful.

16 So the poor have hope,

and injustice shuts its mouth.j

17 See how happy is the person whom God corrects;

so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.

18 For he wounds but he also bandages;

he strikes, but his hands also heal.k

19 He will rescue you from six calamities;

no harm will touch you in seven.

20 In famine he will redeem you from death,

and in battle, from the power of the sword.l

21 You will be safe from slanderA

and not fear destruction when it comes.m

22 You will laugh at destruction and hunger

and not fear the land’s wild creatures.

23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,

and the wild animals will be at peace with you.n

24 You will know that your tent is secure,o

and nothing will be missing when you inspect your home.

25 You will also know that your offspring will be many

and your descendants like the grass of the earth.

26 You will approach the gravep in full vigor,q

as a stack of sheaves is gathered in its season.

27 We have investigated this, and it is true!

Hear it and understand it for yourself.

JOB’S REPLY TO ELIPHAZ

6 Then Job answered:

2 If only my grief could be weighed

and my devastationr placed with it on the scales.s

3 For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas!

That is why my words are rash.

4 Surely the arrows of the Almighty have piercedB me;

my spirit drinks their poison.

God’s terrors are arrayed against me.t

5 Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass

or an ox low over its fodder?

6 Is bland food eaten without salt?

Is there flavor in an egg white?C

7 I refuse to touch them;

they are like contaminated food.u

8 If only my request would be granted

and God would provide what I hope for:

9 that he would decide to crush me,

to unleash his power and cut me off!

10 It would still bring me comfort,

and I would leap for joy in unrelenting pain

that I have not deniedD the words of the Holy One.v

11 What strength do I have, that I should continue to hope?

What is my future, that I should be patient?

12 Is my strength that of stone,

or my flesh made of bronze?

13 Since I cannot help myself,

the hope for success has been banished from me.

14 A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends,E,a

even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.

15 My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi,

as seasonal streams that overflow

16 and become darkenedA because of ice,

and the snow melts into them.

17 The wadis evaporate in warm weather;

they disappear from their channels in hot weather.

18 Caravans turn away from their routes,

go up into the desert, and perish.

19 The caravans of Tema look for these streams.

The traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.

20 They are ashamed because they had been confident of finding water.

When they arrive there, they are disappointed.b

21 So this is what you have now become to me.B

When you see something dreadful, you are afraid.

22 Have I ever said, “Give me something”

or “Pay a bribe for me from your wealth”

23 or “Deliver me from the enemy’s hand”

or “Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless”?

24 Teach me, and I will be silent.

Help me understand what I did wrong.

25 How painful honest words can be!

But what does your rebuke prove?

26 Do you think that you can disprove my words

or that a despairing man’s words are mere wind?c

27 No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child

and negotiate a price to sell your friend.d

28 But now, please look at me;

I will not lie to your face.e

29 Reconsider; don’t be unjust.

Reconsider; my righteousnessf is still the issue.

30 Is there injustice on my tongue

or can my palate not taste disaster?g

7 Isn’t each person consigned to forced laborh on earth?

Are not his days like those of a hired worker?

2 Like a slave he longs for shade;

like a hired worker he waits for his pay.

3 So I have been made to inherit months of futility,

and troubled nights have been assigned to me.i

4 When I lie down I think,

“When will I get up?”

But the evening drags on endlessly,

and I toss and turn until dawn.

5 My flesh is clothed with maggots and encrusted with dirt.C

My skin forms scabsD and then oozes.j

6 My days pass more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle;

they come to an end without hope.k

7 Remember that my life is but a breath.

My eye will never again see anything good.l

8 The eye of anyone who looks on me

will no longer see me.

Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.m

9 As a cloud fades away and vanishes,

so the one who goes down to Sheoln will never rise again.

10 He will never return to his house;

his hometown will no longer rememberA him.o

11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth.

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

12 Am I the seaB,a or a sea monster,b

that you keep me under guard?

13 When I say, “My bed will comfort me,

and my couch will ease my complaint,”

14 then you frighten me with dreams,

and terrify me with visions,c

15 so that I prefer stranglingC—

death rather than life in this body.D,d

16 I give up! I will not live forever.

Leave me alone,e for my days are a breath.E

17 What is a mere human, that you think so highly of him

and pay so much attention to him?f

18 You inspect him every morning,

and put him to the test every moment.g

19 Will you ever look away from me,

or leave me alone long enough to swallow?F

20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,

Watcher of humanity?

Why have you made me your target,h

so that I have become a burden to you?G

21 Why not forgive my sin

and pardon my iniquity?i

For soon I will lie down in the grave.j

You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.k

BILDAD SPEAKS

8 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

2 How long will you go on saying these things?

Your wordsl are a blast of wind.m

3 Does God pervert justice?n

Does the Almighty pervert what is right?o

4 Since your children sinned against him,

he gave them over to their rebellion.

5 But if you earnestly seekp God

and ask the Almighty for mercy,q

6 if you are pure and upright,

then he will move even now on your behalf

and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.r

7 Then, even if your beginnings were modest,

your final days will be full of prosperity.s

8 For ask the previous generation,

and pay attention to what their ancestors discovered,t

9 since we were born only yesterday and know nothing.

Our days on earth are but a shadow.u

10 Will they not teach you and tell you

and speak from their understanding?

11 Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh?

Do reeds flourish without water?

12 While still uncut shoots,

they would dry up quicker than any other plant.

13 Such is the destinyA of all who forget God;

the hope of the godlessv will perish.

14 His source of confidence is fragile;B

what he trusts in is a spider’s web.w

15 He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.

He grabs it, but it does not hold up.

16 He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine;

his shoots spread out over his garden.

17 His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.

He looks for…