Job 5

5 ¹ Call out now—is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? ² For anger kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple. ³ I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling. ⁴ His children are far from safety; they are crushed in court, with no one to rescue them. ⁵ The hungry eat his harvest, taking it even from among the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. ⁶ For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. ⁷ But man is born to trouble as surely as the sparks fly upward.

⁸ As for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause. ⁹ He does great things that cannot be fathomed, wonders without number. ¹⁰ He gives rain on the face of the earth and sends water on the fields. ¹¹ He sets the lowly on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. ¹² He frustrates the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. ¹³ He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the cunning are swept away. ¹⁴ They meet darkness in the daytime and grope at noon as if it were night. ¹⁵ But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. ¹⁶ So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷ How blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. ^a a v17 These words are Eliphaz's — not the Father's verdict on Job. At 42:7 the Father rebukes Eliphaz for misrepresenting him; what sounds like settled wisdom is being weaponized to imply Job's suffering must prove hidden sin. ¹⁸ For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal. ¹⁹ From six troubles he will deliver you, and in seven no harm will touch you. ²⁰ In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. ²¹ You will be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and you will not fear destruction when it comes. ²² At destruction and famine you will laugh, and you will not fear the wild beasts of the earth. ²³ For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild beasts of the field will be at peace with you. ²⁴ You will know that your tent is secure; you will inspect your fold and find nothing missing. ²⁵ You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth. ²⁶ You will come to your grave in ripe old age, like a sheaf gathered in its season.

²⁷ Yes, this we have searched out, and it is true. Hear it, and know it for yourself.