Study Desk

"Mortals, born of woman,^(a) are of few days^(b) and full of trouble.^(c)

They spring up like flowers^(d) and wither away;^(e) like fleeting shadows,^(f) they do not endure.^(g)

Do you fix your eye on them?^(h) Will you bring them^[a] before you for judgment?⁽ⁱ⁾

Who can bring what is pure^(j) from the impure?^(k) No one!^(l)

A person's days are determined;^(m) you have decreed the number of his months⁽ⁿ⁾ and have set limits he cannot exceed.^(o)

So look away from him and let him alone,^(p) till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.^(q)

"At least there is hope for a tree:^(r) If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots^(s) will not fail.^(t)

Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump^(u) die in the soil,

yet at the scent of water^(v) it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.^(w)

But a man dies and is laid low;^(x) he breathes his last and is no more.^(y)

As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,^(z)

so he lies down and does not rise;^(aa) till the heavens are no more,^(ab) people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.^(ac)

"If only you would hide me in the grave^(ad) and conceal me till your anger has passed!^(ae) If only you would set me a time and then remember^(af) me!^(ag)

If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service^(ah) I will wait for my renewal^[b](ai) to come.

You will call and I will answer you;^(aj) you will long for the creature your hands have made.^(ak)

Surely then you will count my steps^(al) but not keep track of my sin.^(am)

My offenses will be sealed^(an) up in a bag;^(ao) you will cover over my sin.^(ap)

"But as a mountain erodes and crumbles^(aq) and as a rock is moved from its place,^(ar)

as water wears away stones and torrents^(as) wash away the soil,^(at) so you destroy a person's hope.^(au)

You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;^(av) you change their countenance and send them away.^(aw)

If their children are honored, they do not know it; if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.^(ax)

They feel but the pain of their own bodies^(ay) and mourn only for themselves.^(az)"

Eliphaz

Then Eliphaz the Temanite^(a) replied:

"Would a wise person answer with empty notions or fill their belly with the hot east wind?^(b)

Would they argue with useless words, with speeches that have no value?^(c)

But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God.^(d)

Your sin^(e) prompts your mouth;^(f) you adopt the tongue of the crafty.^(g)

Your own mouth condemns you, not mine; your own lips testify against you.^(h)

"Are you the first man ever born?⁽ⁱ⁾ Were you brought forth before the hills?^(j)

Do you listen in on God's council?^(k) Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?^(l)

What do you know that we do not know? What insights do you have that we do not have?^(m)

The gray-haired and the aged⁽ⁿ⁾ are on our side, men even older than your father.^(o)

Are God's consolations^(p) not enough for you, words^(q) spoken gently to you?^(r)

Why has your heart^(s) carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,

so that you vent your rage^(t) against God and pour out such words^(u) from your mouth?^(v)

"What are mortals, that they could be pure, or those born of woman,^(w) that they could be righteous?^(x)

If God places no trust in his holy ones,^(y) if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,^(z)

how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,^(aa) who drink up evil^(ab) like water!^(ac)

"Listen to me and I will explain to you; let me tell you what I have seen,^(ad)

what the wise have declared, hiding nothing received from their ancestors^(ae)

(to whom alone the land^(af) was given when no foreigners moved among them):

All his days the wicked man suffers torment,^(ag) the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.^(ah)

Terrifying sounds fill his ears;^(ai) when all seems well, marauders attack him.^(aj)

He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;^(ak) he is marked for the sword.^(al)

He wanders about^(am) for food like a vulture;^(an) he knows the day of darkness^(ao) is at hand.^(ap)

Distress and anguish^(aq) fill him with terror;^(ar) troubles overwhelm him, like a king^(as) poised to attack,

because he shakes his fist^(at) at God and vaunts himself against the Almighty,^(au)

defiantly charging against him with a thick, strong shield.^(av)

"Though his face is covered with fat and his waist bulges with flesh,^(aw)

he will inhabit ruined towns and houses where no one lives,^(ax) houses crumbling to rubble.^(ay)

He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,^(az) nor will his possessions spread over the land.^(ba)

He will not escape the darkness;^(bb) a flame^(bc) will wither his shoots,^(bd) and the breath of God's mouth^(be) will carry him away.^(bf)

Let him not deceive^(bg) himself by trusting what is worthless,^(bh) for he will get nothing in return.^(bi)

Before his time^(bj) he will wither,^(bk) and his branches will not flourish.^(bl)

He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,^(bm) like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.^(bn)

For the company of the godless^(bo) will be barren, and fire will consume^(bp) the tents of those who love bribes.^(bq)

They conceive trouble^(br) and give birth to evil;^(bs) their womb fashions deceit."

Job

Then Job replied:

"I have heard many things like these; you are miserable comforters,^(a) all of you!^(b)

Will your long-winded speeches never end?^(c) What ails you that you keep on arguing?^(d)

I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head^(e) at you.

But my mouth would encourage you; comfort^(f) from my lips would bring you relief.^(g)

"Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved; and if I refrain, it does not go away.^(h)

Surely, God, you have worn me out;⁽ⁱ⁾ you have devastated my entire household.^(j)

You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness; my gauntness^(k) rises up and testifies against me.^(l)

God assails me and tears^(m) me in his anger⁽ⁿ⁾ and gnashes his teeth at me;^(o) my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.^(p)

People open their mouths^(q) to jeer at me;^(r) they strike my cheek^(s) in scorn and unite together against me.^(t)

God has turned me over to the ungodly and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.^(u)

All was well with me, but he shattered me; he seized me by the neck and crushed me.^(v) He has made me his target;^(w)

his archers surround me.^(x) Without pity, he pierces^(y) my kidneys and spills my gall on the ground.

Again and again^(z) he bursts upon me; he rushes at me like a warrior.^(aa)

"I have sewed sackcloth^(ab) over my skin and buried my brow in the dust.^(ac)

My face is red with weeping,^(ad) dark shadows ring my eyes;^(ae)

yet my hands have been free of violence^(af) and my prayer is pure.^(ag)

"Earth, do not cover my blood;^(ah) may my cry^(ai) never be laid to rest!^(aj)

Even now my witness^(ak) is in heaven;^(al) my advocate is on high.^(am)

My intercessor^(an) is my friend^[a](ao) as my eyes pour out^(ap) tears^(aq) to God;

on behalf of a man he pleads^(ar) with God as one pleads for a friend.

"Only a few years will pass before I take the path of no return.^(as)