Eliphaz Answers

22 Then Eliphaz from Teman answered: ²“Does God need our help? No! Even a very wise person isn’t really useful to God. ³Does your living right help God? No! Does God All-Powerful gain anything if you follow him? No! ⁴“Job, why does God punish and blame you? Is it because you worship him? ⁵No, it is because you have sinned much. Job, you never stop sinning! ⁶Maybe you loaned a brother some money and forced him to give you something to prove he would pay it back. Maybe you took some poor man’s clothes as collateral* for a loan. Maybe you did that for no reason. ⁷Maybe you didn’t give water and food to tired, hungry people. ⁸Job, you have a lot of farm land. And people respect you. ⁹But maybe you sent widows* away without giving them anything. Job, maybe you cheated orphans.* ¹⁰That is why traps are all around you, and sudden trouble makes you afraid. ¹¹That is why it is so dark you can’t see, and why a flood of water covers you. ¹²“God lives in the highest part of heaven. See how high the stars are. God looks down on the highest stars. ¹³But Job, you might say, ‘What does God know? Can God see through the dark clouds and judge us? ¹⁴Thick clouds hide him from us, so he can’t see us as he walks beyond the edge of the sky.’ ¹⁵“Job, you are walking on the old path that evil people walked on long ago. ¹⁶Those evil people were destroyed before it was their time to die. They were washed away by the flood. ¹⁷Those people told God, ‘Leave us alone! God All-Powerful can’t do anything to us!’ ¹⁸And it was God who filled their houses with good things! No, I can’t follow the advice of evil people. ¹⁹Good people will see them destroyed and those good people will be happy. Innocent people laugh at the evil people. ²⁰‘Truly our enemies are destroyed! Fire burns up their wealth!’ ²¹“Now, Job, give yourself to God and make peace with him. Do this, and you will get many good things. ²²Accept his teaching. Pay attention to what he says. ²³Job, come back to God All-Powerful, and you will be restored. But, you must remove the evil from your house. ²⁴Think of your gold as nothing but dirt, Think of your best gold* as pebbles from a stream. ²⁵And let God All-Powerful be your gold. Let him be your pile of silver. ²⁶Then you will enjoy God All-Powerful. Then you will look up to God. ²⁷You will pray to him, and he will hear you. And you will be able to do the things you promised to do. ²⁸If you decide to do something, it will be successful. And your future will be bright indeed! ²⁹God makes proud people ashamed. But God helps humble people. ³⁰Then you can help people who make mistakes. You will pray to God and he will forgive those people. Why? Because you will be so pure.”

collateral Something to prove a person will pay back a loan. If he does not pay, the other person gets to keep the collateral. widows Women whose husbands have died. Often these women had no one to care for them. orphans Children without any parents to take care of them. best gold Literally, “Ophir.”

Job Answers

23 Then Job answered: ²“I am still complaining today. Why? Because I am still suffering. ³I wish I knew where to find God. I wish I knew how to go to God! ⁴I would explain to God my story. My mouth would be full of arguments to show I am innocent. ⁵I want to know how God would answer my arguments. I want to understand God’s answers. ⁶Would God use his power against me? No, he would listen to me! ⁷I am an honest man. God would let me tell my story. Then my Judge would set me free! ⁸“But if I go to the east, God is not there. If I go to the west, I still don’t see God. ⁹When God is working in the north, I don’t see him. When God turns to the south, I still don’t see him. ¹⁰But God knows me. He is testing me and he will see that I am as pure as gold. ¹¹I have always lived the way God wants. I have never stopped following God. ¹²I always obey God’s commands. I love the words from God’s mouth more than I love my food. ¹³“But God never changes. No person can stand against God. God does anything he wants. ¹⁴God will do what he planned to me. And he has many other plans for me. ¹⁵That is why I am afraid of God. I understand these things. That is why I am afraid of God. ¹⁶God makes my heart weak, and I lose my courage. God All-Powerful makes me afraid. ¹⁷The bad things that happened to me are like a black cloud over my face. But that darkness won’t keep me quiet.