Job 4
1 And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,
2 If a word were essayed to thee, wouldest thou be grieved? But who can refrain from speaking?
Hast you been often spoken to in distress? but who shall endure the force of your words?
3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands;
For whereas you have instructed many, and have strengthened the hands of the weak one,
4 Thy words have upholden him that was stumbling, and thou hast braced up the bending knees:
and have supported the failing with words, and have imparted courage to feeble knees.
5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou grievest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
Yet now [that] pain has come upon you, and touched you, you are troubled.
6 Hath not thy piety been thy confidence, and the perfection of thy ways thy hope?
Is not your fear [founded] in folly, your hope also, and the mischief of your way?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who that was innocent has perished? and where were the upright cut off?
Remember then who has perished, being pure? or when were the true-hearted utterly destroyed?
8 Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity and sow mischief, reap the same.
Accordingly as I have seen men plowing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves.
9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his nostrils are they consumed.
They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath.
10 The roar of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken;
The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched.
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.
The old lion has perished for lack of food, and the lions' whelps have forsaken one another.
12 Now to me a word was secretly brought, and mine ear received a whisper thereof.
But if there had been any truth in your words, none of these evils would have befallen you. Shall not mine ear receive excellent [revelations] from him?
13 In thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men: —
But [as when] terror falls upon men, with dread and a sound in the night,
14 Fear came on me, and trembling, and made all my bones to shake;
horror and trembling seized me, and caused all my bones greatly to shake.
15 And a spirit passed before my face — the hair of my flesh stood up —
And a spirit came before my face; and my hair and flesh quivered.
16 It stood still; I could not discern the appearance thereof: a form was before mine eyes; I heard a slight murmur and a voice:
I arose and perceived it not: I looked, and there, was no form before my eyes: but I only heard a breath and a voice, [saying],
17 Shall [mortal] man be more just than God? Shall a man be purer than his Maker?
What, shall a mortal be pure before the Lord? or a man be blameless in regard to his works?
18 Lo, he trusteth not his servants, and his angels he chargeth with folly:
Whereas he trust not in his servants, and perceives perverseness in his angels.
19 How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed as the moth!
But [as for] them that dwell in houses of clay, of whom we also are formed of the same clay, he smites them like a moth.
20 From morning to evening are they smitten: without any heeding it, they perish for ever.
And from the morning to evening they no longer exist: they have perished, because they can’t help themselves.
21 Is not their tent-cord torn away in them? they die, and without wisdom.
For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of wisdom.
