Beginning
14 “Man, who is born of woman, is of few days and full of trouble.
2 “He shoots forth as a flower and is cut down. He also vanishes as a shadow, and does not continue.
3 “Yet, You open Your Eyes upon such a one and cause me to enter into judgment with You.
4 “Who can bring a clean thing out of filthiness? There is not one.
5 “Are not his days determined, the number of his months with You? You have appointed his boundaries, which he cannot pass.
6 “Turn from him, so that he may rest, until his day is accepted as a hireling’s.
7 “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will still sprout. And its branches will not cease.
8 “Though the root of it grows old in the earth, and its stump is dead in the ground,
9 “by the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant.
10 “But man is sick and dies. And man perishes. And where is he?
11 “As the waters pass from the sea, and as the flood decays and dries up,
12 “so man sleeps and does not rise. He shall not wake again, or be raised from his sleep, until the heavens are no more.
13 “Oh that You would hide me in the grave and keep me secret until Your wrath were past, would set a time for me and remember me!
14 “If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, until my relief comes.
15 “You shall call me, and I will answer You. You love the work of Your own Hands.
16 “But now, You number my steps. Do You not watch over my sins?
17 “My iniquity is sealed up in a bag. And You add to my wickedness.
18 “And surely as the mountain falls and comes to nothing, and as the rock is removed from its place,
19 “as the water breaks the stones, You overflow the things which grow in the dust of the earth. So You destroy the hope of man.
20 “You always prevail against him, so that he passes away. He changes his face when You cast him away.
21 “And he does not know if his sons shall be honorable. Nor shall he understand concerning them, whether they shall be of low degree.
22 “But while his flesh is upon him, he shall be sorrowful. And while his soul is in him, it shall mourn.”
15 “Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
2 “Shall a wise man speak words of the wind, and fill his belly with the East wind?
3 “Shall he dispute with unprofitable words or with talk that is of no benefit?
4 “Surely, you have cast off fear and restrained prayer before God:
5 “For your mouth declares your iniquity, seeing you have chosen the tongue of the crafty.
6 “Your own mouth condemns you, and not me. And your lips testify against you.
7 “Are you the first man who was born? And were you made before the hills?
8 “Have you heard the secret counsel of God? And do you restrain wisdom to yourself?
9 “What do you know that we do not know, understand that is not in us?
10 “With us are both ancient and very aged men, far older than your father.
11 “Do the consolations of God seem small to you? Is this thing strange to you?
12 “Why does your heart take you away? And at what are you winking,
13 “that you answer to God at your pleasure and bring such words out of your mouth?
14 “What is man, that he would be clean? And he who is born of woman, that he would be just?
15 “Behold, He found no steadfastness in His saints. Yea, the heavens are not clean in His sight.
16 “How much more abominable is man, and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water?
17 “I will tell you. Hear me, and I will declare that which I have seen,
18 “which wise men have told from their fathers and have not kept secret,
19 “to whom alone the land was given. And no stranger passed through them.
20 “The wicked man is continually as one who writhes in pain. And the number of years is hidden from the tyrant.
21 “A sound of fear is in his ears. In his prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
22 “He does not believe he will return out of darkness, for he sees the sword before him.
23 “He wanders to and fro for bread. He knows that the day of darkness is at hand.
24 “Affliction and anguish shall make him afraid. They shall prevail against him as a king, ready to battle.
25 “For he has stretched out his hand against God and made himself strong against the Almighty.
26 “running upon Him, with the most thick part of his shield.
27 “Because he has covered his face with his fatness, and excess fat is in his loins.
28 “He dwells in desolate cities, in houses which no man inhabits, but have become heaps.
29 “He shall not be rich. Nor shall his substance continue. Nor shall he prolong its gain on the Earth.
30 “He shall never depart from darkness. The flame shall dry up his branches. And he shall go away with the breath of His mouth.
31 “Let him not err in his trust of frivolity. For frivolity shall be his reward.
32 “His branch shall not be green, but shall be cut off before his day.
33 “God shall destroy him as the vine does her sour grape, and shall cast him off as the olive does her flower.
34 “For the congregation of the hypocrite shall be desolate. And fire shall devour the houses of bribes.
35 “They conceive mischief and bring forth emptiness. And their belly has prepared deceit.”
16 But Job answered and said,
2 “I have oftentimes heard such things. Miserable comforters are you all!
3 “Shall there be no end of your words of wind? What makes you so bold to answer?
4 “I could also speak as you do if your soul were in my soul’s place. I could keep you company in speaking and could shake my head at you.
5 “But I would strengthen you with my mouth. And the motion of my lips would bring relief.
6 “Though I speak, my sorrow cannot be relieved. Though I cease, what release have I?
7 “But now, He makes me weary: You have made all my congregation desolate
8 “and have made me full of wrinkles, which is a witness of it. And my leanness rises up in me, testifying in my face.
9 “His wrath has torn and He hates me, gnashing on me with His Teeth. My enemy has sharpened his eyes against me.
10 “They have opened their mouths upon me and struck me on the cheek in reproach. They gathered themselves together against me.
11 “God has delivered me to the unjust and has made me turn out of the way, by the hands of the wicked.
12 “I was wealthy, but he has brought me to nothing. He has taken me by the neck and beaten me and set me as a mark for Himself.
13 “His archers surround me. He pierces my core and does not spare and pours my gall upon the ground.
14 “He has broken me with one breaking upon another and runs upon me like a giant.
15 “I have sown a sackcloth upon my skin and have defiled my horn in the dust.
16 “My face is withered with weeping and the shadow of death is upon my eyes,
17 “though no wickedness is in my hands and my prayer is pure.
18 “O Earth, do not cover my blood. And let my crying find no place.
19 “For lo, now my witness is in the sky, and my record on high.
20 “My friends speak eloquently against me. My eye pours out to God.
21 “Oh that a man might plead with God, as a man with his neighbor!
22 “For few years come before I shall go and not return.
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