13:1 “Indeed, my eyes have seen all this, 2
my ears have heard and understood it.
13:2 What you know, 3 I 4 know also;
I am not inferior 5 to you!
13:3 But I wish to speak 6 to the Almighty, 7
and I desire to argue 8 my case 9 with God.
13:4 But you, however, are inventors of lies; 10
all of you are worthless physicians! 11
13:5 If only you would keep completely silent! 12
For you, that would be wisdom. 13
13:6 “Listen now to my argument, 14
and be attentive to my lips’ contentions. 15
13:7 Will you speak wickedly 16 on God’s behalf? 17
Will you speak deceitfully for him?
13:8 Will you show him partiality? 18
Will you argue the case 19 for God?
13:9 Would it turn out well if he would examine 20 you?
Or as one deceives 21 a man would you deceive him?
13:10 He would certainly rebuke 22 you
if you secretly 23 showed partiality!
13:11 Would not his splendor 24 terrify 25 you
and the fear he inspires 26 fall on you?
13:12 Your maxims 27 are proverbs of ashes; 28
your defenses 29 are defenses of clay. 30
13:13 “Refrain from talking 31 with me so that 32 I may speak;
then let come to me 33 what may. 34
13:14 Why 35 do I put myself in peril, 36
and take my life in my hands?
13:15 Even if he slays me, I will hope in him; 37
I will surely 38 defend 39 my ways to his face!
13:16 Moreover, this will become my deliverance,
for no godless person would come before him. 40
13:17 Listen carefully 41 to my words;
let your ears be attentive to my explanation. 42
13:18 See now, 43 I have prepared 44 my 45 case; 46
I know that I am right. 47
13:19 Who 48 will contend with me?
If anyone can, I will be silent and die. 49
13:20 Only in two things spare me, 50 O God, 51
and then I will not hide from your face:
13:21 Remove 52 your hand 53 far from me
and stop making me afraid with your terror. 54
13:22 Then call, 55 and I will answer,
or I will speak, and you respond to me.
13:23 How many are my 56 iniquities and sins?
Show me my transgression and my sin. 57
13:24 Why do you hide your face 58
and regard me as your enemy?
13:25 Do you wish to torment 59 a windblown 60 leaf
and chase after dry chaff? 61
13:26 For you write down 62 bitter things against me
and cause me to inherit the sins of my youth. 63
13:27 And you put my feet in the stocks 64
and you watch all my movements; 65
you put marks 66 on the soles of my feet.
13:28 So I 67 waste away like something rotten, 68
like a garment eaten by moths.
14:1 “Man, born of woman, 69
lives but a few days, 70 and they are full of trouble. 71
14:2 He grows up 72 like a flower and then withers away; 73
he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. 74
14:3 Do you fix your eye 75 on such a one? 76
And do you bring me 77 before you for judgment?
14:4 Who can make 78 a clean thing come from an unclean? 79
No one!
14:5 Since man’s days 80 are determined, 81
the number of his months is under your control; 82
you have set his limit 83 and he cannot pass it.
14:6 Look away from him and let him desist, 84
until he fulfills 85 his time like a hired man.
14:7 “But there is hope for 86 a tree: 87
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.
14:8 Although its roots may grow old 88 in the ground
and its stump begins to die 89 in the soil, 90
14:9 at the scent 91 of water it will flourish 92
and put forth 93 shoots like a new plant.
14:10 But man 94 dies and is powerless; 95
he expires – and where is he? 96
14:11 As 97 water disappears from the sea, 98
or a river drains away and dries up,
14:12 so man lies down and does not rise;
until the heavens are no more, 99
they 100 will not awake
nor arise from their sleep.
14:13 “O that 101 you would hide me in Sheol, 102
and conceal me till your anger has passed! 103
O that you would set me a time 104
and then remember me! 105
14:14 If a man dies, will he live again? 106
All the days of my hard service 107 I will wait 108
until my release comes. 109
14:15 You will call 110 and I 111 – I will answer you;
you will long for 112 the creature you have made. 113
14:16 “Surely now you count my steps; 115
then you would not mark 116 my sin. 117
14:17 My offenses would be sealed up 118 in a bag; 119
you would cover over 120 my sin.
14:18 But as 121 a mountain falls away and crumbles, 122
and as a rock will be removed from its place,
14:19 as water wears away stones,
and torrents 123 wash away the soil, 124
so you destroy man’s hope. 125
14:20 You overpower him once for all, 126
and he departs;
you change 127 his appearance
and send him away.
14:21 If 128 his sons are honored, 129
he does not know it; 130
if they are brought low,
he does not see 131 it.
14:22 Only his flesh has pain for himself, 132
and he mourns for himself.” 133
15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
15:2 “Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge, 135
or fill his belly 136 with the east wind? 137
15:3 Does he argue 138 with useless 139 talk,
with words that have no value in them?
