I. The word of Eliphaz: Man is always sinful, and wickedness consists in resisting God, in pride, for which man is punished. The wicked are always punished (Job 15)

1 And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 Will a wise man answer with vain knowledge, and fill his belly with a scorching wind, 3 justify himself with words that are useless, and with speech that has no power? 4 Thou hast put aside fear, and countest speech to God as a little. 5 Thy wickedness hath thus disposed thy mouth, and thou hast chosen the tongue of the wicked. 6 Thy mouth accuses thee, and not I, and thy tongue speaketh against thee. 7 Were you born the first man, and were you created before the hills? 8 Have you heard the counsel of God, and have you drawn wisdom unto you? 9 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that we would not have? 10 And there is a gray-haired man and an old man among us, whose days are greater than thy father. 11 Is the consolation of God little for you? And this is unknown to you? 12 Wherefore hath thy heart torn thee, and wherefore dost thou look so proudly? 13 Why do you set your spirit against God, and with your mouth speakest such words? 14 What is man, that he should be pure, and that he who is born of a woman should be righteous? 15 Behold, he trusteth not even his saints, and the heavens are unclean in his sight: 16 how much more unclean and corrupt is the man who drinketh iniquity as water. 17 I will speak unto thee, hear me; I will tell you what I saw, 18 that the wise heard, and did not hide what they heard from their fathers, 19 to whom the land was given alone, and among whom no stranger walked. 20 The wicked torment himself all his days, and the number of years is hidden from the oppressor; 21 The sound of terrors is in his ears; in the midst of the world the destroyer is coming against him. 22 He does not hope to be saved from darkness; he sees a sword before him. 23 He wandereth about for a morsel of bread; He knows that he is ready, he has the day of darkness in his hands. 24 He is terrified by want and distress; overcomes him like a king prepared for battle, 25 because he stretched out his hand against God, and resisted the Almighty, 26 he rushed against him with a proud neck, under his thick shields; 27 For he has covered his face with his fat, and has overlaid his thighs with fat. 28 And he dwells in cities that are laid waste, in houses in which they do not live, which are doomed to ruin. 29 And he shall not be rich, neither shall his possessions survive, nor shall his gain be spread over the earth. 30 He will not escape from darkness; his branches will dry up the flame, and with the breath of his mouth will carry him away. 31 Let not the erring man trust vanity, for vanity shall also be his recompense. 32 He shall not die in his day, and his branches shall not be green. 33 He will cast off his unripe berry like a vine, and like an olive tree he will shake off his blossom. 34 Thus shall the house of the wicked be desolate, and the fire shall devour the tents of bribery. 35 He conceived evil, and gave birth to a lie, and his womb prepares deceit.

2. Job's answer: He does not look to his friends for help, but only to God (Job 16-17)

1 And Job answered and said, "2 I have heard many such things; Miserable comforters, all of you! 3 Will there be an end to windy words? And what prompted you to answer like that? 4 And I could speak as you do, if your soul were in the place of my soul; I would have taken up arms against you with words, and would have nodded my head at you; 5 I would strengthen you with my tongue, and comfort you with the movement of my lips. 6 If I speak, my affliction is not assuaged; Do I cease what departs from me? 7 But now he has worn me out. You have destroyed my whole family. 8 Thou hast covered me with wrinkles as a witness against me; My emaciation rises up against me, reproaches me to my face. 9 His wrath is tormented and enmity against me, gnashing his teeth against me; my enemy sharpens his eyes against me. 10 They have opened their mouths against me; swearing they beat me on the cheeks; Everyone conspired against me. 11 God delivered me up to the wicked, and cast me into the hands of the wicked. 12 I was calm, but He shook me; He took me by the neck and beat me, and made me a target for Himself. 13 His archers have surrounded me; He cuts my intestines and spares not, He has poured out my gall on the earth, 14 He breaks through me breach after break, He runs against me like a warrior. 15 And I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and laid my head in the dust. 16 My face is crimson with weeping, and the shadow of death is upon my eyelids, 17 for all that there is no theft in my hands, and my prayer is pure. 18 Earth! Cover not my blood, and let there be no place for my cry. 19 And now behold, in heaven is my witness, and my Advocate in the highest. 20 My friends who talk much! My eye weeps to God. 21 Oh, that a man could have a contest with God, as a son of man with his neighbor! 22 For my years are coming to an end, and I am going on a journey no return.

