Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
If a word were essayed to thee, wouldest thou be grieved? But who can refrain from speaking?
3 Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands;
4 Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
Thy words have upholden him that was stumbling, and thou hast braced up the bending knees:
5 But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
But now it is come upon thee, and thou grievest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
6 Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
Hath not thy piety been thy confidence, and the perfection of thy ways thy hope?
7 Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
Remember, I pray thee, who that was innocent has perished? and where were the upright cut off?
8 As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity and sow mischief, reap the same.
9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his nostrils are they consumed.
10 The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
The roar of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and 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 perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.
12 Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
Now to me a word was secretly brought, and mine ear received a whisper thereof.
13 In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
In thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men: —
14 fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
Fear came on me, and trembling, and made all my bones to shake;
15 Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
And a spirit passed before my face — the hair of my flesh stood up —
16 It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
It stood still; I could not discern the appearance thereof: a form was before mine eyes; I heard a slight murmur and a voice:
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
Shall [mortal] man be more just than God? Shall a man be purer than his Maker?
18 If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
Lo, he trusteth not his servants, and his angels he chargeth with folly:
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 them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed as the moth!
20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
From morning to evening are they smitten: without any heeding it, they perish for ever.
21 Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
Is not their tent-cord torn away in them? they die, and without wisdom.
