Job 4–6

First Series of Speeches

Eliphaz Speaks

4Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²Should anyone try to speak with you

when you are exhausted?

Yet who can keep from speaking?

³Indeed, you have instructed many

and have strengthened ^uweak hands.

⁴Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling

and braced the knees that were buckling. ^v

⁵But now that this has happened to you,

you have become exhausted.

It strikes ^wyou, and you are dismayed.

⁶Isn’t your piety your confidence,

and the integrity of your life ^xyour hope? ^y

⁷Consider: who has perished when he was innocent?

Where have the honest been destroyed? ^z

⁸In my experience, those who plow injustice

and those who sow trouble ^areap the same. ^b

⁹They perish at a single blast ^cfrom God

and come to an end by the breath of His nostrils. ^d

¹⁰The lion may roar and the fierce lion ^egrowl,

but the fangs of young lions are broken. ^f

¹¹The strong lion dies if it catches no prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered. ^g

¹²A word was brought to me in secret;

my ears caught a whisper of it. ^h

¹³Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night, ⁱ

when deep sleep ^jdescends on men,

¹⁴fear and trembling came over me ^k

and made all my bones shake.

¹⁵A wind ^lpassed by me,

and I shuddered with fear. ^m

¹⁶A figure stood there,

but I could not recognize its appearance;

a form loomed before my eyes.

I heard a quiet voice:

¹⁷“Can a person be more righteous than God,

or a man more pure than his Maker?” ⁿ

¹⁸If God puts no trust in His servants

and He charges His angels with foolishness, ^op

¹⁹how much more those who dwell in clay houses, ^q

whose foundation is in the dust,

who are crushed like a moth!

²⁰They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;

they perish forever while no one notices. ^r

²¹Are their tent cords not pulled up?

They die without wisdom. ^s

5Call out if you please. Will anyone answer you?

Which of the holy ones ^twill you turn to?

²For anger kills a fool,

and jealousy slays the gullible. ^u

³I have seen a fool taking root,

but I immediately pronounced a curse on his home.

⁴His children are far from safety.

They are crushed at the city gate, ^v

with no one to rescue them.

⁵The hungry consume his harvest,

even taking it out of the thorns. ^w

The thirsty ^xpant for his children’s wealth.

⁶For distress does not grow out of the soil,

and trouble does not sprout from the ground.

⁷But mankind is born for trouble ^y

as surely as sparks fly upward.

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

and would present my case to Him. ^z

⁹He does great ^aand unsearchable things,

wonders without number. ^b

¹⁰He gives rain to the earth

and sends water to the fields. ^c

¹¹He sets the lowly on high,

and mourners are lifted to safety. ^d

¹²He frustrates the schemes of the crafty

so that they ^eachieve no success.

¹³He traps the wise in their craftiness

so that the plans of the deceptive

are quickly brought to an end. ^f

¹⁴They encounter darkness by day,

and they grope at noon

as if it were night. ^g

¹⁵He saves the needy from their sharp words ^hi

and from the clutches of the powerful.

¹⁶So the poor have hope,

and injustice shuts its mouth. ^j

¹⁷See how happy the man is God corrects;

so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.

¹⁸For He crushes but also binds up;

He strikes, but His hands also heal. ^k

¹⁹He will rescue you from six calamities;

no harm will touch you in seven.

²⁰In famine He will redeem you from death,

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

²¹You will be safe from slander ^m

and not fear destruction when it comes. ⁿ

²²You will laugh at destruction and hunger

and not fear the animals of the earth.

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

and the wild animals will be at peace with you. ^o

²⁴You will know that your tent is secure, ^p

and nothing will be missing when you inspect your home.

²⁵You will also know that your offspring will be many

and your descendants like the grass of the earth.

²⁶You will approach the grave ^qin full vigor, ^r

as a stack of sheaves is gathered in its season.

²⁷We have investigated this, and it is true!

Hear it and understand it for yourself.

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz

6Then Job answered:

²If only my grief could be weighed

and my devastation ^splaced with it in the scales. ^t

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

That is why my words are rash.

⁴Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced ^ume;

my spirit drinks their poison.

God’s terrors are arrayed against me. ^v

⁵Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass

or an ox low over its fodder?

⁶Is bland food eaten without salt?

Is there flavor in an egg white? ^w

⁷I refuse to touch them;

they are like contaminated food. ^x

⁸If only my request would be granted

and God would provide what I hope for:

⁹that He would decide to crush me,

to unleash His power and cut me off!

¹⁰It would still bring me comfort,

and I would leap for joy in unrelenting pain

that I have not denied ^ythe words of the Holy One. ^z

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

What is my future, that I should be patient?

¹²Is my strength that of stone,

or my flesh made of bronze?

¹³Since I cannot help myself,

the hope for success has been banished from me.

¹⁴A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends, ^ab

even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi,

as seasonal streams that overflow

¹⁶and become darkened ^cbecause of ice,

and the snow melts into them.

¹⁷The wadis evaporate in warm weather;

they disappear from their channels in hot weather.

¹⁸Caravans turn away from their routes,

go up into the desert, and perish.

¹⁹The caravans of Tema look for these streams.

The traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.

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

When they arrive there, they are frustrated. ^d

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

When you see something dreadful, you are afraid.

²²Have I ever said: “Give me something”

or “Pay a bribe for me from your wealth”

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

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

²⁴Teach me, and I will be silent.

Help me understand what I did wrong.

²⁵How painful honest words can be!

But what does your rebuke prove?

²⁶Do you think that you can disprove my words

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

²⁷No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child

and negotiate a price to sell your friend. ^g

²⁸But now, please look at me;

would I lie to your face? ^h

²⁹Reconsider; don’t be unjust.

Reconsider; my righteousness ⁱis still the issue.

³⁰Is there injustice on my tongue

or can my palate not taste disaster? ^j