Chapter 14

Job Speaks of the Finality of Death

1 “aMan, who is born of woman,

Is 1short-lived and bfull of turmoil.

2 “aLike a flower he comes forth and withers.

He also flees like ba shadow and does not remain.

3 “You also aopen Your eyes on him

And bbring 1him into judgment with Yourself.

4 “aWho can make the clean out of the unclean?

No one!

5 “Since his days are determined,

The anumber of his months is with You;

And his limits You have 1set so that he cannot pass.

6 “aTurn Your gaze from him that he may 1rest,

Until he 2fulfills his day like a hired man.

7 “For there is hope for a tree,

When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,

And its shoots will not 1fail.

8 “Though its roots grow old in the ground

And its stump dies in the dry soil,

9 At the scent of water it will flourish

And put forth sprigs like a plant.

10 “But aman dies and lies prostrate.

Man bexpires, and where is he?

11 “As awater 1evaporates from the sea,

And a river becomes parched and dried up,

12 So aman lies down and does not rise.

Until the heavens are no longer,

1He will not awake nor be aroused out of 2his sleep.

13 “Oh that You would hide me in 1Sheol,

That You would conceal me auntil Your wrath returns to You,

That You would set a limit for me and remember me!

14 “If a man dies, will he live again?

All the days of my struggle I will wait

Until my change comes.

15 “You will call, and I will answer You;

You will long for athe work of Your hands.

16 “For now You anumber my steps,

You do not bobserve my sin.

17 “My transgression is asealed up in a bag,

And You 1wrap up my iniquity.

18 “But the falling mountain 1crumbles away,

And the rock moves from its place;

19 Water wears away stones,

Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;

So You adestroy man’s hope.

20 “You forever overpower him and he adeparts;

You change his appearance and send him away.

21 “His sons achieve honor, but ahe does not know it;

Or they become insignificant, but he does not perceive it.

22 “But his 1body pains him,

And he mourns only for himself.”

Chapter 15

Eliphaz Says Job Presumes Much

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite 1responded,

2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge

aAnd fill 1himself with the east wind?

3 “Should he argue with useless talk,

Or with words which are not profitable?

4 “Indeed, you do away with 1reverence

And hinder meditation before God.

5 “For ayour guilt teaches your mouth,

And you choose the language of bthe crafty.

6 “Your aown mouth condemns you, and not I;

And your own lips testify against you.

7 “Were you the first man to be born,

Or awere you brought forth before the hills?

8 “Do you hear the asecret counsel of God,

And limit wisdom to yourself?

9 “aWhat do you know that we do not know?

What do you understand that 1we do not?

10 “Both the agray-haired and the aged are among us,

Older than your father.

11 “Are athe consolations of God too small for you,

Even the bword spoken gently with you?

12 “Why does your aheart carry you away?

And why do your eyes flash,

13 That you should turn your spirit against God

And allow such words to go out of your mouth?

14 “What is man, that ahe should be pure,

Or bhe who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

15 “Behold, He puts no trust in His aholy ones,

And the bheavens are not pure in His sight;

16 How much less one who is adetestable and corrupt,

Man, who bdrinks iniquity like water!

What Eliphaz Has Seen of Life

17 “I will tell you, listen to me;

And what I have seen I will also declare;

18 What wise men have told,

And have not concealed from atheir fathers,

19 To whom alone the land was given,

And no alien passed among them.

20 “The wicked man writhes ain pain all his days,

And 1numbered are the years bstored up for the ruthless.

21 “1Sounds of aterror are in his ears;

bWhile at peace the destroyer comes upon him.

22 “He does not believe that he will areturn from darkness,

And he is destined for bthe sword.

23 “He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’

He knows that a day of adarkness is 1at hand.

24 “Distress and anguish terrify him,

They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,

25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God

And conducts himself aarrogantly against 1the Almighty.

26 “He rushes 1headlong at Him

With 2his massive shield.

27 “For he has acovered his face with his fat

And made his thighs heavy with flesh.

28 “He has alived in desolate cities,

In houses no one would inhabit,

Which are destined to become 1ruins.

29 “He awill not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;

And his grain will not bend down to the ground.

30 “He will anot 1escape from darkness;

The bflame will wither his shoots,

And by cthe breath of His mouth he will go away.

31 “Let him not atrust in emptiness, deceiving himself;

For emptiness will be his 1reward.

32 “It will be accomplished abefore his time,

And his palm bbranch will not be green.

33 “He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine,

And will acast off his flower like the olive tree.

34 “For the company of athe godless is barren,

And fire consumes bthe tents of 1the corrupt.

35 “They aconceive 1mischief and bring forth iniquity,

And their 2mind prepares deception.”

Chapter 16

Job Says Friends Are Sorry Comforters

1 Then Job 1answered,

2 “I have heard many such things;

1aSorry comforters are you all.

3 “Is there no limit to awindy words?

Or what plagues you that you answer?

4 “I too could speak like you,

If 1I were in your place.

I could compose words against you

And ashake my head at you.

5 “I could strengthen you with my mouth,

And the solace of my lips could lessen your pain.

Job Says God Shattered Him

6 “If I speak, amy pain is not lessened,

And if I hold back, what has left me?

7 “But now He has aexhausted me;

You have laid bwaste all my company.

8 “You have shriveled me up,

aIt has become a witness;

And my bleanness rises up against me,

It testifies to my face.

9 “His anger has atorn me and 1hunted me down,

He has bgnashed at me with His teeth;

My cadversary 2glares at me.

10 “They have agaped at me with their mouth,

They have 1bslapped me on the cheek with contempt;

They have cmassed themselves against me.

11 “God hands me over to ruffians

And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.

12 “I was at ease, but aHe shattered me,

And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces;

He has also set me up as His btarget.

13 “His aarrows surround me.

Without mercy He splits my kidneys open;

He pours out bmy gall on the ground.

14 “He abreaks through me with breach after breach;

He bruns at me like a warrior.

15 “I have sewed asackcloth over my skin

And bthrust my horn in the dust.

16 “My face is flushed from aweeping,

bAnd deep darkness is on my eyelids,

17 Although there is no aviolence in my hands,

And bmy prayer is pure.

18 “O earth, do not cover my blood,

And let there be no resting place for my cry.

19 “Even now, behold, amy witness is in heaven,

And my 1advocate is bon high.

20 “My friends are my scoffers;

aMy eye 1weeps to God.

21 “O that a man might plead with God

As a man with his neighbor!

22 “For when a few years are past,

I shall go the way aof no return.