Job 14-16
New Living Translation
14 “How frail is humanity!
How short is life, how full of trouble!
2 We blossom like a flower and then wither.
Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.
3 Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature
and demand an accounting from me?
4 Who can bring purity out of an impure person?
No one!
5 You have decided the length of our lives.
You know how many months we will live,
and we are not given a minute longer.
6 So leave us alone and let us rest!
We are like hired hands, so let us finish our work in peace.
7 “Even a tree has more hope!
If it is cut down, it will sprout again
and grow new branches.
8 Though its roots have grown old in the earth
and its stump decays,
9 at the scent of water it will bud
and sprout again like a new seedling.
10 “But when people die, their strength is gone.
They breathe their last, and then where are they?
11 As water evaporates from a lake
and a river disappears in drought,
12 people are laid to rest and do not rise again.
Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up
nor be roused from their sleep.
13 “I wish you would hide me in the grave[a]
and forget me there until your anger has passed.
But mark your calendar to think of me again!
14 Can the dead live again?
If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle,
and I would eagerly await the release of death.
15 You would call and I would answer,
and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.
16 For then you would guard my steps,
instead of watching for my sins.
17 My sins would be sealed in a pouch,
and you would cover my guilt.
18 “But instead, as mountains fall and crumble
and as rocks fall from a cliff,
19 as water wears away the stones
and floods wash away the soil,
so you destroy people’s hope.
20 You always overpower them, and they pass from the scene.
You disfigure them in death and send them away.
21 They never know if their children grow up in honor
or sink to insignificance.
22 They suffer painfully;
their life is full of trouble.”
Eliphaz’s Second Response to Job
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk!
You are nothing but a windbag.
3 The wise don’t engage in empty chatter.
What good are such words?
4 Have you no fear of God,
no reverence for him?
5 Your sins are telling your mouth what to say.
Your words are based on clever deception.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I.
Your own lips testify against you.
7 “Were you the first person ever born?
Were you born before the hills were made?
8 Were you listening at God’s secret council?
Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
9 What do you know that we don’t?
What do you understand that we do not?
10 On our side are aged, gray-haired men
much older than your father!
11 “Is God’s comfort too little for you?
Is his gentle word not enough?
12 What has taken away your reason?
What has weakened your vision,[b]
13 that you turn against God
and say all these evil things?
14 Can any mortal be pure?
Can anyone born of a woman be just?
15 Look, God does not even trust the angels.[c]
Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight.
16 How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person
with a thirst for wickedness!
17 “If you will listen, I will show you.
I will answer you from my own experience.
18 And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men
who have heard the same thing from their fathers—
19 from those to whom the land was given
long before any foreigners arrived.
20 “The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives.
Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.
21 The sound of terror rings in their ears,
and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.
22 They dare not go out into the darkness
for fear they will be murdered.
23 They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’[d]
They know their day of destruction is near.
24 That dark day terrifies them.
They live in distress and anguish,
like a king preparing for battle.
25 For they shake their fists at God,
defying the Almighty.
26 Holding their strong shields,
they defiantly charge against him.
27 “These wicked people are heavy and prosperous;
their waists bulge with fat.
28 But their cities will be ruined.
They will live in abandoned houses
that are ready to tumble down.
29 Their riches will not last,
and their wealth will not endure.
Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.
30 “They will not escape the darkness.
The burning sun will wither their shoots,
and the breath of God will destroy them.
31 Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches,
for emptiness will be their only reward.
32 They will be cut down in the prime of life;
their branches will never again be green.
33 They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early,
like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.
34 For the godless are barren.
Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
Their womb produces deceit.”
Job’s Fifth Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
16 Then Job spoke again:
2 “I have heard all this before.
What miserable comforters you are!
3 Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air?
What makes you keep on talking?
4 I could say the same things if you were in my place.
I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you.
5 But if it were me, I would encourage you.
I would try to take away your grief.
