Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: ELIPHAZ the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.

1. Then ELIPHAZ the Temanite answered,

2. "If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved?But who can withhold himself from speaking?

3. Behold, you have instructed many,you have strengthened the weak hands.

4. Your words have supported him who was falling,You have made firm the feeble knees.

5. But now it has come to you, and you faint.It touches you, and you are troubled.

6. Isn't your piety your confidence?Isn't the integrity of your ways your hope?

7. "Remember, now, whoever perished, being innocent?Or where were the upright cut off?

8. According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity,and sow trouble,reap the same.

9. By the breath of God they perish.By the blast of his anger are they consumed.

10. The roaring of the lion,and the voice of the fierce lion,the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

11. The old lion perishes for lack of prey.The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.

12. "Now a thing was secretly brought to me.My ear received a whisper of it.

13. In thoughts from the visions of the night,when deep sleep falls on men,

14. fear came on me, and trembling,which made all my bones shake.

15. Then a spirit passed before my face.The hair of my flesh stood up.

16. It stood still, but I couldn't discern its appearance.A form was before my eyes.Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,

17. 'Shall mortal man be more just than God?Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?

18. Behold, he puts no trust in his servants.He charges his angels with error.

19. How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay,whose foundation is in the dust,who are crushed before the moth!

20. Between morning and evening they are destroyed.They perish forever without any regarding it.

21. Isn't their tent cord plucked up within them?They die, and that without wisdom.'

1. "Call now; is there any who will answer you?To which of the holy ones will you turn?

2. For resentment kills the foolish man,and jealousy kills the simple.

3. I have seen the foolish taking root,but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

4. His children are far from safety.They are crushed in the gate.Neither is there any to deliver them,

5. whose harvest the hungry eats up,and take it even out of the thorns.The snare gapes for their substance.

6. For affliction doesn't come out of the dust,neither does trouble spring out of the ground;

7. but man is born to trouble,as the sparks fly upward.

8. "But as for me, I would seek God.I would commit my cause to God,

9. who does great things that can't be fathomed,marvelous things without number;

10. who gives rain on the earth,and sends waters on the fields;

11. so that he sets up on high those who are low,those who mourn are exalted to safety.

12. He frustrates the devices of the crafty,So that their hands can't perform their enterprise.

13. He takes the wise in their own craftiness;the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.

14. They meet with darkness in the day time,and grope at noonday as in the night.

15. But he saves from the sword of their mouth,even the needy from the hand of the mighty.

16. So the poor has hope,and injustice shuts her mouth.

17. "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects.Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.

18. For he wounds, and binds up.He injures, and his hands make whole.

19. He will deliver you in six troubles;yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.

20. In famine he will redeem you from death;in war, from the power of the sword.

21. You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes.

22. At destruction and famine you shall laugh,neither shall you be afraid of the animals of the earth.

23. For you shall be allied with the stones of the field.The animals of the field shall be at peace with you.

24. You shall know that your tent is in peace.You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing.

25. You shall know also that your offspring shall be great,Your offspring as the grass of the earth.

26. You shall come to your grave in a full age,like a shock of grain comes in its season.

27. Look this, we have searched it, so it is.Hear it, and know it for your good."

1. Then ELIPHAZ the Temanite answered,

2. "Can a man be profitable to God?Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.

3. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous?Or does it benefit him, that you make your ways perfect?

4. Is it for your piety that he reproves you,that he enters with you into judgment?

5. Isn't your wickedness great?Neither is there any end to your iniquities.

6. For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing,and stripped the naked of their clothing.

7. You haven't given water to the weary to drink,and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

8. But as for the mighty man, he had the earth.The honorable man, he lived in it.

9. You have sent widows away empty,and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

10. Therefore snares are around you.Sudden fear troubles you,

11. or darkness, so that you can not see,and floods of waters cover you.

12. "Isn't God in the heights of heaven?See the height of the stars, how high they are!

13. You say, 'What does God know?Can he judge through the thick darkness?

14. Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he doesn't see.He walks on the vault of the sky.'

15. Will you keep the old way,which wicked men have trodden,

16. who were snatched away before their time,whose foundation was poured out as a stream,

17. who said to God, 'Depart from us;'and, 'What can the Almighty do for us?'

18. Yet he filled their houses with good things,but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

19. The righteous see it, and are glad.The innocent ridicule them,

20. saying, 'Surely those who rose up against us are cut off.The fire has consumed their remnant.'

21. "Acquaint yourself with him, now, and be at peace.Thereby good shall come to you.

22. Please receive instruction from his mouth,and lay up his words in your heart.

23. If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up,if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.

24. Lay your treasure in the dust,the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.

25. The Almighty will be your treasure,and precious silver to you.

26. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,and shall lift up your face to God.

27. You shall make your prayer to him, and he will hear you.You shall pay your vows.

28. You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you.Light shall shine on your ways.

29. When they cast down, you shall say, 'be lifted up.'He will save the humble person.

30. He will even deliver him who is not innocent.Yes, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."

7. It was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to ELIPHAZ the Temanite, "My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.

8. Now therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept him, that I not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has."

9. So ELIPHAZ the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did what the LORD commanded them, and the LORD accepted Job.