Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,
2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
If one says a word, will it be a weariness to you? but who is able to keep from saying what is in his mind?
3 Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
Truly, you have been a helper to others, and you have made feeble hands strong;
4 Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
He who was near to falling has been lifted up by your words, and you have given strength to bent knees.
5 But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
But now it has come on you and it is a weariness to you; you are touched by it and your mind is troubled.
6 Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
Is not your fear of God your support, and your upright way of life your hope?
7 Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
Have you ever seen destruction come to an upright man? or when were the god-fearing ever cut off?
8 As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
What I have seen is that those by whom trouble has been ploughed, and evil planted, get the same for themselves.
9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
By the breath of God destruction takes them, and by the wind of his wrath they are cut off.
10 The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
Though the noise of the lion and the sounding of his voice, may be loud, the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
The old lion comes to his end for need of food, and the young of the she-lion go wandering in all directions.
12 Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
A word was given to me secretly, and the low sound of it came to my ears.
13 In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
In troubled thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep comes on men,
14 fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
Fear came on me and shaking, and my bones were full of trouble;
15 Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
And a breath was moving over my face; the hair of my flesh became stiff:
16 It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
May a man be upright before God? or a man be clean before his Maker?
18 If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
Truly, he puts no faith in his servants, and he sees error in his angels;
19 how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
How much more those living in houses of earth, whose bases are in the dust! They are crushed more quickly than an insect;
20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
Between morning and evening they are completely broken; they come to an end for ever, and no one takes note.
21 Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
If their tent-cord is pulled up, do they not come to an end, and without wisdom?
