Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
And Eliphaz the Temanite answers and says:
2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
“Has one tried a word with you? You are weary! And who is able to keep in words?
3 Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
Behold, you have instructed many, And feeble hands you make strong.
4 Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
Your words raise up the stumbling one, And you strengthen bowing knees.
5 But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
But now, it comes to you, And you are weary; It strikes to you, and you are troubled.
6 Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
Is your reverence not your confidence? Your hope—the perfection of your ways?
7 Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
Now remember, Who, being innocent, has perished? And where have the upright been cut off?
8 As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
As I have seen—plowers of iniquity, And sowers of misery, reap it!
9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
From the breath of God they perish, And from the spirit of His anger [are] consumed.
10 The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
The roaring of a lion, And the voice of a fierce lion, And teeth of young lions have been broken.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
An old lion is perishing without prey, And the whelps of the lioness separate.
12 Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
And a thing is secretly brought to me, And my ear receives a little of it.
13 In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
In thoughts from visions of the night, In the falling of deep sleep on men,
14 fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
Fear has met me, and trembling, And the multitude of my bones caused to fear.
15 Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
And a spirit passes before my face, The hair of my flesh stands 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 stands, and I do not discern its aspect, A likeness [is] before my eyes, Silence! And I hear a voice:
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
Is mortal man more righteous than God? Is a man cleaner than his Maker?
18 If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
Behold, He puts no credence in His servants, Nor sets praise in His messengers.
19 how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
Also—the inhabitants of houses of clay (Whose foundation [is] in the dust, They bruise them before a moth).
20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
From morning to evening are beaten down, Without any regarding, they perish forever.
21 Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
Has their excellence not been removed with them? They die, and not in wisdom!”
