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Job 14-16
Lexham English Bible

Job Continues to Argue His Case with God

14 “A human being born of a woman
is short of days and full of troubles.[a]
2 Like a flower he comes up, and he withers away;
and he flees like a[b] shadow, but[c] he does not last.
3 Even on such a one you fix your eyes,
and you bring me into judgment with you.
4 “Who can bring a clean thing from an unclean thing?
No one![d]
5 If his days are determined, the number of his months is with you;
you have appointed his boundaries, and he cannot cross them.
6 Look away from him, and let him desist
until he enjoys his days like a laborer.
7 “Indeed, there is hope for a tree:
if it is cut down, then[e] it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not cease;
8 though its root grows old in the earth,
and its stump dies in the dust,
9 at[f] the scent of water it will bud,
and it will put forth branches like a young plant.
10 “But[g] a man dies, and he dwindles away;
thus[h] a human being passes away, and where is he?[i]
11 As water disappears from a lake,
and a river withers away and dries up,[j]
12 so[k] a man lies down, and he does not arise.
Until the heavens are no more,[l] they will not awaken,
and they will not be roused out of their sleep.
13 “O that[m] you would conceal me in Sheol,
that you would hide me until your wrath is past,[n]
that you would appoint a set time for me and remember me.
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my compulsory service I will wait,
until the coming of my relief.
15 You would call, and I myself[o] would answer you;
you would long for the work of your hand.
16 For then[p] you would count my steps,
but you would not keep watch over my sin.
17 My transgression would be sealed in a bag,
and you would cover over my guilt.
18 “But[q] a mountain falls; it crumbles away,
and a rock moves away from its place.
19 Water wears away stones;
its torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
so[r] you destroy the hope of human beings.
20 You overpower him forever, and he passes away;
you change his countenance,[s] then[t] you send him away.
21 His children may come to honor, but[u] he does not know it;
or[v] they may become lowly, but[w] he does not realize it.[x]
22 He feels only the pain of his own body,[y]
and his inner self[z] mourns for him.”[aa]

Eliphaz’s Second Response to Job

15 Then[ab] Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

2 “Should the wise answer with windy knowledge,
and should he fill his stomach with the east wind?
3 Should he argue in talk that is not profitable
or in words with which he cannot do good?
4 “What is worse,[ac] you yourself[ad] are doing away with fear,
and you are lessening meditation before[ae] God.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your mouth condemns you, and not I;
and your lips testify against you.
7 “Were you born the firstborn of the human race?
And were you brought forth before[af] the hills?
8 Have you listened in God’s confidential discussion?
And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?
10 Both the gray-haired and the old are among us—
those older than your father.[ag]
11 “Are the consolations of God too small for you,
a word spoken gently with you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away?
And why do your eyes flash,
13 that you turn your spirit against God,
and you let such words go out of your mouth?
14 “What is a human being, that he can be clean,
or[ah] that one born of a woman can be righteous?
15 Look, he does not trust his holy ones,
and the heavens are not clean in his eyes.
16 How much less[ai] he who is abominable and corrupt,[aj]
a man drinking wickedness like water.
17 “I will show you, listen to me;
and what I have seen, I will tell[ak]—
18 what wise men have told,
and they have not hidden that which is from their ancestors,
19 to whom alone[al] the land was given,
and no stranger passed through their midst.
20 “All of the wicked one’s days he is writhing,
even[am] through the number of years that are laid up for the tyrant.
21 Sounds of terror are in his ears;
in prosperity the destroyer will come against him.
22 He cannot trust that he will return[an] from darkness,
and he himself[ao] is destined for the sword.
23 “He is wandering for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of darkness is ready at hand.[ap]
24 Anguish and distress terrify him;
they[aq] overpower him like a king ready for the battle.
25 Because he stretched out his hand against God,
and he was arrogant to Shaddai;
26 he stubbornly[ar] runs against him
with his thick-bossed shield.[as]
27 “Because he has covered his face with his fat
and has gathered fat upon his loins,
28 he will dwell[at] in desolate cities,
in houses that they should not inhabit,
which are destined for rubble.
29 He will not become rich, and his wealth will not endure,
and their possessions will not stretch across the earth.[au]
30 “He will not escape from darkness;
a flame will dry up his new shoot,
and by the wind of his mouth he shall be removed.
31 Let him not trust in emptiness—he will be deceiving himself—
for worthlessness will be his recompense.
32 It will be paid in full before his time,[av]
and his branch will not flourish.
33 “He will shake off his unripe fruit like the vine,
and he will cast off his blossom like the olive tree;
34 for the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of those who accept bribes.
35 They conceive trouble and bring forth mischief,
and their womb prepares deceit.”

