Job 4

1 Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:

And Eliphaz the Temanite answers and says:

2 If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill, but who can withhold the words he hath conceived?

“Has one tried a word with you? You are weary! And who is able to keep in words?

3 Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the weary hands:

Behold, you have instructed many, And feeble hands you make strong.

4 Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees:

Your words raise up the stumbling one, And you strengthen bowing knees.

5 But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: it hath touched thee, and thou art troubled.

But now, it comes to you, And you are weary; It strikes to you, and you are troubled.

6 Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways?

Is your reverence not your confidence? Your hope—the perfection of your ways?

7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed?

Now remember, Who, being innocent, has perished? And where have the upright been cut off?

8 On the contrary I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them,

As I have seen—plowers of iniquity, And sowers of misery, reap it!

9 Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath.

From the breath of God they perish, And from the spirit of His anger [are] consumed.

10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of 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 tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad.

An old lion is perishing without prey, And the whelps of the lioness separate.

12 Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth as it were received the veins of its whisper.

And a thing is secretly brought to me, And my ear receives a little of it.

13 In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men,

In thoughts from visions of the night, In the falling of deep sleep on men,

14 Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted:

Fear has met me, and trembling, And the multitude of my bones caused to fear.

15 And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up.

And a spirit passes before my face, The hair of my flesh stands up;

16 There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice as it were of a gentle wind:

It stands, and I do not discern its aspect, A likeness [is] before my eyes, Silence! And I hear a voice:

17 Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker?

Is mortal man more righteous than God? Is a man cleaner than his Maker?

18 Behold they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness:

Behold, He puts no credence in His servants, Nor sets praise in His messengers.

19 How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth?

Also—the inhabitants of houses of clay (Whose foundation [is] in the dust, They bruise them before a moth).

20 From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever.

From morning to evening are beaten down, Without any regarding, they perish forever.

21 And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom.

Has their excellence not been removed with them? They die, and not in wisdom!”