Job 4

1 Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite, and said,

Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,

2 If we essay to address a word to thee, wilt thou be wearied? yet who is able to refrain from speaking?

Hast you been often spoken to in distress? but who shall endure the force of your words?

3 Behold, thou hast [ere this] corrected many, and weak hands thou wast wont to strengthen.

For whereas you have instructed many, and have strengthened the hands of the weak one,

4 Him that stumbled thy words used to uphold, and to sinking knees thou gavest vigor.

and have supported the failing with words, and have imparted courage to feeble knees.

5 Yet now, when it cometh to thee, thou art wearied: it toucheth even thee, and thou art terrified.

Yet now [that] pain has come upon you, and touched you, you are troubled.

6 Is not then thy fear of God still thy confidence, thy hope equal to the integrity of thy ways?

Is not your fear [founded] in folly, your hope also, and the mischief of your way?

7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous destroyed?

Remember then who has perished, being pure? or when were the true-hearted utterly destroyed?

8 Even as I have seen, that those who plough wrong-doing, and sow trouble, have to reap the same.

Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves.

9 Before the breathing of God they perish, and before the breath of his nostrils they come to their end.

They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath.

10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched.

11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness have to scatter themselves abroad.

The old lion has perished for lack of food, and the lions' whelps have forsaken one another.

12 But to me a word came by stealth, and my ear took in a scarcely perceptible whisper thereof.

But if there had been any truth in your words, none of these evils would have befallen you. Shall not mine ear receive excellent [revelations] from him?

13 In intense thoughts out of visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men:

But [as when] terror falls upon men, with dread and a sound in the night,

14 Dread came over me, with trembling, and it caused all my bones to shudder.

horror and trembling seized me, and caused all my bones greatly to shake.

15 Then flitted a spirit past before my face; the hair of my body stood up:

And a spirit came before my face; and my hair and flesh quivered.

16 It stood still, but I could not recognize its form; a figure was before my eyes, a slight whisper, then a [louder] voice I heard, saying,

I arose and perceived it not: I looked, and there, was no form before my eyes: but I only heard a breath and a voice, [saying],

17 Can a mortal be more righteous than God? or can a man be more pure than his Maker?

What, shall a mortal be pure before the Lord? or a man be blameless in regard to his works?

18 Behold, in his servants he putteth no trust, and his angels he chargeth with folly:

Whereas he trust not in his servants, and perceives perverseness in his angels.

19 How much less in those that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed till they come to be eaten by the moth?

But [as for] them that dwell in houses of clay, of whom we also are formed of the same clay, he smites them like a moth.

20 From morning to evening are they broken to pieces: without laying it [to heart] they perish for ever.

And from the morning to evening they no longer exist: they have perished, because they can’t help themselves.

21 Behold, their excellency which is in them is torn away: they die, and this without wisdom.

For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of wisdom.