Beginning
Job’s Seventh Speech: A Response to Zophar
21 Then[a] Job answered and said,
2 “Listen carefully to my words,
and let this be your[b] consolation.
3 Bear with me, and I myself[c] will speak;
then[d] after my speaking you can mock.
4 As for me, is my complaint for human beings?
And if so, why cannot I be impatient?
5 Turn to me and be appalled,
and place your hand on your mouth.
6 And when I think of it, I am horrified,[e]
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 “Why do the wicked live,
grow old, even grow mighty in power?
8 With them their offspring are established before them,[f]
and their descendants before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe without fear,
and the rod of God is not upon them.
10 His bull breeds and does not fail;
his cow calves and does not miscarry.
11 They send out their little ones like the flock,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing[g] to the tambourine and lyre,
and they rejoice to the sound of the long flute.
13 They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.
14 And they say to God, ‘Turn away from us,
for[h] we do not desire to know your ways.
15 Who is Shaddai that we should serve him,
or[i] what would we benefit when we plead with him?’
16 Look, their prosperity is not in their hands;
the schemes of the wicked are repugnant[j] to me.
17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out,
and their disaster comes upon them?
He[k] distributes pains in his anger.
18 How often are they like straw before[l] the wind,
and like chaff that the storm carries away?
19 ‘God stores up his iniquity for his children’?[m]
Then let him repay it to him that[n] he may know.
20 Let his eyes see his decay,
and let him drink from the wrath of Shaddai,
21 for what does he care for[o] his house after him,
when the number of his months is[p] cut off?
22 Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since[q] he himself[r] judges high ones?
23 This one dies in full prosperity,[s]
completely[t] at ease and secure.
24 His vats are full with milk
and the marrow of his bones is moist.
25 Yet[u] another dies with a bitter inner self[v]
and has not tasted prosperity.
26 They lie down together in the dust,
and maggots cover them.
27 “Look, I know your[w] thoughts
and the schemes you devise against me.
28 For you say, ‘Where is the nobleman’s house,
and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’[x]
29 Do you not ask those traveling the roads,
and do you not take notice of their accounts?
30 Indeed, the wicked is spared from the day of disaster;
he is delivered from the day of wrath.
31 Who denounces his way to his face?
And who repays him for what he has done?
32 When[y] he is brought to the grave,
then[z] someone stands guard over the tomb.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
everyone will follow after him,
and before[aa] him they are innumerable.[ab]
34 So[ac] how will you comfort me with emptiness,
when[ad] fraud is left in your answers?”
Eliphaz’s Third Speech
22 Then[ae] Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 “Can a man be of use to God?
Yes, can the wise be of use to him?
3 Is it a pleasure to Shaddai if you are righteous,
or[af] a gain if you make your ways blameless?
4 Does he reprove you because of your reverence
or enter into judgment with you?
5 Is not your wickedness great,
and there is no end to your iniquities?
6 “Indeed, you have required a pledge from your family for nothing,
and you have stripped off the clothes of the naked.
7 You have given no water for the weary to drink,
and you withheld food from the hungry.
8 And the land belongs to the man of power,[ag]
and the favored[ah] lives in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms of orphans were crushed.
10 Therefore trapping nets are all around you,
and panic suddenly terrifies you,
11 or it is so dark you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.
12 “Is not God in the height of the heavens?
But[ai] see how lofty are the highest stars.[aj]
13 And you ask, ‘What does God know?
Can he judge through deep gloom?
14 Thick clouds are a covering for him, so that he does not see;
and he walks about on the dome of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the way of old
that the people of mischief have trod,
16 who were snatched away before their time,[ak]
whose foundation was washed away by a current?
17 Those who said to God, ‘Turn away from us,’
and ‘What can Shaddai do to us?’
18 Yet[al] he himself[am] filled up their houses with good things,
but[an] the schemes of the wicked are repugnant to me.
19 The righteous see, and they rejoice,
but[ao] the innocent one mocks at them.
20 Surely[ap] our foe perishes,
and fire has consumed their remainder.[aq]
21 “Please reconcile yourself with him,
and be at peace; in this way,[ar] good will come to you.
22 Please receive instruction from his mouth,
and place his words in your heart.
23 If you return to Shaddai, you will be restored;
if you remove wickedness from your tent,
24 and if you put gold ore in the dust,
and the gold of Ophir in the rock of wadis,
25 then[as] Shaddai will be your gold ore
and your precious silver.[at]
26 Indeed, then you will delight yourself in Shaddai,
and you will expect that God will be good to you.[au]
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.
28 And you will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When they are humiliated, you say,[av] ‘It is pride,’
for[aw] he saves the humble.[ax]
30 He will deliver the guilty,
and he will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.”
Job’s Eighth Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
23 Then[ay] Job answered and said,
2 “Even today my complaint is bitter;
my hand is heavy in addition to my groaning.
3 O that[az] I knew and that I might find him;
O that I might come to his dwelling.
4 I would lay my case before him,[ba]
and I would fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I want to know the words with which he would answer me,
and I want to understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his strength?
No, but he himself[bb] would give heed to me.
7 There an upright person could reason with him,
and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 “When I go forward, he is not there,[bc]
or[bd] backward, I cannot see him.[be]
9 When he works[bf] on the left, I cannot perceive[bg] him;
he turns to the right, but[bh] I cannot see him.
10 But he knows the way that I take;[bi]
he tests me—I shall come out like gold.
11 My foot has held on to his steps;
I have kept his way, and I have not turned aside.
12 From the commandment of his lips, indeed[bj] I have not departed;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily food.
13 “But[bk] he is alone,[bl] and who can dissuade him?
And whatever he desires,[bm] indeed,[bn] he does it.
14 For he will carry out what he appoints for me,[bo]
and many things like these are with him.
15 Therefore, I am horrified because of his presence;
when I consider, I tremble[bp] because of him.
16 Indeed,[bq] God has made my heart faint,
and Shaddai has terrified me.
17 Indeed, I have not been silenced because of darkness,[br]
and because of me he[bs] conceals thick darkness.
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