Job 4
1 Then responded Eliphaz the Temanite, and said: —
Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,
2 If one attempt a word unto thee, wilt thou be impatient? But, to restrain speech, who, can endure?
Hast thou been often spoken to in distress? but who shall endure the force of thy words?
3 Lo! thou hast admonished many, and, slack hands, hast thou been wont to uphold:
For whereas thou hast instructed many, and hast strengthened the hands of the weak one,
4 Him that was stumbling, have thy words raised up, and, sinking knees, hast thou strengthened.
and hast supported the failing with words, and hast imparted courage to feeble knees.
5 But, now, it cometh upon thee, and thou despairest, It smiteth even thee, and thou art dismayed.
Yet now [that] pain has come upon thee, and touched thee, thou art troubled.
6 Is not, thy reverence, thy confidence? And is not, thy hope, the very integrity of thy ways?
Is not thy fear [founded] in folly, thy hope also, and the mischief of thy way?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who, being innocent, hath perished, or when, the upright, have been cut off.
Remember then who has perished, being pure? or when were the true-hearted utterly destroyed?
8 So far as I have seen, They who plow for iniquity and sow misery, reap the same:
Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves.
9 By the blast of GOD, they perish, And, by the breath of his nostrils, are they consumed:
They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath.
10 [Notwithstanding] the roaring of the lion, and the noise of the howling lion, yet, the teeth of the fierce lions, are broken:
The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched.
11 The strong lion perishing for lack of prey, Even the whelps of the lioness, are scattered.
The old lion has perished for want of food, and the lions' whelps have forsaken one another.
12 But, unto me, something was brought by stealth, —and mine ear caught a whispering of the same:
But if there had been any truth in thy words, none of these evils would have befallen thee. Shall not mine ear receive excellent [revelations] from him?
13 When there were thoughts, from visions of the night, —When deep sleep falleth upon men,
But [as when] terror falls upon men, with dread and a sound in the night,
14 Dread, came upon me, and trembling, The multitude of my bones, it put in dread:
horror and trembling seized me, and caused all my bones greatly to shake.
15 Then, a spirit, over my face, floated along, The hair of my flesh bristled-up:
And a spirit came before my face; and my hair and flesh quivered.
16 It stood still, but I could not distinguish its appearance, I looked, but there was no form before mine eyes, —A whispering voice, I heard: —
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 Shall, mortal man, be more just than GOD? Or 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 Lo! in his own servants, he trusteth not, and, his own messengers, he chargeth with error:
Whereas he trust not in his servants, and perceives perverseness in his angels.
19 How much more the dwellers in houses of clay, which, in the dust, have their foundation, which are crushed sooner than a 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 Betwixt morning and evening, are they broken in pieces, With none to save, they utterly perish:
And from the morning to evening they no longer exist: they have perished, because they cannot help themselves.
21 Is not their tent-rope within them, torn away? They die, disrobed of wisdom!
For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of wisdom.
