Old/New Testament
II. First Cycle of Speeches
Chapter 3
Job’s Complaint. 1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.[a] 2 Job spoke out and said:
3 Perish the day on which I was born,(A)
the night when they said, “The child is a boy!”
4 May that day be darkness:
may God[b] above not care for it,
may light not shine upon it!
5 May darkness and gloom claim it,
clouds settle upon it,
blackness of day[c] affright it!
6 May obscurity seize that night;
may it not be counted among the days of the year,
nor enter into the number of the months!
7 May that night be barren;
let no joyful outcry greet it!
8 Let them curse it who curse the Sea,
those skilled at disturbing Leviathan![d]
9 May the stars of its twilight be darkened;
may it look for daylight, but have none,
nor gaze on the eyes of the dawn,
10 Because it did not keep shut the doors of the womb
to shield my eyes from trouble!
11 Why did I not die at birth,(B)
come forth from the womb and expire?
12 Why did knees receive me,
or breasts nurse me?
13 For then I should have lain down and been tranquil;
had I slept, I should then have been at rest
14 With kings and counselors of the earth
who rebuilt what were ruins
15 Or with princes who had gold
and filled their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not buried away like a stillborn child,
like babies that have never seen the light?
17 There[e] the wicked cease from troubling,
there the weary are at rest.
18 The captives are at ease together,
and hear no overseer’s voice.
19 Small and great are there;
the servant is free from the master.
20 Why is light given to the toilers,
life to the bitter in spirit?
21 They wait for death and it does not come;
they search for it more than for hidden treasures.
22 They rejoice in it exultingly,
and are glad when they find the grave:
23 A man whose path is hidden from him,
one whom God has hemmed in![f]
24 For to me sighing comes more readily than food;
my groans well forth like water.
25 For what I feared overtakes me;
what I dreaded comes upon me.
26 I have no peace nor ease;
I have no rest, for trouble has come!
Chapter 4
Eliphaz’s First Speech. 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 If someone attempts a word with you, would you mind?
How can anyone refrain from speaking?
3 Look, you have instructed many,
and made firm their feeble hands.
4 Your words have upheld the stumbler;
you have strengthened faltering knees.
5 But now that it comes to you, you are impatient;
when it touches you, you are dismayed.
6 Is not your piety a source of confidence,
and your integrity of life your hope?
7 Reflect now, what innocent person perishes?(C)
Where are the upright destroyed?
8 As I see it, those who plow mischief
and sow trouble will reap them.
9 By the breath of God they perish,(D)
and by the blast of his wrath they are consumed.
10 Though the lion[g] roars, though the king of beasts cries out,
yet the teeth of the young lions are broken;
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 A word was stealthily brought to me,[h]
my ear caught a whisper of it.
13 In my thoughts during visions of the night,(E)
when deep sleep falls on mortals,
14 Fear came upon me, and shuddering,
that terrified me to the bone.
15 Then a spirit passed before me,
and the hair of my body stood on end.
16 It paused, but its likeness I could not recognize;
a figure was before my eyes,
in silence I heard a voice:(F)
17 “Can anyone be more in the right than God?(G)
Can mortals be more blameless than their Maker?
18 Look, he puts no trust in his servants,(H)
and even with his messengers he finds fault.
19 How much more with those who dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed more easily than a moth!
20 Morning or evening they may be shattered;
unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 The pegs of their tent are plucked up;
they die without knowing wisdom.”
44 Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the desert just as the One who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.(A) 45 Our ancestors who inherited it brought it with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out from before our ancestors, up to the time of David,(B) 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob.(C) 47 But Solomon built a house for him.(D) 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:(E)
49 ‘The heavens are my throne,
the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house can you build for me?
says the Lord,
or what is to be my resting place?(F)
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’
Conclusion. 51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.(G) 53 You received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe it.”(H)
Stephen’s Martyrdom. 54 When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 (I)But he, filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,[a] 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears,[b] and rushed upon him together. 58 They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.(J) 59 As they were stoning Stephen,(K) he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”[c] 60 Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”; and when he said this, he fell asleep.(L)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.