< Job 4 >

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and sayde,
Then responded Eliphaz the Temanite, and said: —
2 If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieued? but who can withholde himselfe from speaking?
If one attempt a word unto thee, wilt thou be impatient? But, to restrain speech, who, can endure?
3 Behold, thou hast taught many, and hast strengthened the wearie hands.
Lo! thou hast admonished many, and, slack hands, hast thou been wont to uphold:
4 Thy wordes haue confirmed him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the weake knees.
Him that was stumbling, have thy words raised up, and, sinking knees, hast thou strengthened.
5 But now it is come vpon thee, and thou art grieued: it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
But, now, it cometh upon thee, and thou despairest, It smiteth even thee, and thou art dismayed.
6 Is not this thy feare, thy confidence, thy pacience, and the vprightnesse of thy wayes?
Is not, thy reverence, thy confidence? And is not, thy hope, the very integrity of thy ways?
7 Remember, I pray thee: who euer perished, being an innocent? or where were the vpright destroyed?
Remember, I pray thee, who, being innocent, hath perished, or when, the upright, have been cut off.
8 As I haue seene, they that plow iniquitie, and sowe wickednesse, reape the same.
So far as I have seen, They who plow for iniquity and sow misery, reap the same:
9 With the blast of God they perish, and with the breath of his nostrels are they cosumed.
By the blast of GOD, they perish, And, by the breath of his nostrils, are they consumed:
10 The roaring of the Lion, and the voyce of the Lionesse, and the teeth of the Lions whelpes are broken.
[Notwithstanding] the roaring of the lion, and the noise of the howling lion, yet, the teeth of the fierce lions, are broken:
11 The Lyon perisheth for lacke of pray, and the Lyons whelpes are scattered abroade.
The strong lion perishing for lack of prey, Even the whelps of the lioness, are scattered.
12 But a thing was brought to me secretly, and mine eare hath receiued a litle thereof.
But, unto me, something was brought by stealth, —and mine ear caught a whispering of the same:
13 In the thoughtes of ye visions of the night, when sleepe falleth on men,
When there were thoughts, from visions of the night, —When deep sleep falleth upon men,
14 Feare came vpon me, and dread which made all my bones to tremble.
Dread, came upon me, and trembling, The multitude of my bones, it put in dread:
15 And the wind passed before me, and made the heares of my flesh to stande vp.
Then, a spirit, over my face, floated along, The hair of my flesh bristled-up:
16 Then stoode one, and I knewe not his face: an image was before mine eyes, and in silence heard I a voyce, saying,
It stood still, but I could not distinguish its appearance, I looked, but there was no form before mine eyes, —A whispering voice, I heard: —
17 Shall man be more iust then God? or shall a man be more pure then his maker?
Shall, mortal man, be more just than GOD? Or a man be more pure than, his Maker?
18 Beholde, he founde no stedfastnesse in his Seruants, and laid follie vpon his Angels.
Lo! in his own servants, he trusteth not, and, his own messengers, he chargeth with error:
19 Howe much more in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which shalbe destroyed before the moth?
How much more the dwellers in houses of clay, which, in the dust, have their foundation, which are crushed sooner than a moth:
20 They be destroyed from the morning vnto the euening: they perish for euer, without regarde.
Betwixt morning and evening, are they broken in pieces, With none to save, they utterly perish:
21 Doeth not their dignitie goe away with them? do they not die, and that without wisdom?
Is not their tent-rope within them, torn away? They die, disrobed of wisdom!

< Job 4 >