Job
Chapter 5
Eliphaz finishes the speech he began in chapter 4. He says that anger and folly destroy a person and his family, that people are born into trouble, and that Job should take his case to God instead. He then describes God as the one who lifts up the low and traps the crafty, and lists what he says comes to a person who accepts God's correction: rescue in danger, a safe home, many children, and a long life. He closes by telling Job that he and his friends have studied this and found it true.
Plain reading written for preteens. Clear and complete, at about a fifth grade reading level.
Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
1Call out now, if you think anyone will answer you. Which of the holy ones will you turn to?
2For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
2Anger kills a fool. Jealousy kills the person who has no sense.
The KJV word "silly" did not mean goofy. It meant simple, someone easily fooled.
3I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
3I have seen a fool settling in and doing well. Then all at once his home was under a curse.
4His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
4His children are not safe. They are crushed in court, and no one steps up to defend them.
In those days the city gate was where judges heard cases. "Crushed in the gate" means losing badly in court.
5Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
5Hungry people eat up his harvest, taking it even out from among the thorns. Robbers swallow up all he owns.
6Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
6Trouble does not grow up out of the dust. Hard times do not sprout from the ground on their own.
7Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
7But people are born into trouble, as surely as sparks fly upward from a fire.
8I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
8If I were you, I would go to God. I would lay my case in front of him.
9Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
9He does great things that no one can figure out. He does wonders too many to count.
10Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
10He sends rain down on the earth and water across the fields.
11To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
11He lifts up people who are low. He raises those who are grieving to a safe place.
12He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
12He ruins the plans of sneaky people, so their hands never finish what they set out to do.
13He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
13He catches clever people in their own tricks. The plans of the crooked are swept away in a rush.
14They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
14In broad daylight they run into darkness. At noon they feel their way along as if it were night.
15But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
15But God saves poor people from the sword, from the mouths of the powerful, and from their grip.
16So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
16So the poor have hope, and what is unfair is left with nothing to say.
17Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
17Listen: the person God corrects is well off. So do not brush aside the correction of the Almighty.
18For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
18He hurts, and then he bandages. He wounds, and then his own hands heal.
19He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
19He will rescue you from six troubles. Even in a seventh, nothing bad will touch you.
20In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
20When food runs out, he will keep you from dying. In war, he will save you from the sword.
21Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
21You will be hidden from cruel talk. You will not be afraid when ruin arrives.
22At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
22You will laugh at ruin and hunger. You will not be afraid of the wild animals.
23For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
23You will have an agreement with the stones of your field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
24You will know that your tent is safe. You will look over your home and find nothing wrong.
The KJV says "shalt not sin" here. The older sense is "miss nothing," meaning you check your home and find nothing gone or damaged.
25Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
25You will know that you will have many children, and your family will spread like grass over the ground.
26Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
26You will reach your grave still strong, like grain gathered in at just the right time.
A "shock of corn" is a bundle of grain stalks stood up in the field after harvest. "Corn" in the KJV means grain of any kind, not corn on the cob.
27Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.
27Look, we have studied this, and it is true. Listen to it, and learn it for your own good.
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