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Eliphaz's Third Speech

What Use Are We Humans to God?

22 Eliphaz from Teman[a] said:
(A) What use are we humans
    to God,
    even the wisest of us?
If you were completely sinless,
that would still mean nothing
    to God All-Powerful.
Is he correcting you
    for worshiping him?
No! It's because of
    your terrible and endless sins.
To guarantee payment of a debt,
you have taken clothes
    from innocent people.
And you refused bread and water
    to the hungry and thirsty,
although you were rich,
    respected, and powerful.
You have turned away widows
and have broken the arms
    of orphans.
10 That's why you were suddenly
    trapped by terror,
11 blinded by darkness,
    and drowned in a flood.

God Lives in the Heavens

12 God lives in the heavens
above the highest stars,
    where he sees everything.
13 Do you think the deep darkness
    hides you from God?
14 Do thick clouds cover his eyes,
as he walks around heaven's dome
    high above the earth?
15 Give up those ancient ideas
    believed by sinners,
16 who were swept away
    without warning.
17 They rejected God All-Powerful,
    feeling he was helpless,
18 although he had been kind
    to their families.
The beliefs of these sinners
    are truly disgusting.
19 When God's people see
the godless swept away,
they celebrate, 20     saying,
“Our enemies are gone,
and fire has destroyed
    their possessions.”

Surrender to God All-Powerful

21 Surrender to God All-Powerful!
You will find peace
    and prosperity.
22 Listen to his teachings
    and take them to heart.
23 If you return to God
and turn from sin,
    all will go well for you.
24 So get rid of your finest gold,
    as though it were sand.
25 Let God All-Powerful
    be your silver and gold,
26 and you will find happiness
    by worshiping him.
27 God will answer your prayers,
and you will keep the promises
    you made to him.
28 He will do whatever you ask,
    and life will be bright.
29 When others are disgraced,
God will clear their names
    in answer to your prayers.
30 Even those who are guilty
will be forgiven,
    because you obey God.[b]

Job's Reply to Eliphaz

Today I Complain Bitterly

23 Job said:
Today I complain bitterly,
because God has been cruel
    and made me suffer.
If I knew where to find God,
I would go there
    and argue my case.
Then I would discover
    what he wanted to say.
Would he overwhelm me
    with his greatness?
No! He would listen
    because I am innocent,
and he would say,
    “I now set you free!”

I cannot find God anywhere—
in front or back of me,
    to my left or my right.
God is always at work,
    though I never see him.
10 But he knows what I am doing,
and when he tests me,
    I will be pure as gold.
* 11 I have never refused to follow
    any of his commands,
12 and I have always treasured
    his teachings.[c]
13 But he alone is God,
    and who can oppose him?
God does as he pleases,
14 and he will do exactly
    what he intends with me.
* 15 Merely the thought
of God All-Powerful
16     makes me tremble with fear.
17 God has covered me
    with darkness,
    but I refuse to be silent.[d]

Job Continues

Why Doesn't God Set a Time?

24 Why doesn't God
    set a time for court?
Why don't his people know
    where he can be found?
Sinners remove boundary markers
and take care of sheep
    they have stolen.
They cheat orphans and widows
by taking their donkeys
    and oxen.
The poor are trampled
and forced to hide
    in the desert,
where they and their children
must live like wild donkeys
    and search for food.
If they want grain or grapes,[e]
they must go to the property
    of these sinners.
They sleep naked in the cold,
    because they have no cover,
and during a storm
their only shelters are caves
    among the rocky cliffs.

Children whose fathers have died
are taken from their mothers
    as payment for a debt.
10 Then they are forced to work
    naked in the grain fields
because they have no clothes,
    and they go hungry.
11 They crush olives to make oil
and grapes to make wine—
    but still they go thirsty.
12 And along the city streets,
the wounded and dying cry out,
    yet God does nothing.

Some Reject the Light

13 Some rebel and refuse
    to follow the light.
14 Soon after sunset they murder
the poor and the needy,
    and at night they steal.

15 Others wait for the dark,
    thinking they won't be seen
if they sleep with the wife
    or husband of someone else.
16 Robbers hide during the day,
then break in after dark
    because they reject the light.
17 They prefer night to day,
since the terrors of the night
    are their friends.

Sinners Are Filthy Foam

18 Those sinners are filthy foam
    on the surface of the water.
And so, their fields and vineyards
will fall under a curse
    and won't produce.
19 Just as the heat of summer
    swallows the snow,
the world of the dead
    swallows those who sin.
20 Forgotten here on earth,
and with their power broken,
    they taste sweet to worms.

21 Sinners take advantage of widows
    and other helpless women.[f]
22 But God's mighty strength
    destroys those in power.
Even if they seem successful,
    they are doomed to fail.
23 God may let them feel secure,
but they are never
    out of his sight.
24 Great for a while; gone forever!
Sinners are mowed down
    like weeds,
    then they wither and die.
25 If I haven't spoken the truth,
    then prove me wrong.

Footnotes

  1. 22.1 Teman: See the note at 2.11.
  2. 22.30 God: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verses 29,30.
  3. 23.12 treasured his teachings: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  4. 23.17 silent: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 17.
  5. 24.6 If they want grain or grapes: Poor people were allowed to gather what was left in the fields and vineyards after the harvest.
  6. 24.21 women: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 21.

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