15:4 But you even break off 140 piety, 141
and hinder 142 meditation 143 before God.
15:5 Your sin inspires 144 your mouth;
you choose the language 145 of the crafty. 146
15:6 Your own mouth condemns 147 you, not I;
your own lips testify against 148 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? 149
Do you limit 150 wisdom to yourself?
15:9 What do you know that we don’t know?
What do you understand that we don’t understand? 151
15:10 The gray-haired 152 and the aged are on our side, 153
men far older than your father. 154
15:11 Are God’s consolations 155 too trivial for you; 156
or a word spoken 157 in gentleness to you?
15:12 Why 158 has your heart carried you away, 159
and why do your eyes flash, 160
15:13 when you turn your rage 161 against God
and allow such words to escape 162 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, 163
if even the heavens 164 are not pure in his eyes,
15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt, 165
who drinks in evil like water! 166
15:17 “I will explain to you;
listen to me,
and what 167 I have seen, I will declare, 168
15:18 what wise men declare,
hiding nothing,
from the tradition of 169 their ancestors, 170
15:19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them. 171
15:20 All his days 172 the wicked man suffers torment, 173
throughout the number of the years
that 174 are stored up for the tyrant. 175
15:21 Terrifying sounds fill 176 his ears;
in a time of peace marauders 177 attack him.
15:22 He does not expect 178 to escape from darkness; 179
he is marked for the sword; 180
15:23 he wanders about – food for vultures; 181
he knows that the day of darkness is at hand. 182
15:24 Distress and anguish 183 terrify him;
they prevail against him
like a king ready to launch an attack, 184
15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God, 185
and vaunts himself 186 against the Almighty,
15:26 defiantly charging against him 187
with a thick, strong shield! 188
15:27 Because he covered his face with fat, 189
and made 190 his hips bulge with fat, 191
15:28 he lived in ruined towns 192
and in houses where 193 no one lives,
where they are ready to crumble into heaps. 194
15:29 He will not grow rich,
and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions 195 spread over the land.
15:30 He will not escape the darkness; 196
a flame will wither his shoots
and he will depart
by the breath of God’s mouth. 197
15:31 Let him not trust in what is worthless, 198
deceiving himself;
for worthlessness will be his reward. 199
15:32 Before his time 200 he will be paid in full, 201
and his branches will not flourish. 202
15:33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall, 203
and like an olive tree
he will shed his blossoms. 204
15:34 For the company of the godless is barren, 205
and fire 206 consumes the tents of those who accept bribes. 207
15:35 They conceive 208 trouble and bring forth evil;
their belly 209 prepares deception.”
16:1 Then Job replied:
16:2 “I have heard many things like these before.
What miserable comforters 211 are you all!
16:3 Will 212 there be an end to your 213 windy words? 214
Or what provokes 215 you that you answer? 216
16:4 I also could speak 217 like you,
if 218 you were in my place;
I could pile up 219 words against you
and I could shake my head at you. 220
16:5 But 221 I would strengthen 222 you with my words; 223
comfort from my lips would bring 224 you relief.
16:6 “But 225 if I speak, my pain is not relieved, 226
and if I refrain from speaking
– how 227 much of it goes away?
16:7 Surely now he 228 has worn me out,
you have devastated my entire household.
16:8 You have seized me, 229
and it 230 has become a witness;
my leanness 231 has risen up against me
and testifies against me.
16:9 His 232 anger has torn me 233 and persecuted 234 me;
he has gnashed at me with his teeth;
my adversary locks 235 his eyes on me.
16:10 People 236 have opened their mouths against me,
they have struck my cheek in scorn; 237
they unite 238 together against me.
16:11 God abandons me to evil 239 men, 240
and throws 241 me into the hands of wicked men.
16:12 I was in peace, and he has shattered me. 242
He has seized me by the neck and crushed me. 243
He has made me his target;
16:13 his archers 244 surround me.
Without pity 245 he pierces 246 my kidneys
and pours out my gall 247 on the ground.
16:14 He breaks through against me, time and time again; 248
he rushes 249 against me like a warrior.
16:15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, 250
and buried 251 my horn 252 in the dust;
16:16 my face is reddened 253 because of weeping, 254
and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness, 255
16:17 although 256 there is no violence in my hands
and my prayer is pure.
16:18 “O earth, do not cover my blood, 257
nor let there be a secret 258 place for my cry.
16:19 Even now my witness 259 is in heaven;
my advocate 260 is on high.
16:20 My intercessor is my friend 261
as my eyes pour out 262 tears to God;
16:21 and 263 he contends with God on behalf of man
as a man 264 pleads 265 for his friend.
16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few, 266
and then I will go on the way of no return. 267