Job 5

Eliphaz urges Job to seek God

“Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?a ²Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. ³I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.

⁴His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. ⁵The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. ⁶For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground.

⁷Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.b ⁸“But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.c ⁹He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.d

¹⁰He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside. ¹¹The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. ¹²He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.e

¹³He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.f ¹⁴Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night. ¹⁵He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.

¹⁶So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. ¹⁷“Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.g ¹⁸For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.h

¹⁹From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you.i ²⁰In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.j ²¹You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes.k

²²You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals.l ²³For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.m ²⁴You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.n

²⁵You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth.o ²⁶You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season.p ²⁷“We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself.”