Job 4
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite, and said,
But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, said:
2 If we essay to address a word to thee, wilt thou be wearied? yet who is able to refrain from speaking?
If we start to speak to you, perhaps you will take it badly, but who can hold back the words he has conceived?
3 Behold, thou hast [ere this] corrected many, and weak hands thou wast wont to strengthen.
Behold, you have taught many, and you have strengthened weary hands.
4 Him that stumbled thy words used to uphold, and to sinking knees thou gavest vigor.
Your words have reassured the wavering, and you have fortified the trembling knees.
5 Yet now, when it cometh to thee, thou art wearied: it toucheth even thee, and thou art terrified.
But now the scourge has overcome you, and you falter. It has touched you, and you are disturbed.
6 Is not then thy fear of God still thy confidence, thy hope equal to the integrity of thy ways?
Where is your reverence, your fortitude, your patience, and the perfection of your ways?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous destroyed?
Consider this, I beg you: who ever perished being innocent? Or when have the righteous been destroyed?
8 Even as I have seen, that those who plough wrong-doing, and sow trouble, have to reap the same.
In fact, I have instead seen those who work iniquity and who sow resentments, reap them,
9 Before the breathing of God they perish, and before the breath of his nostrils they come to their end.
perishing by the breath of God, and being consumed by the wrath of his spirit.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of young lions have been worn away.
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness have to scatter themselves abroad.
The tiger has perished because it does not have prey, and the young lions have been scattered.
12 But to me a word came by stealth, and my ear took in a scarcely perceptible whisper thereof.
Furthermore, a word was spoken to me in secret, and, as if by theft, my ears received the pulse of its whisper.
13 In intense thoughts out of visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men:
In the horror of a vision by night, when men are accustomed to be overtaken by a deep sleep,
14 Dread came over me, with trembling, and it caused all my bones to shudder.
fear and trembling seized me and all my bones were terrified.
15 Then flitted a spirit past before my face; the hair of my body stood up:
And when a spirit passed before me, the hair on my body stood up.
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,
There appeared an image before my eyes, someone whose face I did not recognize, and I heard a voice like a gentle breeze.
17 Can a mortal be more righteous than God? or can a man be more pure than his Maker?
Should man be justified in relation to God, or will a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 Behold, in his servants he putteth no trust, and his angels he chargeth with folly:
Behold, those who serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he finds imperfection.
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?
How much more will those who live in houses of clay, which have an earthly foundation, be consumed like the moth?
20 From morning to evening are they broken to pieces: without laying it [to heart] they perish for ever.
From morning all the way to evening, they will be cut down, and because no one understands, they will be destroyed without ceasing.
21 Behold, their excellency which is in them is torn away: they die, and this without wisdom.
But those who are left behind will be taken away from them; they will die, and not in wisdom.
