Job 4
1 Then spake Eliphaz the Temanite, and said:
Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
2 If one attempt a word with thee, wilt thou be offended? But who can refrain from speaking?
If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill, but who can withhold the words he hath conceived?
3 Behold, thou hast admonished many; Thou hast strengthened feeble hands;
Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the weary hands:
4 Thy words have upheld him that was falling, And thou hast given strength to feeble knees.
Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees:
5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; It toucheth thee, and thou art confounded!
But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: it hath touched thee, and thou art troubled.
6 Is not thy fear of God thy hope, And the uprightness of thy ways thy confidence?
Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? Or where have the righteous been cut off?
Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed?
8 According to what I have seen, they who plough iniquity, And sow mischief, reap the same.
On the contrary I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them,
9 By the blast of God they perish, And by the breath of his nostrils they are consumed.
Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit 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 roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of lions are broken:
11 The fierce lion perisheth for lack of prey, And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad.
12 A word was once secretly brought to me, And mine ear caught a whisper thereof.
Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth as it were received the veins of its whisper.
13 Amid thoughts from visions of the night, When deep sleep falleth upon men,
In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men,
14 A fear and a horror came upon me, Which made all my bones to shake.
Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted:
15 Then a spirit passed before my face, The hair of my flesh rose on end;
And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up.
16 It stood still, but its form I could not discern; An image was before mine eyes; There was silence, and I heard a voice:
There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice as it were of a gentle wind:
17 “Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall man be more pure than his Maker?
Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker?
18 Behold, he putteth no trust in his ministering spirits, And his angels he chargeth with frailty.
Behold they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness:
19 What then are they who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who crumble to pieces, as if moth-eaten!
How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth?
20 Between morning and evening are they destroyed; They perish for ever, and none regardeth it.
From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever.
21 The excellency that is in them is torn away; They die before they have become wise.”
And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom.
