Study Desk

Job Speaks

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.^(a)

He said:

"May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!'^(b)

That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it.

May gloom and utter darkness^(c) claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it.

That night—may thick darkness^(d) seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months.

May that night be barren; may no shout of joy^(e) be heard in it.

May those who curse days^[a] curse that day,^(f) those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.^(g)

May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn,^(h)

for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.

"Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?⁽ⁱ⁾

Why were there knees to receive me^(j) and breasts that I might be nursed?

For now I would be lying down^(k) in peace; I would be asleep and at rest^(l)

with kings and rulers of the earth,^(m) who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,⁽ⁿ⁾

with princes^(o) who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.^(p)

Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,^(q) like an infant who never saw the light of day?^(r)

There the wicked cease from turmoil,^(s) and there the weary are at rest.^(t)

Captives^(u) also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver's^(v) shout.^(w)

The small and the great are there,^(x) and the slaves are freed from their owners.

"Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,^(y)

to those who long for death that does not come,^(z) who search for it more than for hidden treasure,^(aa)

who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?^(ab)

Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden,^(ac) whom God has hedged in?^(ad)

For sighing^(ae) has become my daily food;^(af) my groans^(ag) pour out like water.^(ah)

What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded^(ai) has happened to me.^(aj)

I have no peace,^(ak) no quietness; I have no rest,^(al) but only turmoil."^(am)

Eliphaz

Then Eliphaz the Temanite^(a) replied:

"If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?^(b)

Think how you have instructed many,^(c) how you have strengthened feeble hands.^(d)

Your words have supported those who stumbled;^(e) you have strengthened faltering knees.^(f)

But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;^(g) it strikes^(h) you, and you are dismayed.⁽ⁱ⁾

Should not your piety be your confidence^(j) and your blameless^(k) ways your hope?

"Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?^(l) Where were the upright ever destroyed?^(m)

As I have observed,⁽ⁿ⁾ those who plow evil^(o) and those who sow trouble reap it.^(p)

At the breath of God^(q) they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.^(r)

The lions may roar^(s) and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions^(t) are broken.^(u)

The lion perishes for lack of prey,^(v) and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.^(w)

"A word^(x) was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper^(y) of it.^(z)

Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people,^(aa)

fear and trembling^(ab) seized me and made all my bones shake.^(ac)

A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.^(ad)

It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:^(ae)

‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?^(af) Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?^(ag)

If God places no trust in his servants,^(ah) if he charges his angels with error,^(ai)

how much more those who live in houses of clay,^(aj) whose foundations^(ak) are in the dust,^(al) who are crushed^(am) more readily than a moth!^(an)

Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever.^(ao)

Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,^(ap) so that they die^(aq) without wisdom?'^(ar)