Eliphaz’s Response Continues

¹ “Call now, is there anyone answering you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn?

² For vexation will slay the fool, and jealousy will kill the simple.

³ I have seen a fool taking root, but¹ suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

1. Hebrew “And”

⁴ His children are far from deliverance, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer—

⁵ whose harvest the hungry eats, and he takes it ⌞from behind⌟¹ the thorns; and the thirsty pants after their wealth.

1. Literally “to from”

⁶ Indeed,¹ mischief does not come from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the earth.

1. Or “For”

⁷ But a human being is born to trouble, and ⌞they soar aloft⌟¹ like ⌞sparks⌟.²

1. Literally “they make high to fly”
2. Literally “children of flame”

⁸ “But I myself¹ will seek God, and to God I would commit my cause.

1. Emphatic personal pronoun

⁹ He is doing great and ⌞unsearchable⌟¹ things, marvelous things ⌞without number⌟²—

1. Literally “there is no searching”
2. Literally “until there is no number”

¹⁰ the one who is giving rain on the ⌞surface of⌟¹ the earth and is sending water on the ⌞surface of⌟² the fields,

1. Literally “faces of”
2. Literally “faces of”

¹¹ to set the lowly on high, and those mourning are lifted to safety.

¹² He is frustrating the devices of the crafty, and their hands do not achieve success.

¹³ He is capturing the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are rushed.

¹⁴ In the daytime they meet with darkness, and they grope at noon¹ as in the night.

1. Or “the noon”

¹⁵ And¹ he saves from the sword of² their mouth, ⌞even⌟³ the poor from the hand of the strong.

1. Or “Thus,” or “So”
2. Literally “from”
3. Literally “and”; the entire verse could be translated “So he saves the poor from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the strong”

¹⁶ So¹ there is hope² for the powerless, and wickedness shuts its mouth.

1. Or “And”
2. Or “hope exists”

¹⁷ “Look, happy is the human being whom God reproves; and you must not despise the discipline of Shaddai,

¹⁸ for he himself¹ wounds, but² he binds up; he strikes, but³ his hands heal.

1. Emphatic personal pronoun
2. Hebrew “and”
3. Hebrew “and”

¹⁹ ⌞From⌟¹ six troubles he will deliver you, and in seven evil shall not touch you.

1. Literally “In,” or “By”

²⁰ In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the ⌞power of⌟¹ the sword.

1. Literally “hand of”

²¹ From the scourge of the tongue you shall be hidden, and you shall not be afraid of¹ destruction when it comes.

1. Hebrew “from”

²² At destruction and famine¹ you shall laugh, and you shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.

1. Hebrew “at famine”

²³ For your covenant will be with the stones of the field, and the wild animals¹ of the field will be at peace with you.

1. Collective singular

²⁴ And you shall know that your tent is safe, and you will inspect your fold, and you shall not be missing anything.

²⁵ And you shall know that your offspring are many, and your descendants like the vegetation of the earth.

²⁶ You shall come in maturity to the grave, as the raising up of a stack of sheaves in its season.

²⁷ “Look, we have searched this out—it is true; hear it and know it ⌞yourself⌟.”¹

1. Literally “you for yourself”