1 My breath is faint; My days are fading; The coffins are before me. 2 If it had not been for their mockery, my eye would have been calm even in the midst of their disputes. 3 Intercede, vouch for me before Thee! Otherwise, who will vouch for me? 4 For thou hast closed their hearts from understanding, and therefore thou wilt not suffer them to triumph. 5 Whoever condemns his friends to a prey, his children's eyes will fade. 6 He has made me a proverb to the people, and a laughing stock to them. 7 My eye is troubled with grief, and all my limbs are like a shadow. 8 The righteous shall be amazed at this, and the innocent shall be indignant at the hypocrite. 9 But the righteous shall hold fast to his way, and the clean with his hands shall be strengthened more and more. 10 Hear, all of you, and come near; I will not find wisdom among you. 11 My days are past; My thoughts, the property of my heart, are broken. 12 But they would turn night into day, and bring the light near to the face of darkness. 13 If I were to wait, the pit is my house; in darkness I will make my bed; 14 To the grave I will say, Thou art my father, to the worm: thou art my mother and my sister. 15 Where, then, is my hope after this? And who will see what I am expecting? 16 Into hell she shall descend, and shall rest with me in the dust.

3. Bildad's Word: The Law of Retribution Is Inviolable (Job 18)

1 And Bildad the Sabhean answered, and said, 2 When then wilt ye put an end to such speeches? Think it over, and then we will talk. 3 Why should we be counted as animals and humiliated in your own eyes? 4 O thou who tearest thy soul in thy wrath! Shall the earth be desolate for thee, and the rock be moved out of its place? 5 Yes, the light of the wicked shall be extinguished, and there shall be no spark of his fire. 6 The light of his tent shall be darkened, and his lamp shall be extinguished over him. 7 The steps of his power shall be shortened, and his own design shall bring him down, 8 for he shall fall into a snare with his own feet, and shall walk in the nets. 9 The noose shall catch his foot, and the robber shall catch him. 10 Snares are secretly laid out on the ground for him, and snares in the way. 11 Terrors will terrify him on all sides, and will cause him to rush hither and thither. 12 His strength shall be exhausted by hunger, and destruction is ready, at his side. 13 The firstborn of death shall devour the members of his body. 14 His hope shall be cast out of his tent, and this shall bring him down to the king of terrors. 15 They shall dwell in his tent, because he is no longer his; his dwelling shall be sprinkled with brimstone. 16 Its roots shall wither from below, and its branches shall wither from above. 17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and his name shall not be in the market-place. 18 They will cast him out of the light into darkness, and they will wipe him out from the face of the earth. 19 Neither his son nor his grandson shall be among his people, nor shall there be any one left in his gates. 20 His descendants will be terrified at his day, and his contemporaries will be trembling. 21 Such are the dwellings of the wicked, and such is the place of him who does not know God.

