Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered Job.
And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,
2 “Could I say a word? I don't want to upset you but who could keep quiet and not respond?
If one says a word, will it be a weariness to you? but who is able to keep from saying what is in his mind?
3 You've certainly encouraged many people and supported those who are weak.
Truly, you have been a helper to others, and you have made feeble hands strong;
4 Your advice has helped those who are stumbling not to fall, and you have strengthened those whose knees are weak.
He who was near to falling has been lifted up by your words, and you have given strength to bent knees.
5 But now you're the one suffering and you're upset.
But now it has come on you and it is a weariness to you; you are touched by it and your mind is troubled.
6 Wasn't it your reverence for God that gave you confidence and your integrity that gave you hope?
Is not your fear of God your support, and your upright way of life your hope?
7 Think about it: since when did the innocent die? Since when were good people destroyed?
Have you ever seen destruction come to an upright man? or when were the god-fearing ever cut off?
8 From what I've seen it's those who plant evil and sow trouble who reap the same!
What I have seen is that those by whom trouble has been ploughed, and evil planted, get the same for themselves.
9 A breath from God destroys them; a blast of his anger wipes them out.
By the breath of God destruction takes them, and by the wind of his wrath they are cut off.
10 Lions may roar and growl, but their teeth still break.
Though the noise of the lion and the sounding of his voice, may be loud, the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 Even a lion dies from lack of food, and the lioness' cubs are scattered.
The old lion comes to his end for need of food, and the young of the she-lion go wandering in all directions.
12 A word quietly crept up on me; a whisper reached my ear.
A word was given to me secretly, and the low sound of it came to my ears.
13 Troubling thoughts came to me in nightmares when you fall into a deep sleep.
In troubled thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep comes on men,
14 I became terrified and trembled; all my bones were shaking.
Fear came on me and shaking, and my bones were full of trouble;
15 Then a breath brushed my face and gave me goose-pimples.
And a breath was moving over my face; the hair of my flesh became stiff:
16 Something stopped, but I couldn't see its face. My eyes could only make out a shape. It was totally quiet, and then I heard a voice:
Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:
17 ‘Can anyone be right before God? Can anyone be pure before their Maker?
May a man be upright before God? or a man be clean before his Maker?
18 If he doesn't even trust his servants, and he says his angels make mistakes,
Truly, he puts no faith in his servants, and he sees error in his angels;
19 how much more does this apply to those who live in these houses made of clay, whose foundations are based on dust, who fall apart like clothing to a moth?
How much more those living in houses of earth, whose bases are in the dust! They are crushed more quickly than an insect;
20 Alive in the morning, they are dead by evening. They die, unnoticed.
Between morning and evening they are completely broken; they come to an end for ever, and no one takes note.
21 They are like tent ropes that are pulled up, and they collapse in death. They die without wisdom.’
If their tent-cord is pulled up, do they not come to an end, and without wisdom?
