Eliphaz’s Response Continues

1“Cry for help, but will anyone answer you?

Which of the angelsa will help you?

2Surely resentment destroys the fool,

and jealousy kills the simple.

3I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment,

but then comes sudden disaster.

4Their children are abandoned far from help;

they are crushed in court with no one to defend them.

5The hungry devour their harvest,

even when it is guarded by brambles.b

The thirsty pant after their wealth.c

6But evil does not spring from the soil,

and trouble does not sprout from the earth.

7People are born for trouble

as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.

8“If I were you, I would go to God

and present my case to him.

9He does great things too marvelous to understand.

He performs countless miracles.

10He gives rain for the earth

and water for the fields.

11He gives prosperity to the poor

and protects those who suffer.

12He frustrates the plans of schemers

so the work of their hands will not succeed.

13He traps the wise in their own cleverness

so their cunning schemes are thwarted.

14They find it is dark in the daytime,

and they grope at noon as if it were night.

15He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong,

and rescues them from the clutches of the powerful.

16And so at last the poor have hope,

and the snapping jaws of the wicked are shut.

17“But consider the joy of those corrected by God!

Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin.

18For though he wounds, he also bandages.

He strikes, but his hands also heal.

19From six disasters he will rescue you;

even in the seventh, he will keep you from evil.

20He will save you from death in time of famine,

from the power of the sword in time of war.

21You will be safe from slander

and have no fear when destruction comes.

22You will laugh at destruction and famine;

wild animals will not terrify you.

23You will be at peace with the stones of the field,

and its wild animals will be at peace with you.

24You will know that your home is safe.

When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing.

25You will have many children;

your descendants will be as plentiful as grass!

26You will go to the grave at a ripe old age,

like a sheaf of grain harvested at the proper time!

27“We have studied life and found all this to be true.

Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.”