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

“His harvest the hungry devour
And take it to a place of thorns,
And the schemer is eager for their wealth.

“But as for me, I would seek God,
And I would place my cause before God;

“When they become waterless, they are silent,
When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

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

“If he is removed from his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

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

“But the falling mountain crumbles away,
And the rock moves from its place;

“I too could speak like you,
If I were in your place.
I could compose words against you
And shake my head at you.

“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no resting place for my cry.

“O you who tear yourself in your anger—
For your sake is the earth to be abandoned,
Or the rock to be moved from its place?

“Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

“The eye which saw him sees him no longer,
And his place no longer beholds him.

‘Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see;
And He walks on the vault of heaven.’

And place your gold in the dust,
And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,

“The east wind carries him away, and he is gone,
For it whirls him away from his place.

“Men will clap their hands at him
And will hiss him from 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?

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

“God understands its way,
And He knows its place.

“He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry,
And sets others in their place.

“He strikes them like the wicked
In a public place,

“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress,
Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness.

“Do not long for the night,
When people vanish in their place.

“At this also my heart trembles,
And leaps from its place.

“Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place,

“Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
And darkness, where is its place,

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

“On the cliff he dwells and lodges,
Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.

“Hide them in the dust together;
Bind them in the hidden place.