Job 4

• 1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied to Job:
• 2. "Will you be patient and let me say a word? For who could keep from speaking out?
• 3. "In the past you have encouraged many a troubled soul to trust in God; you have supported those who were weak.
• 4. Your words have strengthened the fallen; you steadied those who wavered.
• 5. But now when trouble strikes, you faint and are broken.
• 6. Does your reverence for God give you no confidence? Shouldn't you believe that God will care for those who are upright?
• 7. "Stop and think! Does the innocent person perish? When has the upright person been destroyed?
• 8. My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same.
• 9. They perish by a breath from God. They vanish in a blast of his anger.
• 10. Though they are fierce young lions, they will all be broken and destroyed.
• 11. The fierce lion will starve, and the cubs of the lioness will be scattered.
• 12. "This truth was given me in secret, as though whispered in my ear.
• 13. It came in a vision at night as others slept.
• 14. Fear gripped me; I trembled and shook with terror.
• 15. A spirit swept past my face. Its wind sent shivers up my spine.
• 16. It stopped, but I couldn't see its shape. There was a form before my eyes, and a hushed voice said,
• 17. `Can a mortal be just and upright before God? Can a person be pure before the Creator?'
• 18. "If God cannot trust his own angels and has charged some of them with folly,
• 19. how much less will he trust those made of clay! Their foundation is dust, and they are crushed as easily as moths.
• 20. They are alive in the morning, but by evening they are dead, gone forever without a trace.
• 21. Their tent collapses; they die in ignorance.

Job 5

• 1. "You may cry for help, but no one listens. You may turn to the angels, but they give you no help.
• 2. Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple.
• 3. From my experience, I know that fools who turn from God may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster.
• 4. Their children are abandoned far from help, with no one to defend them.
• 5. Their harvests are stolen, and their wealth satisfies the thirst of many others, not themselves!
• 6. But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth.
• 7. People are born for trouble as predictably as sparks fly upward from a fire.
• 8. "My advice to you is this: Go to God and present your case to him.
• 9. For he does great works too marvelous to understand. He performs miracles without number.
• 10. He gives rain for the earth. He sends water for the fields.
• 11. He gives prosperity to the poor and humble, and he takes sufferers to safety.
• 12. He frustrates the plans of the crafty, so their efforts will not succeed.
• 13. He catches those who think they are wise in their own cleverness, so that their cunning schemes are thwarted.
• 14. They grope in the daylight as though they were blind; they see no better in the daytime than at night.
• 15. He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong. He saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
• 16. And so at last the poor have hope, and the fangs of the wicked are broken.
• 17. "But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the chastening of the Almighty when you sin.
• 18. For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.
• 19. He will rescue you again and again so that no evil can touch you.
• 20. He will save you from death in time of famine, from the power of the sword in time of war.
• 21. You will be safe from slander and will have no fear of destruction when it comes.
• 22. You will laugh at destruction and famine; wild animals will not terrify you.
• 23. You will be at peace with the stones of the field, and its wild animals will be at peace with you.
• 24. You will know that your home is kept safe. When you visit your pastures, nothing will be missing.
• 25. Your children will be many; your descendants will be as plentiful as grass!
• 26. You will live to a good old age. You will not be harvested until the proper time!
• 27. "We have found from experience that all this is true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself."

Job 6

• 1. Then Job spoke again:
• 2. "If my sadness could be weighed and my troubles be put on the scales,
• 3. they would be heavier than all the sands of the sea. That is why I spoke so rashly.
• 4. For the Almighty has struck me down with his arrows. He has sent his poisoned arrows deep within my spirit. All God's terrors are arrayed against me.
• 5. Don't I have a right to complain? Wild donkeys bray when they find no green grass, and oxen low when they have no food.
• 6. People complain when there is no salt in their food. And how tasteless is the uncooked white of an egg!
• 7. My appetite disappears when I look at it; I gag at the thought of eating it!
• 8. "Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant my hope.
• 9. I wish he would crush me. I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me.
• 10. At least I can take comfort in this: Despite the pain, I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
• 11. But I do not have the strength to endure. I do not have a goal that encourages me to carry on.
• 12. Do I have strength as hard as stone? Is my body made of bronze?
• 13. No, I am utterly helpless, without any chance of success.
• 14. "One should be kind to a fainting friend, but you have accused me without the slightest fear of the Almighty.
• 15. My brother, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook that overflows its banks in the spring
• 16. when it is swollen with ice and melting snow.
• 17. But when the hot weather arrives, the water disappears. The brook vanishes in the heat.
• 18. The caravans turn aside to be refreshed, but there is nothing there to drink, and so they perish in the desert.
• 19. With high hopes, the caravans from Tema and from Sheba stop for water,
• 20. but finding none, their hopes are dashed.
• 21. You, too, have proved to be of no help. You have seen my calamity, and you are afraid.
• 22. But why? Have I ever asked you for a gift? Have I begged you to use any of your wealth on my behalf?
• 23. Have I ever asked you to rescue me from my enemies? Have I asked you to save me from ruthless people?
• 24. "All I want is a reasonable answer--then I will keep quiet. Tell me, what have I done wrong?
• 25. Honest words are painful, but what do your criticisms amount to?
• 26. Do you think your words are convincing when you disregard my cry of desperation?
• 27. You would even send an orphan into slavery or sell a friend.
• 28. Look at me! Would I lie to your face?
• 29. Stop assuming my guilt, for I am righteous. Don't be so unjust.
• 30. Do you think I am lying? Don't I know the difference between right and wrong?

New Living Translation: 154 of 324 days.