Job 4 - 6

Eliphaz Says the Innocent Do Not Suffer

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2

“If one tries a word with you, will you become weary?

But who can hold back from speaking?

Behold, you have disciplined many,

And you have strengthened limp hands.

Your words have helped the stumbling to stand,

And you have encouraged feeble knees.

But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

It touches you, and you are dismayed.

Is not your fear of God your confidence,

And the integrity of your ways your hope?

“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?

Or where were the upright wiped out?

According to what I have seen, those who plow wickedness

And those who sow trouble harvest it.

By the breath of God they perish,

And by the wind of His anger they come to an end.

The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion,

And the teeth of the young lions are broken.

The lion perishes for lack of prey,

And the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

“Now a word was brought to me stealthily,

And my ear received a whisper of it.

Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,

When deep sleep falls on men,

Dread came upon me, and trembling,

And made the multitude of my bones shake in dread.

Then a spirit swept by my face;

The hair of my flesh bristled up.

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

A form was before my eyes;

There was silence, then I heard a voice:

‘Can mankind be right before God?

Can a man be pure before his Maker?

He puts no trust even in His slaves;

And against His angels He charges error.

How much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

Whose foundation is in the dust,

Who are crushed before the moth!

Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces;

Unobserved, they perish forever.

Is not their tent‑cord pulled up within them?

They die, yet without wisdom.’

The Discipline of the Almighty

“Call now, is there anyone who will answer you?

And to which of the holy ones will you turn?

For vexation kills the ignorant fool,

And jealousy puts to death the simple.

I have seen the ignorant fool taking root,

And I cursed his abode suddenly.

His sons are far from salvation,

They are even crushed in the gate,

And there is no deliverer.

His harvest the hungry devour

And take it to a place of thorns,

And the schemer pants after their wealth.

For wickedness does not come out from the dust,

Nor does trouble sprout from the ground,

For man is born for trouble,

As sparks fly upward.

“But as for me, I would seek God,

And I would set my cause before God,

Who does great and unsearchable things,

Wonders without number.

He gives rain on the earth

And sends water on the fields outside,

So that He sets on high those who are lowly,

And those who mourn are lifted to salvation.

He frustrates the thoughts of the crafty,

So that their hands cannot attain success of sound wisdom.

He catches the wise by their own craftiness,

And the counsel of the twisted is quickly thwarted.

By day they meet with darkness

And grope at noon as in the night.

But He saves from the sword of their mouth,

And the needy from the hand of the strong.

So the poor has hope,

And unrighteousness must shut its mouth.

“Behold, how blessed is the man whom God reproves,

So do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.

For He inflicts pain and gives relief;

He wounds, and His hands also heal.

From six distresses He will deliver you,

Even in seven evil will not touch you.

In famine He will redeem you from death,

And in war from hands with swords.

You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,

And you will not be afraid of devastation when it comes.

You will laugh at devastation and starvation,

And you will not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

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

And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

You will know that your tent is at peace,

For you will visit your abode and fear no loss.

You will know also that your seed will be many,

And your offspring as the vegetation of the land.

You will come to the grave in full vigor,

Like the stacking of grain in its season.

Behold this; we have investigated it, and so it is.

Hear it, and know for yourself.”

Job Answers Eliphaz

Then Job answered and said,
2

“Oh that my vexation were actually weighed

And laid in the balances together with my destruction!

For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;

Therefore my words have been rash.

For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,

Their poison my spirit drinks;

The horrors of God are arranged against me.

Does the wild donkey bray over his grass,

Or does the ox low over his fodder?

Can something tasteless be eaten without salt,

Or is there any taste in the slime of a yolk?

My soul refuses to touch them;

They are like loathsome food to me.

“Oh that my request might come to pass,

And that God would grant my hope!

Would that God were willing to crush me,

That He would release His hand and cut me off!

But it is still my comfort,

And I rejoice in unsparing pain,

That I have not at all hidden away the words of the Holy One.

What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should endure?

Is my strength the strength of stones,

Or is my flesh bronze?

Is it that there is no help within me,

And that the success of sound wisdom is driven from me?

“For the despairing man lovingkindness should be from his friend;

But he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

My brothers have betrayed me like a wadi,

Like the torrents of wadis which pass away,

Which grow dark because of ice

And upon which the snow hides itself.

When they become waterless, they are silent;

When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

The paths of their course wind along;

They go up into a formless place and perish.

The caravans of Tema looked;

The travelers of Sheba hoped for them.

They were ashamed for they had trusted;

They came there and were humiliated.

Indeed, you have now become such;

You see a terror and are afraid.

Have I said, ‘Give me something,’

Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth,’

Or, ‘Give me escape from the hand of the adversary,’

Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless men’?

“Instruct me, and I will be silent;

And cause me to understand how I have erred.

How painful are upright words!

But what does your reproof prove?

Do you think to reprove my words,

Or think of the words of one in despair as wind?

You would even cast lots for the orphans

And bargain over your friend.

So now be willing to face me,

And see if I lie to your face.

Now turn from this, let there be no unrighteousness;

Even turn from this, my righteousness is yet in it.

Is there unrighteousness on my tongue?

Cannot my palate discern destruction?