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Job 4-7
New International Version
Job 4-7
New International Version
Eliphaz
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite(A) replied:
2 “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?(B)
3 Think how you have instructed many,(C)
how you have strengthened feeble hands.(D)
4 Your words have supported those who stumbled;(E)
you have strengthened faltering knees.(F)
5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;(G)
it strikes(H) you, and you are dismayed.(I)
6 Should not your piety be your confidence(J)
and your blameless(K) ways your hope?
7 “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?(L)
Where were the upright ever destroyed?(M)
8 As I have observed,(N) those who plow evil(O)
and those who sow trouble reap it.(P)
9 At the breath of God(Q) they perish;
at the blast of his anger they are no more.(R)
10 The lions may roar(S) and growl,
yet the teeth of the great lions(T) are broken.(U)
11 The lion perishes for lack of prey,(V)
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.(W)
12 “A word(X) was secretly brought to me,
my ears caught a whisper(Y) of it.(Z)
13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
when deep sleep falls on people,(AA)
14 fear and trembling(AB) seized me
and made all my bones shake.(AC)
15 A spirit glided past my face,
and the hair on my body stood on end.(AD)
16 It stopped,
but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
and I heard a hushed voice:(AE)
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?(AF)
Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?(AG)
18 If God places no trust in his servants,(AH)
if he charges his angels with error,(AI)
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,(AJ)
whose foundations(AK) are in the dust,(AL)
who are crushed(AM) more readily than a moth!(AN)
20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
unnoticed, they perish forever.(AO)
21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,(AP)
so that they die(AQ) without wisdom?’(AR)
5 “Call if you will, but who will answer you?(AS)
To which of the holy ones(AT) will you turn?
2 Resentment(AU) kills a fool,
and envy slays the simple.(AV)
3 I myself have seen(AW) a fool taking root,(AX)
but suddenly(AY) his house was cursed.(AZ)
4 His children(BA) are far from safety,(BB)
crushed in court(BC) without a defender.(BD)
5 The hungry consume his harvest,(BE)
taking it even from among thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6 For hardship does not spring from the soil,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground.(BF)
7 Yet man is born to trouble(BG)
as surely as sparks fly upward.
8 “But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
I would lay my cause before him.(BH)
9 He performs wonders(BI) that cannot be fathomed,(BJ)
miracles that cannot be counted.(BK)
10 He provides rain for the earth;(BL)
he sends water on the countryside.(BM)
11 The lowly he sets on high,(BN)
and those who mourn(BO) are lifted(BP) to safety.
12 He thwarts the plans(BQ) of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.(BR)
13 He catches the wise(BS) in their craftiness,(BT)
and the schemes of the wily are swept away.(BU)
14 Darkness(BV) comes upon them in the daytime;
at noon they grope as in the night.(BW)
15 He saves the needy(BX) from the sword in their mouth;
he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.(BY)
16 So the poor(BZ) have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.(CA)
17 “Blessed is the one whom God corrects;(CB)
so do not despise the discipline(CC) of the Almighty.[a](CD)
18 For he wounds, but he also binds up;(CE)
he injures, but his hands also heal.(CF)
19 From six calamities he will rescue(CG) you;
in seven no harm will touch you.(CH)
20 In famine(CI) he will deliver you from death,
and in battle from the stroke of the sword.(CJ)
21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,(CK)
and need not fear(CL) when destruction comes.(CM)
22 You will laugh(CN) at destruction and famine,(CO)
and need not fear the wild animals.(CP)
23 For you will have a covenant(CQ) with the stones(CR) of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.(CS)
24 You will know that your tent is secure;(CT)
you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.(CU)
25 You will know that your children will be many,(CV)
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.(CW)
26 You will come to the grave in full vigor,(CX)
like sheaves gathered in season.(CY)
Job
6 Then Job replied:
2 “If only my anguish could be weighed
and all my misery be placed on the scales!(DB)
3 It would surely outweigh the sand(DC) of the seas—
no wonder my words have been impetuous.(DD)
4 The arrows(DE) of the Almighty(DF) are in me,(DG)
my spirit drinks(DH) in their poison;(DI)
God’s terrors(DJ) are marshaled against me.(DK)
5 Does a wild donkey(DL) bray(DM) when it has grass,
or an ox bellow when it has fodder?(DN)
6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow[b]?(DO)
7 I refuse to touch it;
such food makes me ill.(DP)
8 “Oh, that I might have my request,
that God would grant what I hope for,(DQ)
9 that God would be willing to crush(DR) me,
to let loose his hand and cut off my life!(DS)
10 Then I would still have this consolation(DT)—
my joy in unrelenting pain(DU)—
that I had not denied the words(DV) of the Holy One.(DW)
11 “What strength do I have, that I should still hope?
