Job 4
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 If one assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast confirmed the feeble knees.
Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
5 But now it is come unto thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6 Is not thy fear [of God] thy confidence, [and] thy hope the integrity of thy ways?
Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who [ever] perished, being innocent? or where were the upright cut off?
Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
8 According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same.
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger are they consumed.
By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a whisper thereof.
Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.
Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
16 It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof; a form was before mine eyes: [there was] silence, and I heard a voice, [saying],
It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
18 Behold, he putteth no trust in his servants; and his angels he chargeth with folly:
If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
19 How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth!
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
20 Betwixt morning and evening they are destroyed: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them? they die, and that without wisdom.
Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
