When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky.
Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
“Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’
“Let darkness and black gloom claim it; Let a cloud settle on it; Let the blackness of the day terrify it.
“As for that night, let darkness seize it; Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months.
“Let those curse it who curse the day, Who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.
“Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; Let it wait for light but have none, And let it not see the breaking dawn;
Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes.
“Why did I not die at birth, Come forth from the womb and expire?
“Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I should suck?
With kings and with counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt ruins for themselves;
“There the wicked cease from raging, And there the weary are at rest.
“The prisoners are at ease together; They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
“The small and the great are there, And the slave is free from his master.
“Why is light given to him who suffers, And life to the bitter of soul,
Who rejoice greatly, And exult when they find the grave?
“For my groaning comes at the sight of my food, And my cries pour out like water.
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
“Your words have helped the tottering to stand, And you have strengthened feeble knees.
“Is not your fear of God your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope?
“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed?
“By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they come to an end.
“The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, And the teeth of the young lions are broken.
“The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the whelps of the lioness are scattered.
“Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on men,
“Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh bristled up.
‘How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!
“Call now, is there anyone who will answer you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn?
“For anger slays the foolish man, And jealousy kills the simple.
“I have seen the foolish taking root, And I cursed his abode immediately.
“His sons are far from safety, They are even oppressed in the gate, And there is no deliverer.
“His harvest the hungry devour And take it to a place of thorns, And the schemer is eager for their wealth.
“For affliction does not come from the dust, Nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
“He gives rain on the earth And sends water on the fields,
“He frustrates the plotting of the shrewd, So that their hands cannot attain success.
“He captures the wise by their own shrewdness, And the advice of the cunning is quickly thwarted.
“By day they meet with darkness, And grope at noon as in the night.
“But He saves from the sword of their mouth, And the poor from the hand of the mighty.
“So the helpless has hope, And unrighteousness must shut its mouth.
“Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
“In famine He will redeem you from death, And in war from the power of the sword.
“You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, And you will not be afraid of violence when it comes.
“For you will be in league with the stones of the field, And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
“You will know also that your descendants will be many, And your offspring as the grass of the earth.
“You will come to the grave in full vigor, Like the stacking of grain in its season.
“Oh that my grief were actually weighed And laid in the balances together with my calamity!
“For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; Therefore my words have been rash.
“For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, Their poison my spirit drinks; The terrors of God are arrayed against me.
“Does the wild donkey bray over his grass, Or does the ox low over his fodder?
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
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