Eliphaz Speaks

4 ^1–2Eliphaz from Teman answered: “I must say something. Will it upset you if I try to speak? ³Job, you have taught many people. You gave strength to weak hands. ⁴Your words helped people who were ready to fall. You gave strength to people who couldn’t stand by themselves. ⁵But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged. Trouble hits you, and you are upset! ⁶You worship God. You trust him. You are a good man. So let that be your hope. ⁷Job, think about this: No innocent person was ever destroyed. Good people are never destroyed. ⁸I have seen some troublemakers and people who make life hard. But they are always punished! ⁹God’s punishment kills those people. God’s anger destroys them. ¹⁰The bad people roar and growl like lions. But God makes the bad people be quiet, and God breaks their teeth. ¹¹Yes, those bad people are like lions that can’t find animals to kill. They die and their children wander away. ¹²“A message was brought to me in secret. My ears caught a whisper of it. ¹³Like a bad dream in the night, it ruined my sleep. ¹⁴I was afraid, and shook. All my bones shook! ¹⁵A ghost passed by my face. The hair on my body stood up! ¹⁶The spirit stood still, but I could not see what it was. A shape stood before my eyes, and there was silence. Then I heard a very quiet voice: ¹⁷‘A person can’t be more right than God. Man can’t be more pure than his Maker. ¹⁸Look, God can’t even trust his heavenly servants. God sees problems even in his angels. ¹⁹So surely people are worse! People live in houses of clay.* The foundations of these houses of clay are in the dirt. They are crushed to death more easily than a moth! ²⁰People die from dawn to sunset, and no one even notices. They die and are gone forever. ²¹The ropes of their tent are pulled up, and these people die without wisdom.’

houses of clay This means the human body.

5 “Job, call out if you want, but no one will answer you! You can’t turn to any of the angels! ²A foolish person’s anger will kill him. A fool’s strong emotions will kill him. ³I saw a foolish person who thought he was safe. But suddenly, he died.* ⁴There was no one to help his children. No one defended them in court. ⁵Hungry people ate all his crops. Those hungry people took even the grain growing among the thorns. Greedy people took all they had. ⁶Bad times don’t come up from the dirt. Trouble does not grow from the ground. ⁷But man is born to have trouble, as sure as sparks fly up from a fire. ⁸“But Job, if I were you, I would turn to God and tell him about my problems. ⁹People can’t understand the wonderful things God does. There is no end to the miracles God does. ¹⁰God sends rain on the earth. He sends water to the fields. ¹¹God raises up the humble person, and he makes a sad person very happy. ¹²God stops the plans of clever, evil people, so they have no success. ¹³God catches even wise people in their own traps. So those clever plans are not successful. ¹⁴Those smart people stumble around even in the daytime. Even at noon, they are like a person who feels his way in the dark. ¹⁵God saves poor people from death. He saves the poor people from the power of the clever people. ¹⁶So poor people have hope. God destroys bad people who are not fair. ¹⁷“A person is fortunate when God corrects him! So don’t complain when God All-Powerful punishes you. ¹⁸God puts bandages on the wounds he makes. He might injure someone, but his hands also heal. ¹⁹He will save you from six troubles. Yes, might endure seven disasters and not be hurt! ²⁰God will save you from death when there is famine. And God will protect you from death when there is war. ²¹People might say bad things about you with their sharp tongues. But God will protect you. You won’t need to be afraid when bad things happen! ²²You will laugh at destruction and famine. You won’t be afraid of wild animals! ²³{Your agreement is with God,} so even the rocks in the field share in your agreement. Even the wild animals make peace with you. ²⁴You will live in peace because your tent is safe. You will count your property and find nothing missing. ²⁵You will have many children. They will be as many as the blades of grass on the earth. ²⁶You will be like the wheat that grows until harvest time. Yes, you will live to a ripe old age. ²⁷“Job, we have studied these things, and we know they are true. So Job, listen to us, and learn them for yourself.”

suddenly, he died Or, “suddenly his home was cursed.”

Job Answers Eliphaz

6 ^1–2Then Job answered: “If my suffering could be weighed, and all my trouble could be put on the weighing scales, ³you would understand my sadness. My sadness would be heavier than all the sand of the seas! That is why my words seem foolish. ⁴God All-Powerful’s arrows are in me. My spirit feels the poison from those arrows! God’s terrible weapons are lined up against me. ⁵{Your words are easy to say when nothing bad has happened.} Even a wild donkey doesn’t complain when it has grass to eat. And a cow doesn’t complain when it has its food. ⁶Food without salt doesn’t taste good. And the white of an egg doesn’t have any taste. ⁷I refuse to touch it; that kind of food makes me sick! {And that is what your words are like to me now.} ⁸“I wish I could have what I ask for. I wish God would give me what I want. ⁹I wish God would crush me, just go ahead and kill me! ¹⁰And if he does kill me, I will be comforted about one thing, I will be happy about one thing: Even through all this pain, I never refused to obey the commands of the Holy One. ¹¹“My strength is gone, so I have no hope to go on living. I don’t know what will happen to me, so I have no reason to be patient. ¹²I am not strong like a rock. My body is not made from bronze. ¹³I don’t have power to help myself now. Why? Because success has been taken away from me. ¹⁴“A person’s friends should be kind to him if he has troubles. A person should be loyal to his friend, even if that friend turned away from {God} All-Powerful. ¹⁵But you, my brothers, have not been loyal. I can’t depend on you. You are like streams that flow sometimes and don’t flow at other times. You are like streams that overflow ¹⁶when they are choked with ice and melting snow. ¹⁷And when the weather is hot and dry, the water stops flowing, and the streams are gone. ¹⁸Traders follow the twists and turns out into the desert and they disappear. ¹⁹Traders from Tema look for {water}. Travelers from Sheba look hopefully. ²⁰They were sure they would find water but they were disappointed. ²¹Now, you are like those streams. You see my troubles and are afraid. ²²Did I ask for your help? No! But you freely gave me your advice! ²³Did I say to you, ‘Save me from the enemy! Save me from cruel people!’ ²⁴“So now, teach me, and I will be quiet. Show me what I have done wrong. ²⁵Honest words are powerful. But your arguments prove nothing. ²⁶Do you plan to criticize me? Will you speak more tiring words? ²⁷You would even gamble to win things that belong to children without fathers. You would sell out your own friend. ²⁸But now, please study my face. I would not lie to you. ²⁹So now, change your mind. Don’t be unfair, think again. I have done nothing wrong. ³⁰I am not lying. And I know right from wrong.”