14:1 “Man, born of woman,
lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble.
14:2 He grows up like a flower and then withers away;
he flees like a shadow, and does not remain.
14:3 Do you fix your eye on such a one?
And do you bring me before you for judgment?
14:4 Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean?
No one!
14:5 Since man’s days are determined,
the number of his months is under your control;
you have set his limit and he cannot pass it.
14:6 Look away from him and let him desist,
until he fulfills his time like a hired man.
14:7 “But there is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.
14:8 Although its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump begins to die in the soil,
14:9 at the scent of water it will flourish
and put forth shoots like a new plant.
14:10 But man dies and is powerless;
he expires – and where is he?
14:11 As water disappears from the sea,
or a river drains away and dries up,
14:12 so man lies down and does not rise;
until the heavens are no more,
they will not awake
nor arise from their sleep.
14:13 “O that you would hide me in Sheol,
and conceal me till your anger has passed!
O that you would set me a time
and then remember me!
14:14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait
until my release comes.
14:15 You will call and I – I will answer you;
you will long for the creature you have made.
14:16 “Surely now you count my steps;
then you would not mark my sin.
14:17 My offenses would be sealed up in a bag;
you would cover over my sin.
14:18 But as a mountain falls away and crumbles,
and as a rock will be removed from its place,
14:19 as water wears away stones,
and torrents wash away the soil,
so you destroy man’s hope.
14:20 You overpower him once for all,
and he departs;
you change his appearance
and send him away.
14:21 If his sons are honored,
he does not know it;
if they are brought low,
he does not see it.
14:22 Only his flesh has pain for himself,
and he mourns for himself.”
15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
15:2 “Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge,
or fill his belly with the east wind?
15:3 Does he argue with useless talk,
with words that have no value in them?
15:4 But you even break off piety,
and hinder meditation before God.
15:5 Your sin inspires your mouth;
you choose the language of the crafty.
15:6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I;
your own lips testify against you.
15:7 “Were you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
15:8 Do you listen in on God’s secret council?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
15:9 What do you know that we don’t know?
What do you understand that we don’t understand?
15:10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
men far older than your father.
15:11 Are God’s consolations too trivial for you;
or a word spoken in gentleness to you?
15:12 Why has your heart carried you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
15:13 when you turn your rage against God
and allow such words to escape from your mouth?
15:14 What is man that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
15:15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,
if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,
15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt,
who drinks in evil like water!
15:17 “I will explain to you;
listen to me,
and what I have seen, I will declare,
15:18 what wise men declare,
hiding nothing,
from the tradition of their ancestors,
15:19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.
15:20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment,
throughout the number of the years
that are stored up for the tyrant.
15:21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears;
in a time of peace marauders attack him.
15:22 He does not expect to escape from darkness;
he is marked for the sword;
15:23 he wanders about – food for vultures;
he knows that the day of darkness is at hand.
15:24 Distress and anguish terrify him;
they prevail against him
like a king ready to launch an attack,
15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God,
and vaunts himself against the Almighty,
15:26 defiantly charging against him
with a thick, strong shield!
15:27 Because he covered his face with fat,
and made his hips bulge with fat,
15:28 he lived in ruined towns
and in houses where no one lives,
where they are ready to crumble into heaps.
15:29 He will not grow rich,
and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions spread over the land.
15:30 He will not escape the darkness;
a flame will wither his shoots
and he will depart
by the breath of God’s mouth.
15:31 Let him not trust in what is worthless,
deceiving himself;
for worthlessness will be his reward.
15:32 Before his time he will be paid in full,
and his branches will not flourish.
15:33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall,
and like an olive tree
he will shed his blossoms.
15:34 For the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of those who accept bribes.
15:35 They conceive trouble and bring forth evil;
their belly prepares deception.”
16:1 Then Job replied:
16:2 “I have heard many things like these before.
What miserable comforters are you all!
16:3 Will there be an end to your windy words?
Or what provokes you that you answer?
16:4 I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could pile up words against you
and I could shake my head at you.
16:5 But I would strengthen you with my words;
comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
16:6 “But if I speak, my pain is not relieved,
and if I refrain from speaking
– how much of it goes away?
16:7 Surely now he has worn me out,
you have devastated my entire household.
16:8 You have seized me,
and it has become a witness;
my leanness has risen up against me
and testifies against me.
16:9 His anger has torn me and persecuted me;
he has gnashed at me with his teeth;
my adversary locks his eyes on me.
16:10 People have opened their mouths against me,
they have struck my cheek in scorn;
they unite together against me.
16:11 God abandons me to evil men,
and throws me into the hands of wicked men.
16:12 I was in peace, and he has shattered me.
He has seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;
16:13 his archers surround me.
Without pity he pierces my kidneys
and pours out my gall on the ground.
16:14 He breaks through against me, time and time again;
he rushes against me like a warrior.
16:15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin,
and buried my horn in the dust;
16:16 my face is reddened because of weeping,
and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness,
16:17 although there is no violence in my hands
and my prayer is pure.
16:18 “O earth, do not cover my blood,
nor let there be a secret place for my cry.
16:19 Even now my witness is in heaven;
my advocate is on high.
16:20 My intercessor is my friend
as my eyes pour out tears to God;
16:21 and he contends with God on behalf of man
as a man pleads for his friend.
16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few,
and then I will go on the way of no return.
17:1 My spirit is broken,
my days have faded out,
the grave awaits me.
17:2 Surely mockery is with me;
my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
17:3 Make then my pledge with you.
Who else will put up security for me?
17:4 Because you have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not exalt them.
17:5 If a man denounces his friends for personal gain,
the eyes of his children will fail.
17:6 He has made me a byword to people,
I am the one in whose face they spit.
17:7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;
my whole frame is but a shadow.
17:8 Upright men are appalled at this;
the innocent man is troubled with the godless.
17:9 But the righteous man holds to his way,
and the one with clean hands grows stronger.
17:10 “But turn, all of you, and come now!
I will not find a wise man among you.
17:11 My days have passed, my plans are shattered,
even the desires of my heart.
17:12 These men change night into day;
they say, ‘The light is near
in the face of darkness.’
17:13 If I hope for the grave to be my home,
if I spread out my bed in darkness,
17:14 If I cry to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My Mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
17:15 where then is my hope?
And my hope, who sees it?
17:16 Will it go down to the barred gates of death?
Will we descend together into the dust?”