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14 “We are all human beings.[a]
    Our life is short and full of trouble.
Our life is like a flower that grows quickly and then dies away.
    Our life is like a shadow that is here for a short time and then is gone.
God, do you need to keep an eye on something so small?
    Why bother to bring charges against me?

“No one can make something clean from something so dirty.
The length of our life has been decided.
    You alone know how long that is.
    You have set the limits for us and nothing can change them.
So stop watching us; leave us alone,
    and let us enjoy this hard life until we have put in our time.

“There is always hope for a tree.
    If it is cut down, it can grow again.
    It will keep sending out new branches.
Its roots might grow old in the ground
    and its stump die in the dirt,
but with water, it will grow again.
    It will grow branches like a new plant.
10 But when a man dies,
    he becomes weak and sick, and then he is gone!
11 Like a lake that goes dry
    or a river that loses its source,
12 so people lose their lives,
    never to live again.
The skies will all pass away
    before they rise from death.
The skies will all disappear before
    anyone wakes up from that sleep!

13 “I wish you would hide me in my grave.
    I wish you would hide me there, until your anger is gone.
    Then you could pick a time to remember me.
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
    If so, I would gladly suffer through this time waiting for my release.[b]
15 God, you would call me,
    and I would answer you.
Then I, the one you made,
    would be important to you.
16 You would still watch every step I take,
    but you would not remember my sins.
17 It would be as if you had sealed my sins in a bag.
    It would be as if you had covered my guilt with plaster.

18 “Mountains fall and crumble away.
    Large rocks break loose and fall.
19 Water flowing over stones wears them down.
    Floods wash away the soil on the ground.
    In the same way, God, you destroy the hope people have.
20 You defeat them completely
    and then they are gone.
You change the way they look
    and send them away forever to the place of death.
21 If their sons are honored, they will never know it.
    If their sons do wrong, they will never see it.
22 They only feel the pain in their bodies,
    and they alone cry for themselves.”

Eliphaz Answers Job

15 Then Eliphaz from Teman answered Job:

“If you were really wise,
    you would not answer with your worthless personal opinions!
    A wise man would not be so full of hot air.
Do you think a wise man would use empty words
    and meaningless speeches to win his arguments?
If you had your way,
    no one would respect God and pray to him.
What you say clearly shows your sin.
    Job, you are trying to hide your sin by using clever words.
I don’t need to prove to you that you are wrong.
    The words from your own mouth show that you are wrong.
    Your own lips speak against you.

“Do you think you were the first person ever to be born?
    Were you born before the hills?
Did you listen to God’s secret plans?
    Do you think you are the only wise person?
We know as much as you do!
    We understand as well as you.
10 The old, gray-haired men agree with us.
    People older than your father are on our side.
11 God tries to comfort you, but that is not enough for you.
    We have spoken his message to you in a gentle way.
12 Why will you not understand?
    Why can you not see the truth?
13 You are expressing your anger against God
    when you say these things.

14 “People cannot really be pure.
    They[c] cannot be more right than God!
15 God does not even trust his angels.[d]
    He does not even think the sky is pure.
16 People are even worse.
    They are disgusting and dirty.
    They drink up evil like water.

17 “Listen to me, and I will explain it to you.
    Let me tell you what I have seen.
18 I will tell you what wise men would say,
    things they heard from their fathers and then freely passed on.
    They didn’t hide any secrets from me.
19 These are important people in our country!
    Everyone knows who they are.
20 And they said that an evil man suffers all his life.
    A cruel man suffers all his numbered years.
21 Every noise scares him.
    His enemy will attack him when he thinks he is safe.
22 An evil man has no hope of escaping the darkness.
    There is a sword somewhere waiting to kill him.
23 He wanders from place to place, looking for food.
    But he knows a dark day is coming, which he brought on himself.
24 He lives in fear, with worry and suffering threatening him
    like a king ready to attack.
25 That is because that evil man shook his fist at God, refusing to obey.
    He dared to attack God All-Powerful,
26 like a soldier with a thick, strong shield
    who runs at his enemy to strike him in the neck.
27 He might be rich and fat,
28     but his town will be ruined;
his home will be destroyed;
    his house will be empty.
29 He will not be rich for long.
    His wealth will not last.
    His crops will not grow large.
30 He will not escape the darkness.
    He will be like a tree whose leaves die from disease
    and are blown away by the wind.
31 That evil man should not fool himself by trusting in worthless things,
    because he will keep nothing.
32 He will die before his time,
    like a tree whose top branches have already begun to die.
33 He will be like a vine that loses its grapes before they ripen.
    He will be like an olive tree that loses its buds.
34 That is because people without God have nothing.
    Those who take bribes will have their homes destroyed by fire.
35 They are always thinking of ways to do evil and cause trouble.
    They are always planning how they might cheat others.”

Job Answers Eliphaz

16 Then Job answered:

“I have heard all these things before.
    You men give me trouble, not comfort.
Your long speeches never end!
    Why do you continue arguing?
I also could say the same things you say,
    if you had my troubles.
I could say wise things against you
    and shake my head at you.
But I would say things to encourage you
    and give you hope.

“Nothing I say makes my pain go away.
    But keeping quiet does not help either.
God, you surely took away my strength.
    You destroyed my whole family.
You have made me thin and weak,
    and people think that means I am guilty.

“God attacks me;
    he is angry with me and tears my body apart.
He grinds his teeth against me.
    My enemy looks at me with hate.
10 People have crowded around me.
    They make fun of me and slap my face.
11 God has given me to evil people.
    He let the wicked hurt me.
12 I was enjoying a quiet, peaceful life,
    but then God crushed me.
Yes, he took me by the neck
    and broke me into pieces.
He has made me his target.
13     With his archers all around me,
he shoots arrows into my kidneys.
    He shows no mercy
    and spills my gall[e] on the ground.
14 Again and again he attacks me.
    He runs at me like a soldier in battle.

15 “I am very sad, so I wear this sackcloth.
    I sit here in dust and ashes, feeling defeated.
16 My face is red from crying.
    There are dark rings around my eyes.
17 I was never cruel to anyone,
    and my prayers are pure.

18 “Earth, don’t hide the wrong things that were done to me.[f]
    Don’t let my begging for fairness be stopped.
19 Even now there is someone in heaven who will speak for me.
    There is someone above who will testify for me.
20 My friend speaks for me,
    while my eyes pour out tears to God.
21 He speaks to God for me,
    like someone[g] presenting an argument for a friend.

22 “In only a few years
    I will go to that place of no return.

Footnotes

  1. Job 14:1 human beings Literally, “born of woman.”
  2. Job 14:14 I would … release Or “I would wait my whole tour of duty for my replacement to come.”
  3. Job 15:14 They Literally, “a man born of woman.”
  4. Job 15:15 angels Literally, “holy ones.”
  5. Job 16:13 gall The bitter contents of the gall bladder, which is near the liver. Here, it means something bitter and painful.
  6. Job 16:18 Earth … done to me Literally, “Earth, don’t cover my blood.” See Gen. 4:10-11.
  7. Job 16:21 someone Literally, “son of man.”

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