5
Eliphaz continued replying to Job
1 “Job, it is okay that you continue to cry out for someone to help you,
but I am certain that [RHQ] no angel will come to help you!
2 Foolish people die because of being ◄resentful/very angry at someone►;
people who are easily deceived are destroyed by their being jealous of others.
3 I have seen foolish people who seemed to be successful/prosperous,
but suddenly they experienced disaster/trouble because someone cursed their home.
4 Their sons are never safe;
they ◄lose their case/are condemned► when someone ◄takes them to court/sues them►,
because there is no one to defend them.
5 Hungry people steal the crops that foolish people harvest, and eat those crops;
they even steal the crops that grow among thorns,
and greedy people take away the wealth of foolish people.
6 But evil circumstances/sufferings are not produced by the soil;
troubles do not grow up from the ground.
7 People have troubles from the time that they are born
just as surely as sparks shoot up from a fire.
8 “If I were suffering like you are, I would ask God for help
and tell him ◄what I am complaining about/about my suffering►.
9 He does great things, things that we cannot understand;
we cannot even count the marvelous things that he does.
10 He sends rain on the ground;
he sends water on our fields.
11 He exalts those who are humble,
and causes those who mourn to be joyful (OR, safe, prosperous).
12 He causes crafty/cunning people to not be able to do what they plan to do,
with the result that they achieve nothing.
13 He causes people who think that they [IRO] are wise to be trapped by the cunning things they try to do,
with the result that they do not succeed.
14 It is as though even in the daytime they are covered by darkness,
and grope around trying to find the road at noontime like people do at night.
15 But God saves helpless people from being harmed by what wicked people say [MTY],
he saves needy people from being injured by [MTY] powerful people.
16 So, poor people confidently expect that good things will happen to them
but God causes wicked people to stop talking.
17 “But those whom God corrects/rebukes are happy;
so do not despise/dislike it when God who is all-powerful disciplines you.
18 He wounds people, but then he puts bandages on those wounds;
he hurts people, but he [SYN] also heals them.
19 He will rescue you many times from your troubles,
with the result that nothing evil will happen to you.
20 When there is a famine, he will not allow you to die,
and when there is a war, you will not be killed [MTY].
21 God will protect you when people slander [MTY] you;
you will not be afraid when many things around you are destroyed.
22 You will be able to laugh/scoff when things are destroyed and when there is famine,
and you will not be afraid of wild animals.
23 You will not worry about having big rocks in your fields that will make plowing difficult,
and you will not worry about being attacked by wild animals there.
24 In your tent, you will know that things will go well for you,
and when you look at your livestock, you will see that ◄they are all there/none of them is missing►.
25 You will be sure that you will have many descendants,
who will be as numerous as blades of grass.
26 You will become very old before you die,
like sheaves of grain continue to grow until it is time to harvest them.
27 “My friends and I have thought carefully about these things, and we know that they are true,
so pay attention to what I have said!”