Job 4
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite, and said,
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered Job.
2 If we essay to address a word to thee, wilt thou be wearied? yet who is able to refrain from speaking?
“Could I say a word? I don't want to upset you but who could keep quiet and not respond?
3 Behold, thou hast [ere this] corrected many, and weak hands thou wast wont to strengthen.
You've certainly encouraged many people and supported those who are weak.
4 Him that stumbled thy words used to uphold, and to sinking knees thou gavest vigor.
Your advice has helped those who are stumbling not to fall, and you have strengthened those whose knees are weak.
5 Yet now, when it cometh to thee, thou art wearied: it toucheth even thee, and thou art terrified.
But now you're the one suffering and you're upset.
6 Is not then thy fear of God still thy confidence, thy hope equal to the integrity of thy ways?
Wasn't it your reverence for God that gave you confidence and your integrity that gave you hope?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous destroyed?
Think about it: since when did the innocent die? Since when were good people destroyed?
8 Even as I have seen, that those who plough wrong-doing, and sow trouble, have to reap the same.
From what I've seen it's those who plant evil and sow trouble who reap the same!
9 Before the breathing of God they perish, and before the breath of his nostrils they come to their end.
A breath from God destroys them; a blast of his anger wipes them out.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
Lions may roar and growl, but their teeth still break.
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness have to scatter themselves abroad.
Even a lion dies from lack of food, and the lioness' cubs are scattered.
12 But to me a word came by stealth, and my ear took in a scarcely perceptible whisper thereof.
A word quietly crept up on me; a whisper reached my ear.
13 In intense thoughts out of visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men:
Troubling thoughts came to me in nightmares when you fall into a deep sleep.
14 Dread came over me, with trembling, and it caused all my bones to shudder.
I became terrified and trembled; all my bones were shaking.
15 Then flitted a spirit past before my face; the hair of my body stood up:
Then a breath brushed my face and gave me goose-pimples.
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,
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:
17 Can a mortal be more righteous than God? or can a man be more pure than his Maker?
‘Can anyone be right before God? Can anyone be pure before their Maker?
18 Behold, in his servants he putteth no trust, and his angels he chargeth with folly:
If he doesn't even trust his servants, and he says his angels make mistakes,
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 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?
20 From morning to evening are they broken to pieces: without laying it [to heart] they perish for ever.
Alive in the morning, they are dead by evening. They die, unnoticed.
21 Behold, their excellency which is in them is torn away: they die, and this without wisdom.
They are like tent ropes that are pulled up, and they collapse in death. They die without wisdom.’
