Job 14:1--17:16

The Brevity of Life

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.

The Inevitability of Death

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.

The Possibility of Another Life

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.

The Present Condition

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.”

Eliphaz’s Second Speech

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.”

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz

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.

Abandonment by God and Man

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.

An Appeal to God as Witness

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.

Anticipation of Death

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?”