Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; for they had made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.

When it is warm, they are silent and cease to flow;
When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

“As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
So he who goes down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) does not come up.

“He will not return again to his house,
Nor will his place know about him anymore.

“Behold, this is the joy of His way;
And from out of the dust others will spring up and grow [to take his place].

Who shakes the earth out of its place,
And its pillars tremble;

“His wisdom is as high as the heights of heaven. What can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead). What can you know?

“But as a mountain, if it falls, crumbles into nothing,
And as the rock is moved from its place,

“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no [resting] place for my cry [where it will cease being heard].

“You who tear yourself apart in anger,
Is the earth to be abandoned for your sake,
Or the rock to be moved out of its place?

“He is torn from his tent which he trusted [for safety],
And he is marched and brought to the king of terrors (death).

“Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked and the ungodly,
And such is the place of him who does not know or recognize or honor God.”

“The eye which saw him sees him no longer,
Neither does his [accustomed] place behold him any longer.

“Drought and heat consume the snow waters;
So does Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) [consume] those who have sinned.

“Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) is naked before God,
And Abaddon (the place of destruction) has no covering [from His eyes].

“The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.

“People will clap their hands at him [to mock and ridicule him]
And hiss him out of his place.

“Surely there is a mine for silver,
And a place where they refine gold.

“But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?

“From where then does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?

“Abaddon (the place of destruction) and Death say,
‘We have [only] heard a report of it with our ears.’

“God understands the way [to wisdom]
And He knows its place [for wisdom is with God alone].

“When I went out to the gate of the city,
When I took my seat [as a city father] in the square,

“For it is a fire which consumes to Abaddon (destruction, ruin, final torment);
And [illicit passion] would burn and rage and uproot all my [life’s] increase [destroying everything].

“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress and confinement,
Into a broad place where there is no constraint or distress;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness (rich food).

“Indeed, at His thundering my heart trembles
And leaps out of its place.

“Since your days began, have you ever commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place,

When they crouch in their dens
And lie in wait in their lair?

To whom I gave the wilderness as his home
And the salt land as his dwelling place?

“Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
And makes his nest on high [in an inaccessible place]?