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“Call now; is there any who will answer you?
    To which of the holy ones will you turn?
For resentment kills the foolish man,
    and jealousy kills the simple.
I have seen the foolish taking root,
    but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
His children are far from safety.
    They are crushed in the gate.
    Neither is there any to deliver them,
whose harvest the hungry eats up,
    and take it even out of the thorns.
    The snare gapes for their substance.
For affliction doesn’t come out of the dust,
    neither does trouble spring out of the ground;
but man is born to trouble,
    as the sparks fly upward.

“But as for me, I would seek God.
    I would commit my cause to God,
who does great things that can’t be fathomed,
    marvelous things without number;
10 who gives rain on the earth,
    and sends waters on the fields;
11 so that he sets up on high those who are low,
    those who mourn are exalted to safety.
12 He frustrates the plans of the crafty,
    So that their hands can’t perform their enterprise.
13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness;
    the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
14 They meet with darkness in the day time,
    and grope at noonday as in the night.
15 But he saves from the sword of their mouth,
    even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
16 So the poor has hope,
    and injustice shuts her mouth.

17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects.
    Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
18 For he wounds and binds up.
    He injures and his hands make whole.
19 He will deliver you in six troubles;
    yes, in seven no evil will touch you.
20 In famine he will redeem you from death;
    in war, from the power of the sword.
21 You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
    neither will you be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine,
    neither will you be afraid of the animals of the earth.
23 For you will be allied with the stones of the field.
    The animals of the field will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is in peace.
    You will visit your fold, and will miss nothing.
25 You will know also that your offspring[a] will be great,
    Your offspring as the grass of the earth.
26 You will come to your grave in a full age,
    like a shock of grain comes in its season.
27 Look at this. We have searched it. It is so.
    Hear it, and know it for your good.”

Footnotes

  1. 5:25 or, seed

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.