Job 4–5

Chapter 4

¹And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, ²If a word were essayed to thee, wouldest thou be grieved? But who can refrain from speaking? ³Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands; ⁴Thy words have upholden him that was stumbling, and thou hast braced up the bending knees: ⁵But now it is come upon thee, and thou grievest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. ⁶Hath not thy piety been thy confidence, and the perfection of thy ways thy hope?

⁷Remember, I pray thee, who that was innocent has perished? and where were the upright cut off? ⁸Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity and sow mischief, reap the same. ⁹By the breath of †God they perish, and by the blast of his nostrils are they consumed. ¹⁰The roar of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken; ¹¹The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

¹²Now to me a word was secretly brought, and mine ear received a whisper thereof. ¹³In thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men: — ¹⁴Fear came on me, and trembling, and made all my bones to shake; ¹⁵And a spirit passed before my face—the hair of my flesh stood up— ¹⁶It stood still; I could not discern the appearance thereof: a form was before mine eyes; I heard a slight murmur and a voice: ¹⁷Shall mortal man be more just than †God? Shall a man be purer than his Maker? ¹⁸Lo, he trusteth not his servants, and his angels he chargeth with folly: ¹⁹How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed as the moth! ²⁰From morning to evening are they smitten: without any heeding it, they perish for ever. ²¹Is not their tent-cord torn away in them? they die, and without wisdom.

Chapter 5

¹Call, I pray thee! Is there any that answereth thee? and to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn? ²For vexation killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the simple. ³I myself saw the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation. ⁴His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer: ⁵Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh even out of the thorns; and the snare gapeth for his substance.

⁶For evil cometh not forth from the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; ⁷For man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards. ⁸But as for me I will seek unto •God, and unto God commit my cause; ⁹Who doeth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number; ¹⁰Who giveth rain on the face of the earth, and sendeth waters on the face of the fields; ¹¹Setting up on high those that are low; and mourners are exalted to prosperity. ¹²He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, and their hands carry not out the enterprise. ¹³He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong: ¹⁴They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at midday as in the night. ¹⁵And he saveth the needy from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. ¹⁶So the poor hath what he hopeth for, and unrighteousness stoppeth her mouth.

¹⁷Behold, happy is the man whom †God correcteth; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty. ¹⁸For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole. ¹⁹He will deliver thee in six troubles, and in seven there shall no evil touch thee. ²⁰In famine he will redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword. ²¹Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue; and thou shalt not be afraid of destruction when it cometh. ²²At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, and of the beasts of the earth thou shalt not be afraid. ²³For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. ²⁴And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; and thou wilt survey thy fold, and miss nothing. ²⁵And thou shalt know that thy seed is numerous, and thine offspring as the herb of the earth. ²⁶Thou shalt come to the grave in a ripe age, as a shock of corn is brought in in its season. ²⁷Behold this, we have searched it out, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thyself.