Eliphaz

22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite(A) replied:

“Can a man be of benefit to God?(B)
    Can even a wise person benefit him?(C)
What pleasure(D) would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?(E)
    What would he gain if your ways were blameless?(F)

“Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
    and brings charges against you?(G)
Is not your wickedness great?
    Are not your sins(H) endless?(I)
You demanded security(J) from your relatives for no reason;(K)
    you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.(L)
You gave no water(M) to the weary
    and you withheld food from the hungry,(N)
though you were a powerful man, owning land(O)
    an honored man,(P) living on it.(Q)
And you sent widows(R) away empty-handed(S)
    and broke the strength of the fatherless.(T)
10 That is why snares(U) are all around you,(V)
    why sudden peril terrifies you,(W)
11 why it is so dark(X) you cannot see,
    and why a flood of water covers you.(Y)

12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven?(Z)
    And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?(AA)
    Does he judge through such darkness?(AB)
14 Thick clouds(AC) veil him, so he does not see us(AD)
    as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’(AE)
15 Will you keep to the old path
    that the wicked(AF) have trod?(AG)
16 They were carried off before their time,(AH)
    their foundations(AI) washed away by a flood.(AJ)
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
    What can the Almighty do to us?’(AK)
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,(AL)
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.(AM)
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;(AN)
    the innocent mock(AO) them, saying,
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,(AP)
    and fire(AQ) devours their wealth.’

21 “Submit to God and be at peace(AR) with him;(AS)
    in this way prosperity will come to you.(AT)
22 Accept instruction from his mouth(AU)
    and lay up his words(AV) in your heart.(AW)
23 If you return(AX) to the Almighty, you will be restored:(AY)
    If you remove wickedness far from your tent(AZ)
24 and assign your nuggets(BA) to the dust,
    your gold(BB) of Ophir(BC) to the rocks in the ravines,(BD)
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,(BE)
    the choicest silver for you.(BF)
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty(BG)
    and will lift up your face(BH) to God.(BI)
27 You will pray to him,(BJ) and he will hear you,(BK)
    and you will fulfill your vows.(BL)
28 What you decide on will be done,(BM)
    and light(BN) will shine on your ways.(BO)
29 When people are brought low(BP) and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
    then he will save the downcast.(BQ)
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,(BR)
    who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”(BS)

Job

23 Then Job replied:

“Even today my complaint(BT) is bitter;(BU)
    his hand[a] is heavy in spite of[b] my groaning.(BV)
If only I knew where to find him;
    if only I could go to his dwelling!(BW)
I would state my case(BX) before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.(BY)
I would find out what he would answer me,(BZ)
    and consider what he would say to me.
Would he vigorously oppose me?(CA)
    No, he would not press charges against me.(CB)
There the upright(CC) can establish their innocence before him,(CD)
    and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.(CE)

“But if I go to the east, he is not there;
    if I go to the west, I do not find him.
When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.(CF)
10 But he knows the way that I take;(CG)
    when he has tested me,(CH) I will come forth as gold.(CI)
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;(CJ)
    I have kept to his way without turning aside.(CK)
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;(CL)
    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.(CM)

13 “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?(CN)
    He does whatever he pleases.(CO)
14 He carries out his decree against me,
    and many such plans he still has in store.(CP)
15 That is why I am terrified before him;(CQ)
    when I think of all this, I fear him.(CR)
16 God has made my heart faint;(CS)
    the Almighty(CT) has terrified me.(CU)
17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,(CV)
    by the thick darkness that covers my face.

24 “Why does the Almighty not set times(CW) for judgment?(CX)
    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?(CY)
There are those who move boundary stones;(CZ)
    they pasture flocks they have stolen.(DA)
They drive away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox in pledge.(DB)
They thrust the needy(DC) from the path
    and force all the poor(DD) of the land into hiding.(DE)
Like wild donkeys(DF) in the desert,
    the poor go about their labor(DG) of foraging food;
    the wasteland(DH) provides food for their children.
They gather fodder(DI) in the fields
    and glean in the vineyards(DJ) of the wicked.(DK)
Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.(DL)
They are drenched(DM) by mountain rains
    and hug(DN) the rocks for lack of shelter.(DO)
The fatherless(DP) child is snatched(DQ) from the breast;
    the infant of the poor is seized(DR) for a debt.(DS)
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;(DT)
    they carry the sheaves,(DU) but still go hungry.
11 They crush olives among the terraces[c];
    they tread the winepresses,(DV) yet suffer thirst.(DW)
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.(DX)
    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.(DY)

13 “There are those who rebel against the light,(DZ)
    who do not know its ways
    or stay in its paths.(EA)
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
    kills(EB) the poor and needy,(EC)
    and in the night steals forth like a thief.(ED)
15 The eye of the adulterer(EE) watches for dusk;(EF)
    he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’(EG)
    and he keeps his face concealed.
16 In the dark, thieves break into houses,(EH)
    but by day they shut themselves in;
    they want nothing to do with the light.(EI)
17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;
    they make friends with the terrors(EJ) of darkness.(EK)

18 “Yet they are foam(EL) on the surface of the water;(EM)
    their portion of the land is cursed,(EN)
    so that no one goes to the vineyards.(EO)
19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,(EP)
    so the grave(EQ) snatches away those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them,
    the worm(ER) feasts on them;(ES)
the wicked are no longer remembered(ET)
    but are broken like a tree.(EU)
21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,
    and to the widow they show no kindness.(EV)
22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;(EW)
    though they become established,(EX) they have no assurance of life.(EY)
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,(EZ)
    but his eyes(FA) are on their ways.(FB)
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;(FC)
    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;(FD)
    they are cut off like heads of grain.(FE)

25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false
    and reduce my words to nothing?”(FF)

Bildad

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite(FG) replied:

“Dominion and awe belong to God;(FH)
    he establishes order in the heights of heaven.(FI)
Can his forces be numbered?
    On whom does his light not rise?(FJ)
How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?(FK)
If even the moon(FL) is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes,(FM)
how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—
    a human being,(FN) who is only a worm!”(FO)

Footnotes

  1. Job 23:2 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew / the hand on me
  2. Job 23:2 Or heavy on me in
  3. Job 24:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

Bible Gateway Recommends