Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
UElifazi umThemani wasephendula wathi:
2 If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill, but who can withhold the words he hath conceived?
Uba sizama ilizwi kuwe, uzadabuka yini? Kodwa ngubani ongazibamba emazwini?
3 Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the weary hands:
Khangela, uqondisile abanengi, waqinisa izandla ezibuthakathaka.
4 Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees:
Amazwi akho amvusile okhubekayo, waqinisa amadolo axegayo.
5 But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: it hath touched thee, and thou art troubled.
Kodwa khathesi kufikile kuwe, uyadinwa; kuyakuthinta wena, utshaywa luvalo.
6 Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways?
Ukwesaba kwakho uNkulunkulu kakusiso isibindi sakho yini, lobuqotho bendlela zakho ithemba lakho?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed?
Akukhumbule, ngubani owake wachithwa engelacala? Kumbe abalungileyo bake baqunywa ngaphi?
8 On the contrary I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them,
Njengengikubonileyo, abalima ububi behlanyela udubo, bavuna khona.
9 Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath.
Ngokuphephetha kukaNkulunkulu bayabhubha, langokuphefumula kwamakhala akhe bayaphela.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of lions are broken:
Ukubhonga kwesilwane, lelizwi lesilwane esesabekayo, lamazinyo amabhongo esilwane, kwephukile.
11 The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad.
Isilwane esidala siyabhubha ngokuswela impango, lemidlwane yesilwanekazi isabalale.
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.
Ngasenginyenyezelwa ilizwi, lendlebe yami yemukela okuncinyane kwalo.
13 In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men,
Phakathi kwemicabango yemibono yebusuku, lapho ubuthongo obukhulu busehlela abantu,
14 Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted:
ukwesaba kwangifikela lokuthuthumela okwenza ubunengi bamathambo ami baqhaqhazela.
15 And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up.
Kwasekusedlula umoya ebusweni bami, loboya benyama yami bavuka.
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:
Wema, kodwa angikuqondanga ukubonakala kwawo; isimo sasiphambi kwamehlo ami; kwathula, ngasengisizwa ilizwi lisithi:
17 Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker?
Kambe umuntu angalunga okwedlula uNkulunkulu? Umuntu angahlambuluka okwedlula uMenzi wakhe yini?
18 Behold they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness:
Khangela, kazithembi inceku zakhe, lengilosi zakhe uthi zingabaphosisi.
19 How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth?
Kangakanani abahlala endlini zebumba, abasisekelo sabo sisethulini, abachotshozwa phambi kwenundu.
20 From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever.
Bakhandwa kusukela ekuseni kuze kube kusihlwa, kungelakunanzwa bayabhubha kuze kube nininini.
21 And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom.
Ubuhle babo kabususwa labo yini? Bayafa kodwa bengalanhlakanipho.
