Job 5

Eliphaz urges Job to seek God

“Cry for help, but will anyone answer you? Which of the angels will help you?a ²Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple. ³I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster.

⁴Their children are abandoned far from help; they are crushed in court with no one to defend them. ⁵The hungry devour their harvest, even when it is guarded by brambles. The thirsty pant after their wealth. ⁶But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth.

⁷People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.b ⁸“If I were you, I would go to God and present my case to him.c ⁹He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.d

¹⁰He gives rain for the earth and water for the fields. ¹¹He gives prosperity to the poor and protects those who suffer. ¹²He frustrates the plans of schemers so the work of their hands will not succeed.e

¹³He traps the wise in their own cleverness so their cunning schemes are thwarted.f ¹⁴They find it is dark in the daytime, and they grope at noon as if it were night. ¹⁵He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong, and rescues them from the clutches of the powerful.

¹⁶And so at last the poor have hope, and the snapping jaws of the wicked are shut. ¹⁷“But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin.g ¹⁸For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.h

¹⁹From six disasters he will rescue you; even in the seventh, he will keep you from evil.i ²⁰He will save you from death in time of famine, from the power of the sword in time of war.j ²¹You will be safe from slander and have no fear when destruction comes.k

²²You will laugh at destruction and famine; wild animals will not terrify you.l ²³You will be at peace with the stones of the field, and its wild animals will be at peace with you.m ²⁴You will know that your home is safe. When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing.n

²⁵You will have many children; your descendants will be as plentiful as grass!o ²⁶You will go to the grave at a ripe old age, like a sheaf of grain harvested at the proper time!p ²⁷“We have studied life and found all this to be true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.”