Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said,
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered Job.
2 If a man tries to converse with thee, will thou be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?
“Could I say a word? I don't want to upset you but who could keep quiet and not respond?
3 Behold, thou have instructed many, and thou have strengthened the weak hands.
You've certainly encouraged many people and supported those who are weak.
4 Thy words have upheld him who was falling, and thou have made firm the feeble knees.
Your advice has helped those who are stumbling not to fall, and you have strengthened those whose knees are weak.
5 But now it comes to thee, and thou faint. It touches thee, and thou are troubled.
But now you're the one suffering and you're upset.
6 Is not thy fear of God thy confidence, the integrity of thy ways thy hope?
Wasn't it your reverence for God that gave you confidence and your integrity that gave you hope?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?
Think about it: since when did the innocent die? Since when were good people destroyed?
8 According as I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same.
From what I've seen it's those who plant evil and sow trouble who reap the same!
9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
A breath from God destroys them; a blast of his anger wipes them out.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
Lions may roar and growl, but their teeth still break.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
Even a lion dies from lack of food, and the lioness' cubs are scattered.
12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper of it.
A word quietly crept up on me; a whisper reached my ear.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
Troubling thoughts came to me in nightmares when you fall into a deep sleep.
14 fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
I became terrified and trembled; all my bones were shaking.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.
Then a breath brushed my face and gave me goose-pimples.
16 It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance of it. A form was before my eyes. There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
Something stopped, but I couldn't see its face. My eyes could only make out a shape. It was totally quiet, and then I heard a voice:
17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker?
‘Can anyone be right before God? Can anyone be pure before their Maker?
18 Behold, he puts no trust in his servants, and he charges his agents with folly.
If he doesn't even trust his servants, and he says his angels make mistakes,
19 How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!
how much more does this apply to those who live in these houses made of clay, whose foundations are based on dust, who fall apart like clothing to a moth?
20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it.
Alive in the morning, they are dead by evening. They die, unnoticed.
21 Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.
They are like tent ropes that are pulled up, and they collapse in death. They die without wisdom.’
