Job 3 - 4 - 5

Job 3 New King James Version (NKJV)

Job Deplores His Birth

3 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. ² And Job ^[a]spoke, and said:

³ “May the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,
‘A male child is conceived.’
⁴ May that day be darkness;
May God above not seek it,
Nor the light shine upon it.
⁵ May darkness and the shadow of death claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
⁶ As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not ^[b]rejoice among the days of the year,
May it not come into the number of the months.
⁷ Oh, may that night be barren!
May no joyful shout come into it!
⁸ May those curse it who curse the day,
Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan.
⁹ May the stars of its morning be dark;
May it look for light, but have none,
And not see the ^[c]dawning of the day;
¹⁰ Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.

¹¹ “Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not ^[d]perish when I came from the womb?
¹² Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
¹³ For now I would have lain still and been quiet,
I would have been asleep;
Then I would have been at rest
¹⁴ With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who built ruins for themselves,
¹⁵ Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver;
¹⁶ Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,
Like infants who never saw light?
¹⁷ There the wicked cease from troubling,
And there the ^[e]weary are at rest.
¹⁸ There the prisoners ^[f]rest together;
They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
¹⁹ The small and great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.

²⁰ “Why is light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the bitter of soul,
²¹ Who long^[g] for death, but it does not come,
And search for it more than hidden treasures;
²² Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad when they can find the grave?
²³ Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
And whom God has hedged in?
²⁴ For my sighing comes before ^[h]I eat,
And my groanings pour out like water.
²⁵ For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me,
And what I dreaded has happened to me.
²⁶ I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.”

Job 4 New King James Version (NKJV)

Eliphaz: Job Has Sinned

4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

² “If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary?
But who can withhold himself from speaking?
³ Surely you have instructed many,
And you have strengthened weak hands.
⁴ Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
And you have strengthened the ^[a]feeble knees;
⁵ But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;
It touches you, and you are troubled.
⁶ Is not your reverence your confidence?
And the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷ “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?
Or where were the upright ever cut off?
⁸ Even as I have seen,
Those who plow iniquity
And sow trouble reap the same.
⁹ By the blast of God they perish,
And by the breath of His anger they are consumed.
¹⁰ The roaring of the lion,
The voice of the fierce lion,
And the teeth of the young lions are broken.
¹¹ The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹² “Now a word was secretly brought to me,
And my ear received a whisper of it.
¹³ In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falls on men,
¹⁴ Fear came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones shake.
¹⁵ Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair on my body stood up.
¹⁶ It stood still,
But I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence;
Then I heard a voice saying:
¹⁷ ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
¹⁸ If He puts no trust in His servants,
If 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 a moth?
²⁰ They are broken in pieces from morning till evening;
They perish forever, with no one regarding.
²¹ Does not their own excellence go away?
They die, even without wisdom.’

Job 5 New King James Version (NKJV)

Eliphaz: Job Is Chastened by God

5 “Call out now;
Is there anyone who will answer you?
And to which of the holy ones will you turn?
² For wrath kills a foolish man,
And envy slays a simple one.
³ I have seen the foolish taking root,
But suddenly I cursed his dwelling place.
⁴ His sons are far from safety,
They are crushed in the gate,
And there is no deliverer.
⁵ Because the hungry eat up his harvest,
^[a]Taking it even from the thorns,
^[b]And a snare snatches their ^[c]substance.
⁶ For affliction does not come from the dust,
Nor does trouble spring from the ground;
⁷ Yet man is born to ^[d]trouble,
As the sparks fly upward.

⁸ “But as for me, I would seek God,
And to God I would commit my cause—
⁹ Who does great things, and unsearchable,
Marvelous things without number.
¹⁰ He gives rain on the earth,
And sends waters on the fields.
¹¹ He sets on high those who are lowly,
And those who mourn are lifted to safety.
¹² He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
So that their hands cannot carry out their plans.
¹³ He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
And the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them.
¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime,
And grope at noontime as in the night.
¹⁵ But He saves the needy from the sword,
From the mouth of the mighty,
And from their hand.
¹⁶ So the poor have 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 bruises, but He binds up;
He wounds, but His hands make whole.
¹⁹ He shall deliver you in six troubles,
Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.
²⁰ In famine He shall redeem you from death,
And in war from the ^[e]power of the sword.
²¹ You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
And you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
²² You shall laugh at destruction and famine,
And you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
²³ For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field,
And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
²⁴ You shall know that your tent is in peace;
You shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss.
²⁵ You shall also know that your descendants shall be many,
And your offspring like the grass of the earth.
²⁶ You shall come to the grave at a full age,
As a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.
²⁷ Behold, this we have searched out;
It is true.
Hear it, and know for yourself.”