6 Instead, I suffer if I defend myself,
and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak.
7 “O God, you have ground me down
and devastated my family.
8 As if to prove I have sinned, you’ve reduced me to skin and bones.
My gaunt flesh testifies against me.
9 God hates me and angrily tears me apart.
He snaps his teeth at me
and pierces me with his eyes.
10 People jeer and laugh at me.
They slap my cheek in contempt.
A mob gathers against me.
11 God has handed me over to sinners.
He has tossed me into the hands of the wicked.
12 “I was living quietly until he shattered me.
He took me by the neck and broke me in pieces.
Then he set me up as his target,
13 and now his archers surround me.
His arrows pierce me without mercy.
The ground is wet with my blood.[e]
14 Again and again he smashes against me,
charging at me like a warrior.
15 I wear burlap to show my grief.
My pride lies in the dust.
16 My eyes are red with weeping;
dark shadows circle my eyes.
17 Yet I have done no wrong,
and my prayer is pure.
18 “O earth, do not conceal my blood.
Let it cry out on my behalf.
19 Even now my witness is in heaven.
My advocate is there on high.
20 My friends scorn me,
but I pour out my tears to God.
21 I need someone to mediate between God and me,
as a person mediates between friends.
22 For soon I must go down that road
from which I will never return.
Job 14-16
New International Version
14 “Mortals, born of woman,(A)
are of few days(B) and full of trouble.(C)
2 They spring up like flowers(D) and wither away;(E)
like fleeting shadows,(F) they do not endure.(G)
3 Do you fix your eye on them?(H)
Will you bring them[a] before you for judgment?(I)
4 Who can bring what is pure(J) from the impure?(K)
No one!(L)
5 A person’s days are determined;(M)
you have decreed the number of his months(N)
and have set limits he cannot exceed.(O)
6 So look away from him and let him alone,(P)
till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.(Q)
7 “At least there is hope for a tree:(R)
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots(S) will not fail.(T)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump(U) die in the soil,
9 yet at the scent of water(V) it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.(W)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;(X)
he breathes his last and is no more.(Y)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,(Z)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;(AA)
till the heavens are no more,(AB) people will not awake
or be roused from their sleep.(AC)
13 “If only you would hide me in the grave(AD)
and conceal me till your anger has passed!(AE)
If only you would set me a time
and then remember(AF) me!(AG)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
All the days of my hard service(AH)
I will wait for my renewal[b](AI) to come.
15 You will call and I will answer you;(AJ)
you will long for the creature your hands have made.(AK)
16 Surely then you will count my steps(AL)
but not keep track of my sin.(AM)
17 My offenses will be sealed(AN) up in a bag;(AO)
you will cover over my sin.(AP)
18 “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles(AQ)
and as a rock is moved from its place,(AR)
19 as water wears away stones
and torrents(AS) wash away the soil,(AT)
so you destroy a person’s hope.(AU)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;(AV)
you change their countenance and send them away.(AW)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.(AX)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies(AY)
and mourn only for themselves.(AZ)”
Eliphaz
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite(BA) replied:
2 “Would a wise person answer with empty notions
or fill their belly with the hot east wind?(BB)
3 Would they argue with useless words,
with speeches that have no value?(BC)
4 But you even undermine piety
and hinder devotion to God.(BD)
5 Your sin(BE) prompts your mouth;(BF)
you adopt the tongue of the crafty.(BG)
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
your own lips testify against you.(BH)
7 “Are you the first man ever born?(BI)
Were you brought forth before the hills?(BJ)
8 Do you listen in on God’s council?(BK)
Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?(BL)
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What insights do you have that we do not have?(BM)
10 The gray-haired and the aged(BN) are on our side,
men even older than your father.(BO)
11 Are God’s consolations(BP) not enough for you,
