51 "Call for help, Job, if you think anyone will answer! To which of the holy angels will you turn? 2 The hot temper of a fool eventually kills him, the jealous anger of a simpleton does her in. 3 I've seen it myself - seen fools putting down roots, and then, suddenly, their houses are cursed. 4 Their children out in the cold, abused and exploited, with no one to stick up for them. 5 Hungry people off the street plunder their harvests, cleaning them out completely, taking thorns and all, insatiable for everything they have.
6 Don't blame fate when things go wrong - trouble doesn't come from nowhere. 7 It's human! Mortals are born and bred for trouble, as certainly as sparks fly upward. What a Blessing When God Corrects You! 8 "If I were in your shoes, I'd go straight to God, I'd throw myself on the mercy of God. 9 After all, he's famous for great and unexpected acts; there's no end to his surprises. 10 He gives rain, for instance, across the wide earth, sends water to irrigate the fields. 11 He raises up the down-and-out, gives firm footing to those sinking in grief. 12 He aborts the schemes of conniving crooks, so that none of their plots come to term. 13 He catches the know-it-alls in their conspiracies - all that intricate intrigue swept out with the trash! 14 Suddenly they're disoriented, plunged into darkness; they can't see to put one foot in front of the other. 15 But the downtrodden are saved by God, saved from the murderous plots, saved from the iron fist. 16 And so the poor continue to hope, while injustice is bound and gagged.
17 "So, what a blessing when God steps in and corrects you! Mind you, don't despise the discipline of Almighty God! 18 True, he wounds, but he also dresses the wound; the same hand that hurts you, heals you. 19 From one disaster after another he delivers you; no matter what the calamity, the evil can't touch you - 20 "In famine, he'll keep you from starving, in war, from being gutted by the sword. 21 You'll be protected from vicious gossip and live fearless through any catastrophe. 22 You'll shrug off disaster and famine, and stroll fearlessly among wild animals. 23 You'll be on good terms with rocks and mountains; wild animals will become your good friends. 24 You'll know that your place on earth is safe, you'll look over your goods and find nothing amiss. 25 You'll see your children grow up, your family lovely and lissome as orchard grass. 26 You'll arrive at your grave ripe with many good years, like sheaves of golden grain at harvest. 27 "Yes, this is the way things are - my word of honor! Take it to heart and you won't go wrong." Job Replies to Eliphaz
31 Then Job broke the silence. He spoke up and cursed his fate: 2 3 "Obliterate the day I was born. Blank out the night I was conceived! 4 Let it be a black hole in space. May God above forget it ever happened. Erase it from the books! 5 May the day of my birth be buried in deep darkness, shrouded by the fog, swallowed by the night. 6 And the night of my conception - the devil take it! Rip the date off the calendar, delete it from the almanac. 7 Oh, turn that night into pure nothingness - no sounds of pleasure from that night, ever! 8 May those who are good at cursing curse that day. Unleash the sea beast, Leviathan, on it. 9 May its morning stars turn to black cinders, waiting for a daylight that never comes, never once seeing the first light of dawn. 10 And why? Because it released me from my mother's womb into a life with so much trouble.
11 "Why didn't I die at birth, my first breath out of the womb my last? 12 Why were there arms to rock me, and breasts for me to drink from? 13 I could be resting in peace right now, asleep forever, feeling no pain, 14 In the company of kings and statesmen in their royal ruins, 15 Or with princes resplendent in their gold and silver tombs. 16 Why wasn't I stillborn and buried with all the babies who never saw light, 17 Where the wicked no longer trouble anyone and bone-weary people get a long-deserved rest? 18 Prisoners sleep undisturbed, never again to wake up to the bark of the guards. 19 The small and the great are equals in that place, and slaves are free from their masters.
20 "Why does God bother giving light to the miserable, why bother keeping bitter people alive, 21 Those who want in the worst way to die, and can't, who can't imagine anything better than death, 22 Who count the day of their death and burial the happiest day of their life? 23 What's the point of life when it doesn't make sense, when God blocks all the roads to meaning? 24 "Instead of bread I get groans for my supper, then leave the table and vomit my anguish. 25 The worst of my fears has come true, what I've dreaded most has happened. 26 My repose is shattered, my peace destroyed. No rest for me, ever - death has invaded life."