Job’s Fifth Speech

16 Then[aw] Job answered and said,

2 “I have heard many things like these;
all of you are miserable comforters.[ax]
3 Is there a limit to windy words?
What provokes you that you answer?
4 I myself[ay] also could talk as you,
if you were in my place;[az]
I could join against you with words,
and I could shake at you with my head.
5 I could[ba] encourage you with my mouth,
and the solace of my lips would[bb] ease the pain.
6 If I speak, my pain is not relieved;
and if I cease, how much will leave me?
7 “Surely now he has worn me out;
you[bc] have devastated all my company.
8 Thus[bd] you shriveled me up;[be]
it became a witness.
And my leanness has risen up against me;
it testifies to my face.
9 His wrath has torn, and he has been hostile toward me;
he gnashed at me with his teeth.
My foe sharpens his eyes against me.
10 They gaped at me with their mouth;
they struck my cheeks with disgrace;
they have massed themselves together against me.
11 God delivers me to an evil one,
and he casts me into the hands of the wicked.
12 “I was at ease, then[bf] he broke me in two,
and he seized me by my neck;
then[bg] he shattered me
and set me up as a target for him.
13 His archers surround me;
he slashes open my kidneys, and he does not have compassion;
he pours out my gall on the ground.
14 He breached me breach upon breach;[bh]
he rushes at me like a warrior.
15 “I have sewed sackcloth on my skin,
and I have inserted my pride[bi] in the dust.
16 My face is red because of weeping,
and deep shadows are on my eyelids,
17 although[bj] violence is not on my hands,
and my prayer is pure.
18 “O earth, you should not cover my blood,
and let there be no place[bk] for my cry for help.
19 So now look, my witness is in the heavens,
and he who vouches for me is in the heights.
20 My friends scorn me;
my eye pours out tears to God,
21 and it argues[bl] for a mortal with God,
and as a human[bm] for his friend.
22 Indeed, after a few years[bn] have come,
then[bo] I will go the way from which I will not return.

Footnotes

  1. Job 14:1 Literally “trouble”
  2. Job 14:2 Or “the”
  3. Job 14:2 Hebrew “and”
  4. Job 14:4 Or “Not one”
  5. Job 14:7 Hebrew “and”
  6. Job 14:9 Hebrew “from”
  7. Job 14:10 Hebrew “And”
  8. Job 14:10 Hebrew “And”
  9. Job 14:10 Or “where is he then?”
  10. Job 14:11 Or “it dries up”
  11. Job 14:12 Literally “and”
  12. Job 14:12 Literally “Until not heavens”
  13. Job 14:13 Literally “Who shall give”
  14. Job 14:13 Literally “until the return of your nose”
  15. Job 14:15 Emphatic personal pronoun
  16. Job 14:16 Hebrew “now”
  17. Job 14:18 Or “And but”
  18. Job 14:19 Hebrew “and”
  19. Job 14:20 Literally “his faces”
  20. Job 14:20 Hebrew “and”
  21. Job 14:21 Hebrew “and”
  22. Job 14:21 Hebrew “and”
  23. Job 14:21 Hebrew “and”
  24. Job 14:21 Or “them”
  25. Job 14:22 Hebrew “his body on him”
  26. Job 14:22 Or “soul”
  27. Job 14:22 Or “for himself”
  28. Job 15:1 Hebrew “And”
  29. Job 15:4 Literally “Also,” or “Even”
  30. Job 15:4 Emphatic personal pronoun
  31. Job 15:4 Literally “to the faces of”
  32. Job 15:7 Literally “to the faces of”
  33. Job 15:10 Literally “more aged than your father in days”
  34. Job 15:14 Or “and”
  35. Job 15:16 Literally “Also for,” or “Indeed for,” or “Indeed that”
  36. Job 15:16 Or “he who is corrupt”
  37. Job 15:17 Literally “and I will tell”
  38. Job 15:19 Literally “to them to alone them”
  39. Job 15:20 Hebrew “and”
  40. Job 15:22 Literally “He cannot trust to return,” or “He is not certain to return,” or “He cannot be sure to return” (compare NJPS)
  41. Job 15:22 Emphatic personal pronoun
  42. Job 15:23 Hebrew “at his hand”; the meaning seems to be, “his ruin is certain”
  43. Job 15:24 Hebrew “it”
  44. Job 15:26 Literally “with neck”
  45. Job 15:26 Literally “with the thickness of the boss of his shield”
  46. Job 15:28 Hebrew “and he will dwell”
  47. Job 15:29 See HCSB, ESV; or “will not reach to the earth”; perhaps “his possessions will not go to the underworld”
  48. Job 15:32 Literally “in not his day,” or “without his day”
  49. Job 16:1 Hebrew “And”
  50. Job 16:2 Literally “comforters of trouble”
  51. Job 16:4 Emphatic personal pronoun;
  52. Job 16:4 Literally “there is your soul in place of my soul”
  53. Job 16:5 Or “would”
  54. Job 16:5 Or “should”
  55. Job 16:7 Singular
  56. Job 16:8 Hebrew “And”
  57. Job 16:8 Or “you have seized me”
  58. Job 16:12 Hebrew “and”
  59. Job 16:12 Hebrew “and”
  60. Job 16:14 Literally “breach upon the faces of breach”
  61. Job 16:15 Literally “my horn”
  62. Job 16:17 Literally “upon,” or “because”
  63. Job 16:18 Or “do not let it become a place”
  64. Job 16:21 Or “but may someone argue”
  65. Job 16:21 Literally “a son of man”
  66. Job 16:22 Literally “years of number”
  67. Job 16:22 Hebrew “and”
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