What prospects, that I should be patient?(DX)
12 Do I have the strength of stone?
Is my flesh bronze?(DY)
13 Do I have any power to help myself,(DZ)
now that success has been driven from me?
14 “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend(EA)
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.(EB)
15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,(EC)
as the streams that overflow
16 when darkened by thawing ice
and swollen with melting snow,(ED)
17 but that stop flowing in the dry season,
and in the heat(EE) vanish from their channels.
18 Caravans turn aside from their routes;
they go off into the wasteland and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema(EF) look for water,
the traveling merchants of Sheba(EG) look in hope.
20 They are distressed, because they had been confident;
they arrive there, only to be disappointed.(EH)
21 Now you too have proved to be of no help;
you see something dreadful and are afraid.(EI)
22 Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf,
pay a ransom(EJ) for me from your wealth,(EK)
23 deliver me from the hand of the enemy,
rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?(EL)
24 “Teach me, and I will be quiet;(EM)
show me where I have been wrong.(EN)
25 How painful are honest words!(EO)
But what do your arguments prove?
26 Do you mean to correct what I say,
and treat my desperate words as wind?(EP)
27 You would even cast lots(EQ) for the fatherless(ER)
and barter away your friend.
28 “But now be so kind as to look at me.
Would I lie to your face?(ES)
29 Relent, do not be unjust;(ET)
reconsider, for my integrity(EU) is at stake.[c](EV)
30 Is there any wickedness on my lips?(EW)
Can my mouth not discern(EX) malice?
7 “Do not mortals have hard service(EY) on earth?(EZ)
Are not their days like those of hired laborers?(FA)
2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,(FB)
or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,(FC)
3 so I have been allotted months of futility,
and nights of misery have been assigned to me.(FD)
4 When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’(FE)
The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.(FF)
5 My body is clothed with worms(FG) and scabs,
my skin is broken and festering.(FH)
6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,(FI)
and they come to an end without hope.(FJ)
7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;(FK)
my eyes will never see happiness again.(FL)
8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
you will look for me, but I will be no more.(FM)
9 As a cloud vanishes(FN) and is gone,
so one who goes down to the grave(FO) does not return.(FP)
10 He will never come to his house again;
his place(FQ) will know him no more.(FR)
11 “Therefore I will not keep silent;(FS)
I will speak out in the anguish(FT) of my spirit,
I will complain(FU) in the bitterness of my soul.(FV)
12 Am I the sea,(FW) or the monster of the deep,(FX)
that you put me under guard?(FY)
13 When I think my bed will comfort me
and my couch will ease my complaint,(FZ)
14 even then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify(GA) me with visions,(GB)
15 so that I prefer strangling and death,(GC)
rather than this body of mine.(GD)
16 I despise my life;(GE) I would not live forever.(GF)
Let me alone;(GG) my days have no meaning.(GH)
17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,
that you give them so much attention,(GI)
18 that you examine them every morning(GJ)
and test them(GK) every moment?(GL)
19 Will you never look away from me,(GM)
or let me alone even for an instant?(GN)
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,(GO)
you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?(GP)
Have I become a burden to you?[d](GQ)
21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
and forgive my sins?(GR)
For I will soon lie down in the dust;(GS)
you will search for me, but I will be no more.”(GT)
Footnotes
- Job 5:17 Hebrew Shaddai; here and throughout Job
- Job 6:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- Job 6:29 Or my righteousness still stands
- Job 7:20 A few manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition and Septuagint; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text I have become a burden to myself.
Job 4-7
King James Version
Job 4-7
King James Version
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
5 Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
3 I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
4 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
6 Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
11 To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
14 They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
15 But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
16 So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.
6 But Job answered and said,
2 Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
5 Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
6 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.
8 Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
9 Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
10 Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?
13 Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?
14 To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
16 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid:
17 What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18 The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.
19 The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
20 They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.
21 For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.
22 Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?
23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?
26 Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?
27 Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.
28 Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.
29 Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.
30 Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
7 Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
2 As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:
3 So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
4 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.
7 O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.
8 The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.
9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
10 He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
11 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?
13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaints;
14 Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:
15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.
16 I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.
17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?
18 And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?
19 How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
20 I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?
21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.
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