< Job 4 >

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
UElifazi umThemani wasephendula wathi:
2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
Uba sizama ilizwi kuwe, uzadabuka yini? Kodwa ngubani ongazibamba emazwini?
3 Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
Khangela, uqondisile abanengi, waqinisa izandla ezibuthakathaka.
4 Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
Amazwi akho amvusile okhubekayo, waqinisa amadolo axegayo.
5 But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
Kodwa khathesi kufikile kuwe, uyadinwa; kuyakuthinta wena, utshaywa luvalo.
6 Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
Ukwesaba kwakho uNkulunkulu kakusiso isibindi sakho yini, lobuqotho bendlela zakho ithemba lakho?
7 Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
Akukhumbule, ngubani owake wachithwa engelacala? Kumbe abalungileyo bake baqunywa ngaphi?
8 As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
Njengengikubonileyo, abalima ububi behlanyela udubo, bavuna khona.
9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
Ngokuphephetha kukaNkulunkulu bayabhubha, langokuphefumula kwamakhala akhe bayaphela.
10 The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
Ukubhonga kwesilwane, lelizwi lesilwane esesabekayo, lamazinyo amabhongo esilwane, kwephukile.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
Isilwane esidala siyabhubha ngokuswela impango, lemidlwane yesilwanekazi isabalale.
12 Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
Ngasenginyenyezelwa ilizwi, lendlebe yami yemukela okuncinyane kwalo.
13 In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
Phakathi kwemicabango yemibono yebusuku, lapho ubuthongo obukhulu busehlela abantu,
14 fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
ukwesaba kwangifikela lokuthuthumela okwenza ubunengi bamathambo ami baqhaqhazela.
15 Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
Kwasekusedlula umoya ebusweni bami, loboya benyama yami bavuka.
16 It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
Wema, kodwa angikuqondanga ukubonakala kwawo; isimo sasiphambi kwamehlo ami; kwathula, ngasengisizwa ilizwi lisithi:
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
Kambe umuntu angalunga okwedlula uNkulunkulu? Umuntu angahlambuluka okwedlula uMenzi wakhe yini?
18 If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
Khangela, kazithembi inceku zakhe, lengilosi zakhe uthi zingabaphosisi.
19 how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
Kangakanani abahlala endlini zebumba, abasisekelo sabo sisethulini, abachotshozwa phambi kwenundu.
20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
Bakhandwa kusukela ekuseni kuze kube kusihlwa, kungelakunanzwa bayabhubha kuze kube nininini.
21 Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
Ubuhle babo kabususwa labo yini? Bayafa kodwa bengalanhlakanipho.

< Job 4 >