Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered Job.
And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 “Could I say a word? I don't want to upset you but who could keep quiet and not respond?
If a word were essayed to thee, wouldest thou be grieved? But who can refrain from speaking?
3 You've certainly encouraged many people and supported those who are weak.
Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands;
4 Your advice has helped those who are stumbling not to fall, and you have strengthened those whose knees are weak.
Thy words have upholden him that was stumbling, and thou hast braced up the bending knees:
5 But now you're the one suffering and you're upset.
But now it is come upon thee, and thou grievest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
6 Wasn't it your reverence for God that gave you confidence and your integrity that gave you hope?
Hath not thy piety been thy confidence, and the perfection of thy ways thy hope?
7 Think about it: since when did the innocent die? Since when were good people destroyed?
Remember, I pray thee, who that was innocent has perished? and where were the upright cut off?
8 From what I've seen it's those who plant evil and sow trouble who reap the same!
Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity and sow mischief, reap the same.
9 A breath from God destroys them; a blast of his anger wipes them out.
By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his nostrils are they consumed.
10 Lions may roar and growl, but their teeth still break.
The roar of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and 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 perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.
12 A word quietly crept up on me; a whisper reached my ear.
Now to me a word was secretly brought, and mine ear received a whisper thereof.
13 Troubling thoughts came to me in nightmares when you fall into a deep sleep.
In thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men: —
14 I became terrified and trembled; all my bones were shaking.
Fear came on me, and trembling, and made all my bones to shake;
15 Then a breath brushed my face and gave me goose-pimples.
And a spirit passed before my face — the hair of my flesh stood up —
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:
It stood still; I could not discern the appearance thereof: a form was before mine eyes; I heard a slight murmur and a voice:
17 ‘Can anyone be right before God? Can anyone be pure before their Maker?
Shall [mortal] man be more just than God? Shall a man be purer than his Maker?
18 If he doesn't even trust his servants, and he says his angels make mistakes,
Lo, he trusteth not his servants, and his angels he chargeth with folly:
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 them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed as the moth!
20 Alive in the morning, they are dead by evening. They die, unnoticed.
From morning to evening are they smitten: without any heeding it, they perish for ever.
21 They are like tent ropes that are pulled up, and they collapse in death. They die without wisdom.’
Is not their tent-cord torn away in them? they die, and without wisdom.
