Job 4–37

4TH CHAPTER

Eliphaz Speaks:

Be Patient and Listen, Job

¹Then Eliphaz from Teman replied ⸤to Job⸥, 

²“If someone tries to talk to you, will you become impatient? 

But who can keep from talking? 

³Certainly, you have instructed many people: 

When hands were weak, you made them strong. 

⁴When someone stumbled, you lifted him up with your words. 

When knees were weak, you gave them strength. 

⁵But trouble comes to you, and you’re impatient. 

It touches you, and you panic. 

⁶Doesn’t your fear of God give you confidence 

and your lifetime of integrity give you hope? 

Only Evil People Suffer

⁷“Now think about this: 

Which innocent person ⸤ever⸥ died ⸤an untimely death⸥? 

Find me a decent person who has been destroyed. 

⁸Whenever I saw those who plowed wickedness and planted misery, 

they gathered its harvest. 

⁹God destroys them with his breath 

and kills them with a blast of his anger. 

¹⁰Though the roar of the lion 

and the growl of the ferocious lion ⸤is loud⸥, 

the young lions have had their teeth knocked out. 

¹¹The old lions die without any prey ⸤to eat⸥, 

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered. 

¹²“I was told something secretly 

and heard something whispered in my ear. 

¹³With disturbing thoughts from visions in the night, 

when deep sleep falls on people, 

¹⁴fear and trembling came over me, 

and all my bones shook. 

¹⁵A spirit passed in front of me. 

It made my hair stand on end. 

¹⁶Something stood there. 

I couldn’t tell what it was. 

A vague image was in front of my eyes. 

I heard a soft voice: 

¹⁷‘Can ⸤any⸥ mortal be righteous to God? 

Can ⸤any⸥ human being be pure to his maker?’ 

¹⁸“You see, God doesn’t trust his own servants, 

and he accuses his angels of making mistakes. 

¹⁹How much more will he accuse those who live in clay houses 

that have their foundation in the dust. 

Those houses can be crushed quicker than a moth! 

²⁰From morning to evening, they are shattered. 

They will disappear forever without anyone paying attention. 

²¹Haven’t the ropes of their tent been loosened? 

Won’t they die without wisdom? 

5TH CHAPTER

Eliphaz Continues: Seek God’s Help, Job

¹“Cry out! 

Is there anyone to answer you? 

To which of the holy ones will you turn? 

²Certainly, anger kills a stubborn fool, 

and jealousy murders a gullible person. 

³I have seen a stubborn fool take root, 

but I quickly cursed his house. 

⁴His children are far from help. 

They are crushed at the city gate, 

and no one is there to rescue them. 

⁵What a stubborn fool gathers, hungry people eat. 

They take it even from among the thorns, 

and thirsty people pant after his wealth. 

⁶Certainly, sorrow doesn’t come from the soil, 

and trouble doesn’t sprout from the ground. 

⁷But a person is born for trouble as surely as sparks fly up ⸤from a fire⸥. 

⁸“But I would seek God’s help 

and present my case to him. 

⁹He does great things that ⸤we⸥ cannot understand 

and miracles that ⸤we⸥ cannot count. 

¹⁰He gives rain to the earth 

and sends water to the fields. 

¹¹He places lowly people up high. 

He lifts those who mourn to safety. 

¹²He keeps shrewd people from carrying out their plans 

so that they cannot do anything successfully. 

¹³He catches the wise with their own tricks. 

The plans of schemers prove to be hasty. 

¹⁴In the daytime they meet darkness 

and grope in the sunlight as if it were night. 

¹⁵“But he saves ⸤other people⸥ from their slander 

and the needy from the power of the mighty. 

¹⁶Then the poor have hope 

while wrongdoing shuts its mouth. 

Blessing Comes When God Corrects You

¹⁷“Blessed is the person whom God corrects. 

That person should not despise discipline from the Almighty. 

¹⁸God injures, but he bandages. 

He beats you up, but his hands make you well. 

¹⁹He will keep you safe from six troubles, 

and when the seventh one comes, no harm will touch you: 

²⁰“In famine he will save you from death, 

and in war he will save you from the sword. 

²¹“When the tongue lashes out, you will be safe, 

and you will not be afraid of destruction when it comes. 

²²“You will be able to laugh at destruction and starvation, 

so do not be afraid of wild animals on the earth. 

²³“You will have a binding agreement with the stones in the field, 

and wild animals will be at peace with you. 

²⁴“You will know peace in your tent. 

You will inspect your house and find nothing missing. 

²⁵“You will find that your children are many 

and your descendants are like the grass of the earth. 

²⁶“You will come to your grave at a ripe old age 

like a stack of hay in the right season. 

²⁷“We have studied all of this thoroughly! This is the way it is. 

Listen to it, and learn it for yourself.” 

6TH CHAPTER

Job Speaks:

God Has Attacked Me Without Cause

¹Then Job replied ⸤to his friends⸥, 

²“If only my grief could be weighed, 

if only my misery could be laid on the scales with it, 

³then they would be heavier than the sand of the seas. 

I spoke carelessly 

⁴because the arrows of the Almighty ⸤have found their target⸥ in me, 

and my spirit is drinking their poison. 

God’s terrors line up in battle against me. 

