Job 4-5
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
First Series of Speeches
Eliphaz Speaks
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Should anyone try to speak with you
when you are exhausted?
Yet who can keep from speaking?
3 Indeed, you have instructed many
and have strengthened(A) weak hands.
4 Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling
and braced the knees that were buckling.(B)
5 But now that this has happened to you,
you have become exhausted.
It strikes(C) you, and you are dismayed.
6 Isn’t your piety your confidence,
and the integrity of your life[a] your hope?(D)
7 Consider: Who has perished when he was innocent?
Where have the honest[b] been destroyed?(E)
8 In my experience, those who plough injustice
and those who sow trouble(F) reap the same.(G)
9 They perish at a single blast(H) from God
and come to an end by the breath of his nostrils.(I)
10 The lion may roar and the fierce lion(J) growl,
but the teeth of young lions are broken.(K)
11 The strong lion dies if it catches no prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.(L)
12 A word was brought to me in secret;
my ears caught a whisper of it.(M)
13 Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night,(N)
when deep sleep(O) comes over men,
14 fear and trembling came over me(P)
and made all my bones shake.
15 I felt a draught[c] on my face,
and the hair on my body stood up.
16 A figure stood there,
but I could not recognise its appearance;
a form loomed before my eyes.
I heard a whispering voice:
17 ‘Can a mortal be righteous before God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker? ’(Q)
18 If God puts no trust in his servants
and he charges his angels with foolishness,[d](R)
19 how much more those who dwell in clay houses,(S)
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth!
20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;
they perish for ever while no one notices.(T)
21 Are their tent cords not pulled up?
They die without wisdom.(U)
5 Call out! Will anyone answer you?
Which of the holy ones(V) will you turn to?
2 For anger kills a fool,
and jealousy slays the gullible.(W)
3 I have seen a fool taking root,
but I immediately pronounced a curse on his home.
4 His children are far from safety.
They are crushed at the city gate,(X)
with no one to rescue them.
5 The hungry consume his harvest,
even taking it out of the thorns.[e]
The thirsty[f] pant for his children’s wealth.
6 For distress does not grow out of the soil,
and trouble does not sprout from the ground.
7 But humans are born for trouble(Y)
as surely as sparks fly upwards.
8 However, if I were you, I would appeal to God
and would present my case to him.(Z)
9 He does great(AA) and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.(AB)
10 He gives rain to the earth
and sends water to the fields.(AC)
11 He sets the lowly on high,
and mourners are lifted to safety.(AD)
12 He frustrates the schemes of the crafty
so that they[g] achieve no success.
13 He traps the wise in their craftiness
so that the plans of the deceptive
are quickly brought to an end.(AE)
14 They encounter darkness by day,
and they grope at noon
as if it were night.(AF)
15 He saves the needy from their sharp words[h](AG)
and from the clutches of the powerful.
16 So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.(AH)
17 See how happy is the person whom God corrects;
so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.
18 For he wounds but he also bandages;
he strikes, but his hands also heal.(AI)
19 He will rescue you from six calamities;
no harm will touch you in seven.
20 In famine he will redeem you from death,
and in battle, from the power of the sword.(AJ)
21 You will be safe from slander[i]
and not fear destruction when it comes.(AK)
22 You will laugh at destruction and hunger
and not fear the land’s wild creatures.
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals will be at peace with you.(AL)
24 You will know that your tent is secure,(AM)
and nothing will be missing when you inspect your home.
25 You will also know that your offspring will be many
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26 You will approach the grave(AN) in full vigour,(AO)
as a pile of sheaves is gathered in its season.
27 We have investigated this, and it is true!
Hear it and understand it for yourself.
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