Study Desk

Eliphaz

Then Eliphaz the Temanite^(a) replied:

"Can a man be of benefit to God?^(b) Can even a wise person benefit him?^(c)

What pleasure^(d) would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?^(e) What would he gain if your ways were blameless?^(f)

"Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?^(g)

Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins^(h) endless?⁽ⁱ⁾

You demanded security^(j) from your relatives for no reason;^(k) you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.^(l)

You gave no water^(m) to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry,⁽ⁿ⁾

though you were a powerful man, owning land^(o)— an honored man,^(p) living on it.^(q)

And you sent widows^(r) away empty-handed^(s) and broke the strength of the fatherless.^(t)

That is why snares^(u) are all around you,^(v) why sudden peril terrifies you,^(w)

why it is so dark^(x) you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.^(y)

"Is not God in the heights of heaven?^(z) And see how lofty are the highest stars!

Yet you say, ‘What does God know?^(aa) Does he judge through such darkness?^(ab)

Thick clouds^(ac) veil him, so he does not see us^(ad) as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.'^(ae)

Will you keep to the old path that the wicked^(af) have trod?^(ag)

They were carried off before their time,^(ah) their foundations^(ai) washed away by a flood.^(aj)

They said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?'^(ak)

Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,^(al) so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.^(am)

The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;^(an) the innocent mock^(ao) them, saying,

‘Surely our foes are destroyed,^(ap) and fire^(aq) devours their wealth.'

"Submit to God and be at peace^(ar) with him;^(as) in this way prosperity will come to you.^(at)

Accept instruction from his mouth^(au) and lay up his words^(av) in your heart.^(aw)

If you return^(ax) to the Almighty, you will be restored:^(ay) If you remove wickedness far from your tent^(az)

and assign your nuggets^(ba) to the dust, your gold^(bb) of Ophir^(bc) to the rocks in the ravines,^(bd)

then the Almighty will be your gold,^(be) the choicest silver for you.^(bf)

Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty^(bg) and will lift up your face^(bh) to God.^(bi)

You will pray to him,^(bj) and he will hear you,^(bk) and you will fulfill your vows.^(bl)

What you decide on will be done,^(bm) and light^(bn) will shine on your ways.^(bo)

When people are brought low^(bp) and you say, ‘Lift them up!' then he will save the downcast.^(bq)

He will deliver even one who is not innocent,^(br) who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."^(bs)

Job

Then Job replied:

"Even today my complaint^(a) is bitter;^(b) his hand^[a] is heavy in spite of^[b] my groaning.^(c)

If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!^(d)

I would state my case^(e) before him and fill my mouth with arguments.^(f)

I would find out what he would answer me,^(g) and consider what he would say to me.

Would he vigorously oppose me?^(h) No, he would not press charges against me.⁽ⁱ⁾

There the upright^(j) can establish their innocence before him,^(k) and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.^(l)

"But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him.

When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.^(m)

But he knows the way that I take;⁽ⁿ⁾ when he has tested me,^(o) I will come forth as gold.^(p)

My feet have closely followed his steps;^(q) I have kept to his way without turning aside.^(r)

I have not departed from the commands of his lips;^(s) I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.^(t)

"But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?^(u) He does whatever he pleases.^(v)

He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store.^(w)

That is why I am terrified before him;^(x) when I think of all this, I fear him.^(y)

God has made my heart faint;^(z) the Almighty^(aa) has terrified me.^(ab)

Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,^(ac) by the thick darkness that covers my face.

"Why does the Almighty not set times^(a) for judgment?^(b) Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?^(c)

There are those who move boundary stones;^(d) they pasture flocks they have stolen.^(e)

They drive away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox in pledge.^(f)

They thrust the needy^(g) from the path and force all the poor^(h) of the land into hiding.⁽ⁱ⁾

Like wild donkeys^(j) in the desert, the poor go about their labor^(k) of foraging food; the wasteland^(l) provides food for their children.

They gather fodder^(m) in the fields and glean in the vineyards⁽ⁿ⁾ of the wicked.^(o)

Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.^(p)

They are drenched^(q) by mountain rains and hug^(r) the rocks for lack of shelter.^(s)

The fatherless^(t) child is snatched^(u) from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized^(v) for a debt.^(w)

Lacking clothes, they go about naked;^(x) they carry the sheaves,^(y) but still go hungry.

They crush olives among the terraces^[a]; they tread the winepresses,^(z) yet suffer thirst.^(aa)

The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.^(ab) But God charges no one with wrongdoing.^(ac)

"There are those who rebel against the light,^(ad) who do not know its ways or stay in its paths.^(ae)

When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up, kills^(af) the poor and needy,^(ag) and in the night steals forth like a thief.^(ah)

The eye of the adulterer^(ai) watches for dusk;^(aj) he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,'^(ak) and he keeps his face concealed.

In the dark, thieves break into houses,^(al) but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light.^(am)

For all of them, midnight is their morning; they make friends with the terrors^(an) of darkness.^(ao)

"Yet they are foam^(ap) on the surface of the water;^(aq) their portion of the land is cursed,^(ar) so that no one goes to the vineyards.^(as)

As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,^(at) so the grave^(au) snatches away those who have sinned.

The womb forgets them, the worm^(av) feasts on them;^(aw) the wicked are no longer remembered^(ax) but are broken like a tree.^(ay)

They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness.^(az)

But God drags away the mighty by his power;^(ba) though they become established,^(bb) they have no assurance of life.^(bc)

He may let them rest in a feeling of security,^(bd) but his eyes^(be) are on their ways.^(bf)

For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;^(bg) they are brought low and gathered up like all others;^(bh) they are cut off like heads of grain.^(bi)

"If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?"^(bj)