⁵“Does a wild donkey bray when it’s ⸤eating⸥ grass, 

or does an ox make a sound over its hay? 

⁶Is tasteless food eaten without salt, 

or is there any flavor in the white of an egg? 

⁷I refuse to touch such things. 

They are disgusting to me. 

⁸“How I wish that my prayer would be answered— 

that God would give me what I’m hoping for, 

⁹that God would ⸤finally⸥ be willing to crush me, 

that he would reach out to cut me off. 

¹⁰Then I would still have comfort. 

I would be happy despite my endless pain, 

because I have not rejected the words of the Holy One. 

¹¹What strength do I have ⸤left⸥ that I can go on hoping? 

What goal do I have that I would want to prolong my life? 

¹²Do I have the strength of rocks? 

Does my body have the strength of bronze? 

¹³Am I not completely helpless? 

Haven’t my skills been taken away from me? 

You Have Not Treated Me Like True Friends

¹⁴“A friend should treat a troubled person kindly, 

even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty. 

¹⁵My brothers have been as deceptive as seasonal rivers, 

like the seasonal riverbeds that flood. 

¹⁶They are dark with ice. 

They are hidden by snow. 

¹⁷They vanish during a scorching summer. 

In the heat their riverbeds dry up. 

¹⁸They change their course. 

They go into a wasteland and disappear. 

¹⁹Caravans from Tema look for them. 

Travelers from Sheba search for them. 

²⁰They are ashamed because they relied on the streams. 

Arriving there, they are disappointed. 

²¹“So you are as unreliable to me ⸤as they are⸥. 

You see something terrifying, and you are afraid. 

²²Did I ever say, ‘Give me a gift,’ 

or ‘Offer me a bribe from your wealth,’ 

²³or ‘Rescue me from an enemy,’ 

or ‘Ransom me from a tyrant’? 

²⁴Teach me, and I’ll be silent. 

Show me where I’ve been wrong. 

²⁵How painful an honest discussion can be! 

In correcting me, you correct yourselves! 

²⁶Do you think my words need correction? 

Do you think they’re what a desperate person says to the wind? 

²⁷Would you also throw dice for an orphan? 

Would you buy and sell your friend? 

²⁸“But now, if you’re willing, look at me. 

I won’t lie to your face. 

²⁹Please change your mind. 

Don’t permit any injustice. 

Change your mind because I am still right about this! 

³⁰Is there injustice on my tongue, 

or is my mouth unable to tell the difference between right and wrong? 

7TH CHAPTER

Job Speaks about the Futility of Human Existence

¹“Isn’t a mortal’s stay on earth difficult 

like a hired hand’s daily ⸤work⸥? 

²Like a slave, he longs for shade. 

Like a hired hand, he eagerly looks for his pay. 

³Likewise, I have been given months that are of no use, 

and I have inherited nights filled with misery. 

⁴When I lie down, I ask, 

‘When will I get up?’ 

But the evening is long, 

and I’m exhausted from tossing about until dawn. 

⁵My body is covered with maggots and scabs. 

My skin is crusted over with sores; then they ooze. 

⁶My days go swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. 

They are spent without hope. 

⁷Remember, my life is only a breath, 

and never again will my eyes see anything good. 

⁸The eye that watches over me will no longer see me. 

Your eye will look for me, but I’ll be gone. 

⁹As a cloud fades away and disappears, 

so a person goes into the grave and doesn’t come back again. 

¹⁰He doesn’t come back home again, 

and his household doesn’t recognize him anymore. 

¹¹So I won’t keep my mouth shut, 

but I will speak from the distress that is in my spirit 

and complain about the bitterness in my soul. 

Job Says to God: Leave Me Alone

¹²“Am I the sea or a sea monster 

that you have set a guard over me? 

¹³When I say, 

‘My couch may give me comfort. 

My bed may help me bear my pain,’ 

¹⁴then you frighten me with dreams 

and terrify me with visions. 

¹⁵My throat would rather be choked. 

My body^awould prefer death ⸤to these dreams⸥. 

¹⁶I hate my life; I do not want to live forever. 

Leave me alone because my days are so brief. 

¹⁷“What is a mortal that you should make so much of him, 

that you should be concerned about him? 

¹⁸⸤What is he⸥ that you should inspect him every morning 

and examine him every moment? 

¹⁹Why don’t you stop looking at me 

long enough to let me swallow my spit? 

²⁰If I sin, what can I ⸤possibly⸥ do to you 

since you insist on spying on people? 

Why do you make me your target? 

I’ve become a burden even to myself. 

²¹Why don’t you forgive my disobedience 

and take away my sin? 

Soon I’ll lie down in the dust. 

Then you will search for me, but I’ll be gone!” 

8TH CHAPTER

Bildad Speaks:

You Are Unjustly Accusing God of Doing Evil, Job

¹Then Bildad from Shuah replied ⸤to Job⸥, 

²“How long will you say these things? 

How long will your words be so windy? 

³Does God distort justice, 

or does the Almighty distort righteousness? 

⁴If your children sinned against him, 

he allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sinfulness. 

⁵If you search for God 

and plead for mercy from the Almighty, 

⁶if you are moral and ethical, 

then he will rise up on your behalf 

and prove your righteousness by rebuilding your home. 

⁷Then what you had in the past will seem small 

compared with the…