Job, Chapters 3-5

For the whole rest of the book of Job, picture the main character sitting on a dung heap, covered in itchy boils, scratching himself with a shard of pottery while he argues with his friends. In poetry, no less.

Chapter 3

So Job curses the day he was conceived and the day he was born, poetically, and asks why god didn't just kill him then.

Chapter 4

What is it they say about a good friend will kick you when you're down? Eliphaz points out that Job has never had it hard until now. He then reminds Job that bad things don't happen to good people and gives a confusing parable about a pride of lions. He then tells a story about night terrors and an angel that asked him if anyone can be more righteous than god, and is generally unhelpful.

Chapter 5

Eliphaz challenges Job to call on the angels for help and starts babbling about fools and how they quickly lose everything. He advises Job to talk to god, then spends the rest of the chapter listing all god's good deeds.

I did not know that the expression 'sparks fly upwards' was biblical.