Job 4–6

Eliphaz’s First Response to Job

4Then^a Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

²“If someone would test a word with you, would you be offended?

But^b who can refrain from speaking?

³Look, you have instructed many,

and you have strengthened weak hands.

⁴Your words have raised up the one who stumbles,

and you have strengthened knees giving way.

⁵But now it has come to you, and you are worn out;

it touches you, and you are horrified.

⁶Is not your fear in God your confidence?

Is not your hope even^c the integrity of your ways?

⁷“Think^d now, who has perished who is innocent?

Or^e where are the upright destroyed?

⁸Just as I have seen, plowers of mischief

and sowers of trouble will reap it.

⁹By^f the breath of God they perish,

and by^g the blast of his anger they come to an end.

¹⁰The roar of the lion and the voice of a lion in its prime,

and the teeth of the young lions are broken.

¹¹The lion is perishing without^h prey,

and the lion’s whelps are scattered.

¹²“And a word came stealing to me,

and my ear received the whisper from it.

¹³Amid troubling thoughts from night visions,

at the falling of deep sleep on men,

¹⁴dread met me, and trembling,

and it made many of my bones shake.

¹⁵And a spirit glided before my face;

the hair of my fleshⁱ bristled.

¹⁶It stood still, but^j I could not recognize its appearance;

a form was before^k my eyes;

there was a hush, and I heard a voice:

¹⁷‘Can a human being be more righteous than God,

or can a man be more pure than his Maker?

¹⁸Look, he does not trust in his servants

and he charges his angels with error.

¹⁹How much more dwellers in clay houses,

whose foundation is in the dust?

They are crushed like a moth.

²⁰Between morning and evening^l they are destroyed;

without anyone regarding it they perish forever.

²¹Is not their tent cord pulled up within them?

They die, but^m not inⁿ wisdom.’

Eliphaz’s Response Continues

5“Call now, is there anyone answering you?

And to which of the holy ones will you turn?

²For vexation will slay the fool,

and jealousy will kill the simple.

³I have seen a fool taking root,

but^a suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

⁴His children are far from deliverance,

and they are crushed in the gate,

and there is no deliverer—

⁵whose harvest the hungry eats,

and he takes it from behind^b the thorns;

and the thirsty pants after their wealth.

⁶Indeed,^c mischief does not come from the dust,

and trouble does not sprout from the earth.

⁷But a human being is born to trouble,

and they soar aloft^d like sparks.^e

⁸“But I myself^f will seek God,

and to God I would commit my cause.

⁹He is doing great and unsearchable^g things,

marvelous things without number^h—

¹⁰the one who is giving rain on the surface ofⁱ the earth

and is sending water on the surface of^j the fields,

¹¹to set the lowly on high,

and those mourning are lifted to safety.

¹²He is frustrating the devices of the crafty,

and their hands do not achieve success.

¹³He is capturing the wise in their craftiness,

and the schemes of the wily are rushed.

¹⁴In the daytime they meet with darkness,

and they grope at noon^k as in the night.

¹⁵And^l he saves from the sword of^m their mouth,

evenⁿ the poor from the hand of the strong.

¹⁶So^o there is hope^p for the powerless,

and wickedness shuts its mouth.

¹⁷“Look, happy is the human being whom God reproves;

and you must not despise the discipline of Shaddai,

¹⁸for he himself^q wounds, but^r he binds up;

he strikes, but^s his hands heal.

¹⁹From^t six troubles he will deliver you,

and in seven evil shall not touch you.

²⁰In famine he will redeem you from death,

and in war from the power of^u the sword.

²¹From the scourge of the tongue you shall be hidden,

and you shall not be afraid of^v destruction when it comes.

²²At destruction and famine^w you shall laugh,

and you shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.

²³For your covenant will be with the stones of the field,

and the wild animals^x of the field will be at peace with you.

²⁴And you shall know that your tent is safe,

and you will inspect your fold, and you shall not be missing anything.

²⁵And you shall know that your offspring are many,

and your descendants like the vegetation of the earth.

²⁶You shall come in maturity to the grave,

as the raising up of a stack of sheaves in its season.

²⁷“Look, we have searched this out—it is true;

hear it and know it yourself.”^y

Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz

6Then^a Job answered and said,

²“If only my vexation could be well weighed,

and my calamity could be lifted up together with it in the balances,

³for then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;

therefore my words have been rash,

⁴for the arrows of Shaddai are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

⁵Does the wild ass bray over grass,

or the ox bellow over its fodder?

⁶Can tasteless food be eaten without^b salt,

or is there taste in the white of a marshmallow plant?

⁷I refused^c to touch them;

they are like food that will make me ill.^d

⁸“O that^e my request may come,

and that God may grant my hope,

⁹that^f God would decide that^g he would crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and kill me.^h

¹⁰Butⁱ it will still be my consolation,

and I would recoil in unrelenting^j pain,

for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

¹¹What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should hold out?^k

¹²Or is my strength like the strength of stones?

Or is my flesh bronze?

¹³Indeed,^l my help is not in me,

and any success is driven from me.

¹⁴“Loyal love^m should come for the afflicted from his friend,

even ifⁿ he forsakes the fear of Shaddai.

¹⁵My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed;

like a streambed of wadis^o they flow away,

¹⁶which are growing dark because of ice upon them,

it will pile up snow.

¹⁷In time they dry up, they disappear;

when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

¹⁸The paths of their way wind around;

they go up into the wasteland, and they perish.

¹⁹The caravans of Tema looked;

the traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.

²⁰They are disappointed, because they trusted;

they came here^p and they are confounded.

²¹“For now you^q have become such;^r

you see terrors, and you fear.

²²Is it because I have said, ‘Give to me,’

or,^s ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’?

²³or,^t ‘Save me from the foe’s hand,’

or,^u ‘Ransom me from the tyrants’ hand’?

²⁴Teach me, and I myself^v will be silent;

and make me understand how I have gone astray.

²⁵How painful are upright words!^w

But^x what does your reproof^y reprove?

²⁶Do you intend to reprove my words^z

and consider the words of a desperate man as wind?

²⁷Even over the orphan you would cast the lot,

and you would bargain over your friend.

²⁸“Therefore^a be prepared, turn to me,

and I surely will not lie to your face.^b

²⁹Please turn, let no injustice happen;

indeed,^c turn, my righteousness is still intact.^d

³⁰Is there injustice on my tongue?

Or can my palate not discern calamity?^e