Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered Job.
Then answered 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 assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself 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 falling, and thou hast confirmed the feeble knees.
5 But now you're the one suffering and you're upset.
But now it is come unto thee, and thou faintest; 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?
Is not thy fear [of God] thy confidence, [and] thy hope the integrity of thy ways?
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 were the upright cut off?
8 From what I've seen it's those who plant evil and sow trouble who reap the same!
According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow trouble, 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 anger are they 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 old 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.
Now a thing was secretly brought to me, 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 the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
14 I became terrified and trembled; all my bones were shaking.
Fear came upon me, and trembling, 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 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, but I could not discern the appearance thereof; a form was before mine eyes: [there was] silence, and I heard a voice, [saying],
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 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 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, which are crushed before the moth!
20 Alive in the morning, they are dead by evening. They die, unnoticed.
Betwixt morning and evening they are destroyed: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
21 They are like tent ropes that are pulled up, and they collapse in death. They die without wisdom.’
Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them? they die, and that without wisdom.
