Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered Job.
Then spake Eliphaz the Temanite, 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 attempt a word with thee, wilt thou be offended? But who can refrain from speaking?
3 You've certainly encouraged many people and supported those who are weak.
Behold, thou hast admonished many; Thou hast strengthened feeble 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 upheld him that was falling, And thou hast given strength to feeble knees.
5 But now you're the one suffering and you're upset.
But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; It toucheth thee, and thou art confounded!
6 Wasn't it your reverence for God that gave you confidence and your integrity that gave you hope?
Is not thy fear of God thy hope, And the uprightness of thy ways thy confidence?
7 Think about it: since when did the innocent die? Since when were good people destroyed?
Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? Or where have the righteous been cut off?
8 From what I've seen it's those who plant evil and sow trouble who reap the same!
According to what I have seen, they who 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 blast of God they perish, And by the breath of his nostrils they are consumed.
10 Lions may roar and growl, but their teeth still break.
The roaring 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 fierce lion perisheth for lack of prey, And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
12 A word quietly crept up on me; a whisper reached my ear.
A word was once secretly brought to me, And mine ear caught a whisper thereof.
13 Troubling thoughts came to me in nightmares when you fall into a deep sleep.
Amid thoughts from visions of the night, When deep sleep falleth upon men,
14 I became terrified and trembled; all my bones were shaking.
A fear and a horror came upon me, Which made all my bones to shake.
15 Then a breath brushed my face and gave me goose-pimples.
Then a spirit passed before my face, The hair of my flesh rose on end;
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, but its form I could not discern; An image was before mine eyes; There was silence, and I heard 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 man be more pure than his Maker?
18 If he doesn't even trust his servants, and he says his angels make mistakes,
Behold, he putteth no trust in his ministering spirits, And his angels he chargeth with frailty.
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?
What then are they who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who crumble to pieces, as if moth-eaten!
20 Alive in the morning, they are dead by evening. They die, unnoticed.
Between morning and evening are they destroyed; They perish for ever, and none regardeth it.
21 They are like tent ropes that are pulled up, and they collapse in death. They die without wisdom.’
The excellency that is in them is torn away; They die before they have become wise.”
