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Eliphaz’s Response Continues

“Cry for help, but will anyone answer you?
    Which of the angels[a] will help you?
Surely resentment destroys the fool,
    and jealousy kills the simple.
I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment,
    but then comes sudden disaster.
Their children are abandoned far from help;
    they are crushed in court with no one to defend them.
The hungry devour their harvest,
    even when it is guarded by brambles.[b]
    The thirsty pant after their wealth.[c]
But evil does not spring from the soil,
    and trouble does not sprout from the earth.
People are born for trouble
    as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.

“If I were you, I would go to God
    and present my case to him.
He does great things too marvelous to understand.
    He performs countless miracles.
10 He gives rain for the earth
    and water for the fields.
11 He gives prosperity to the poor
    and protects those who suffer.
12 He frustrates the plans of schemers
    so the work of their hands will not succeed.
13 He traps the wise in their own cleverness
    so their cunning schemes are thwarted.
14 They find it is dark in the daytime,
    and they grope at noon as if it were night.
15 He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong,
    and rescues them from the clutches of the powerful.
16 And so at last the poor have hope,
    and the snapping jaws of the wicked are shut.

17 “But consider the joy of those corrected by God!
    Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin.
18 For though he wounds, he also bandages.
    He strikes, but his hands also heal.
19 From six disasters he will rescue you;
    even in the seventh, he will keep you from evil.
20 He will save you from death in time of famine,
    from the power of the sword in time of war.
21 You will be safe from slander
    and have no fear when destruction comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine;
    wild animals will not terrify you.
23 You will be at peace with the stones of the field,
    and its wild animals will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your home is safe.
    When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing.
25 You will have many children;
    your descendants will be as plentiful as grass!
26 You will go to the grave at a ripe old age,
    like a sheaf of grain harvested at the proper time!

27 “We have studied life and found all this to be true.
    Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.”

Footnotes

  1. 5:1 Hebrew the holy ones.
  2. 5:5a The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  3. 5:5b As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads A snare snatches their wealth.

Eliphaz’s Response Continues

“Call now, is there anyone answering you?
And to which of the holy ones will you turn?
For vexation will slay the fool,
and jealousy will kill the simple.
I have seen a fool taking root,
but[a] suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
His children are far from deliverance,
and they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no deliverer—
whose harvest the hungry eats,
and he takes it from behind[b] the thorns;
and the thirsty pants after their wealth.
Indeed,[c] mischief does not come from the dust,
and trouble does not sprout from the earth.
But a human being is born to trouble,
and they soar aloft[d] like sparks.[e]
“But I myself[f] will seek God,
and to God I would commit my cause.
He is doing great and unsearchable[g] things,
marvelous things without number[h]
10 the one who is giving rain on the surface of[i] the earth
and is sending water on the surface of[j] the fields,
11 to set the lowly on high,
and those mourning are lifted to safety.
12 He is frustrating the devices of the crafty,
and their hands do not achieve success.
13 He is capturing the wise in their craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are rushed.
14 In the daytime they meet with darkness,
and they grope at noon[k] as in the night.
15 And[l] he saves from the sword of[m] their mouth,
even[n] the poor from the hand of the strong.
16 So[o] there is hope[p] for the powerless,
and wickedness shuts its mouth.
17 “Look, happy is the human being whom God reproves;
and you must not despise the discipline of Shaddai,
18 for he himself[q] wounds, but[r] he binds up;
he strikes, but[s] his hands heal.
19 From[t] six troubles he will deliver you,
and in seven evil shall not touch you.
20 In famine he will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of[u] the sword.
21 From the scourge of the tongue you shall be hidden,
and you shall not be afraid of[v] destruction when it comes.
22 At destruction and famine[w] you shall laugh,
and you shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.
23 For your covenant will be with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals[x] of the field will be at peace with you.
24 And you shall know that your tent is safe,
and you will inspect your fold, and you shall not be missing anything.
25 And you shall know that your offspring are many,
and your descendants like the vegetation of the earth.
26 You shall come in maturity to the grave,
as the raising up of a stack of sheaves in its season.
27 “Look, we have searched this out—it is true;
hear it and know it yourself.”[y]

Footnotes

  1. Job 5:3 Hebrew “And”
  2. Job 5:5 Literally “to from”
  3. Job 5:6 Or “For”
  4. Job 5:7 Literally “they make high to fly”
  5. Job 5:7 Literally “children of flame”
  6. Job 5:8 Emphatic personal pronoun
  7. Job 5:9 Literally “there is no searching”
  8. Job 5:9 Literally “until there is no number”
  9. Job 5:10 Literally “faces of”
  10. Job 5:10 Literally “faces of”
  11. Job 5:14 Or “the noon”
  12. Job 5:15 Or “Thus,” or “So”
  13. Job 5:15 Literally “from”
  14. Job 5:15 Literally “and”; the entire verse could be translated “So he saves the poor from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the strong”
  15. Job 5:16 Or “And”
  16. Job 5:16 Or “hope exists”
  17. Job 5:18 Emphatic personal pronoun
  18. Job 5:18 Hebrew “and”
  19. Job 5:18 Hebrew “and”
  20. Job 5:19 Literally “In,” or “By”
  21. Job 5:20 Literally “hand of”
  22. Job 5:21 Hebrew “from”
  23. Job 5:22 Hebrew “at famine”
  24. Job 5:23 Collective singular
  25. Job 5:27 Literally “you for yourself”