Job’s Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz

1 ThenJob answered and said,

2 “If only my vexation could be well weighed,

and my calamity could be lifted up together with it in the balances,

3 for then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;

therefore my words have been rash,

4 for the arrows of Shaddai are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

5 Does the wild ass bray over grass,

or the ox bellow over its fodder?

6 Can tasteless food be eaten withoutsalt,

or is there taste in the white of a marshmallow plant?

7 I refusedto touch them;

they are like food that will make me ill.

8 “O thatmy request may come,

and that God may grant my hope,

9 thatGod would decide thathe would crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and kill me.

10 Butit will still be my consolation,

and I would recoil in unrelentingpain,

for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

11 What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should hold out?

12 Or is my strength like the strength of stones?

Or is my flesh bronze?

13 Indeed,my help is not in me,

and any success is driven from me.

14 “Loyal loveshould come for the afflicted from his friend,

even ifhe forsakes the fear of Shaddai.

15 My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed;

like a streambed of wadisthey flow away,

16 which are growing dark because of ice upon them,

it will pile up snow.

17 In time they dry up, they disappear;

when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

18 The paths of their way wind around;

they go up into the wasteland, and they perish.

19 The caravans of Tema looked;

the traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.

20 They are disappointed, because they trusted;

they came hereand they are confounded.

21 “For now youhave become such;

you see terrors, and you fear.

22 Is it because I have said, ‘Give to me,’

or,‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’?

23 or,‘Save me from the foe’s hand,’

or,‘Ransom me from the tyrants’ hand’?

24 Teach me, and I myselfwill be silent;

and make me understand how I have gone astray.

25 How painful are upright words!

Butwhat does your reproofreprove?

26 Do you intend to reprove my words

and consider the words of a desperate man as wind?

27 Even over the orphan you would cast the lot,

and you would bargain over your friend.

28 “Thereforebe prepared, turn to me,

and I surely will not lie to your face.

29 Please turn, let no injustice happen;

indeed,turn, my righteousness is still intact.

30 Is there injustice on my tongue?

Or can my palate not discern calamity?