words(BQ) spoken gently to you?(BR)
12 Why has your heart(BS) carried you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
13 so that you vent your rage(BT) against God
and pour out such words(BU) from your mouth?(BV)
14 “What are mortals, that they could be pure,
or those born of woman,(BW) that they could be righteous?(BX)
15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,(BY)
if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,(BZ)
16 how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,(CA)
who drink up evil(CB) like water!(CC)
17 “Listen to me and I will explain to you;
let me tell you what I have seen,(CD)
18 what the wise have declared,
hiding nothing received from their ancestors(CE)
19 (to whom alone the land(CF) was given
when no foreigners moved among them):
20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment,(CG)
the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.(CH)
21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears;(CI)
when all seems well, marauders attack him.(CJ)
22 He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;(CK)
he is marked for the sword.(CL)
23 He wanders about(CM) for food like a vulture;(CN)
he knows the day of darkness(CO) is at hand.(CP)
24 Distress and anguish(CQ) fill him with terror;(CR)
troubles overwhelm him, like a king(CS) poised to attack,
25 because he shakes his fist(CT) at God
and vaunts himself against the Almighty,(CU)
26 defiantly charging against him
with a thick, strong shield.(CV)
27 “Though his face is covered with fat
and his waist bulges with flesh,(CW)
28 he will inhabit ruined towns
and houses where no one lives,(CX)
houses crumbling to rubble.(CY)
29 He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,(CZ)
nor will his possessions spread over the land.(DA)
30 He will not escape the darkness;(DB)
a flame(DC) will wither his shoots,(DD)
and the breath of God’s mouth(DE) will carry him away.(DF)
31 Let him not deceive(DG) himself by trusting what is worthless,(DH)
for he will get nothing in return.(DI)
32 Before his time(DJ) he will wither,(DK)
and his branches will not flourish.(DL)
33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,(DM)
like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.(DN)
34 For the company of the godless(DO) will be barren,
and fire will consume(DP) the tents of those who love bribes.(DQ)
35 They conceive trouble(DR) and give birth to evil;(DS)
their womb fashions deceit.”
Job
16 Then Job replied:
2 “I have heard many things like these;
you are miserable comforters,(DT) all of you!(DU)
3 Will your long-winded speeches never end?(DV)
What ails you that you keep on arguing?(DW)
4 I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
and shake my head(DX) at you.
5 But my mouth would encourage you;
comfort(DY) from my lips would bring you relief.(DZ)
6 “Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
and if I refrain, it does not go away.(EA)
7 Surely, God, you have worn me out;(EB)
you have devastated my entire household.(EC)
8 You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;
my gauntness(ED) rises up and testifies against me.(EE)
9 God assails me and tears(EF) me in his anger(EG)
and gnashes his teeth at me;(EH)
my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.(EI)
10 People open their mouths(EJ) to jeer at me;(EK)
they strike my cheek(EL) in scorn
and unite together against me.(EM)
11 God has turned me over to the ungodly
and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.(EN)
12 All was well with me, but he shattered me;
he seized me by the neck and crushed me.(EO)
He has made me his target;(EP)
13 his archers surround me.(EQ)
Without pity, he pierces(ER) my kidneys
and spills my gall on the ground.
14 Again and again(ES) he bursts upon me;
he rushes at me like a warrior.(ET)
15 “I have sewed sackcloth(EU) over my skin
and buried my brow in the dust.(EV)
16 My face is red with weeping,(EW)
dark shadows ring my eyes;(EX)
17 yet my hands have been free of violence(EY)
and my prayer is pure.(EZ)
18 “Earth, do not cover my blood;(FA)
may my cry(FB) never be laid to rest!(FC)
19 Even now my witness(FD) is in heaven;(FE)
my advocate is on high.(FF)
20 My intercessor(FG) is my friend[c](FH)
as my eyes pour out(FI) tears(FJ) to God;
21 on behalf of a man he pleads(FK) with God
as one pleads for a friend.
22 “Only a few years will pass
before I take the path of no return.(FL)
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