4. Job's answer: Between despair and hope in God, he asks his friends for mercy (Job 19)

1 And Job answered and said, 2 How long will you torment my soul, and torment me with words? 3 Behold, you have already put me to shame ten times, and you are not ashamed to oppress me. 4 If I have indeed sinned, my fault remains with me. 5 But if ye will exalt yourselves over me, and reproach me with my reproach, 6 know this, that God hath cast me down, and hath laid his net upon me. 7 Behold, I cry out, Offense! and no one listens; I cry out, and there is no judgment. 8 He hath barred my way, and I cannot pass, and hath put darkness upon my paths. 9 He hath taken away my glory from me, and hath taken off the crown from my head. 10 He hath destroyed me all around, and I am departing; and like a tree he plucked out my hope. 11 He is kindled with his wrath against me, and counts me among his enemies. 12 His armies came together, and directed their way to me, and encamped themselves round about my tent. 13 My brethren he hath removed from me, and those who know me shun me. 14 My loved ones have forsaken me, and my acquaintances have forgotten me. 15 The strangers in my house, and my maidservants, consider me a stranger; I became a stranger in their eyes. 16 I call my servant, and he will not answer; With my mouth I must beseech Him. 17 My breath is detestable to my wife, and I must beseech her for the sake of the children of my womb. 18 Even little children despise me: I rise up, and they mock me. 19 All my breastplates abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me. 20 My bones cleaved to my skin and my flesh, and I remained only with the skin about my teeth. 21 Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, my friends, for the hand of God has touched me. 22 Why do you also persecute me as God, and in my flesh you cannot be satisfied? 23 Oh, that my words were written! If they had been inscribed in Book 24 with an iron chisel with tin, they would have been carved in stone for eternity! 25 But I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will raise up from the dust this disintegrating skin of mine at the last day, 26 and I will see God in my flesh. 27 I will see him myself; my eyes, not the eyes of another, will see Him. My heart faints in my bosom! 28 You ought to have said, Why do we pursue him? As if the root of evil was found in me. 29 Fear the sword, for the sword is the avenger of iniquity, and know that there is judgment.

19.25-27. Words of hope that breaks through all of Job's lamentations. The phrase about the Redeemer (Hebrew gozl, protector, savior) does not have an absolutely accurate translation. The following translation is considered to be the closest to the original: "And I know: My Intercessor lives, and in the end will stand over the ashes; and after the dissolution of my skin, I will see God in my flesh." There is no reason to believe that this refers to the resurrection of the dead. The meaning of the text seems to be Job's hope that God will reveal Himself to him while Job is still alive. But if not in letter, then in spirit, these words reflect the expectation of the coming redemption and therefore have a pro-formative and messianic meaning.

5. The word of Zophar: the afflictions of the wicked; an allusion that Job cannot be innocent (Job 20)

1 And Zophar the Naamathite answered, and said, 2 My reflections impel me to answer, and I hasten to express them. 3 I have heard the reproach that is shameful to me, and the spirit of my understanding will answer for me. 4 Do you not know that from everlasting, from the time that man was set on earth, 5 the joy of the wicked is for a short time, and the joy of the hypocrite is momentary? 6 Though his majesty be exalted to the heavens, and his head touched the clouds, 7 as his dung he perishes for ever; Those who have seen him will say, Where is he? 8 Like a dream, he will fly away, and they will not find him; And like a night vision, it will disappear. 9 The eye that saw him shall see him no more, neither shall he see his place any more. 10 His sons will ingratiate themselves with the poor, and his hands will restore what he has stolen. 11 His bones are filled with the sins of his youth, and with him they shall lie in the dust. 12 If evil is sweet in his mouth, and he hides it under his tongue, 13 he guards it, and does not cast it away, but keeps it in his mouth, 14 then this food of his in his womb will be turned into the gall of adders within him. 15 The possessions which he swallowed shall he spit out: God shall pluck him out of his womb. 16 He sucks the venom of the serpent; the tongue of vipers will kill him. 17 He will not see streams, rivers flowing with honey and milk! 18 He will return what he has earned by labor, he will not swallow it; according to the proportion of his possessions there will be his retribution, but he will not rejoice. 19 For he oppressed, he sent away the poor; he seized houses that he did not build; 20 He knew not to be full in his belly, neither did he spare nothing in his greed. 21 Nothing has escaped from his gluttony, but his happiness shall not stand. 22 In the fullness of abundance it will be cramped; every hand of the offended will be lifted up against him. 23 And when he hath with which to fill his womb, he shall send upon him the wrath of his wrath, and shall rain upon him the sickness of his flesh. 24 If he flees from the weapons of iron, the bow of brass shall pierce him; 25 He will take out an arrow, and it will go out of the body, it will come out, flashing through its gall. The horrors of death will come upon him! 26 All that is dark is hidden within him; it will be consumed by fire, fanned by no one; evil will come upon even that which remains in his tent. 27 Heaven shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him. 28 The gain of his house shall vanish; everything will be blurred in the day of His wrath. 29 This is the inheritance of God for the wicked man, and the inheritance which the Almighty has ordained for him.