Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz, from Teman, replied to Job. He said,
And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,
2 “Will you please let me say something to you? I am not [RHQ] able to remain silent [any longer].
If one says a word, will it be a weariness to you? but who is able to keep from saying what is in his mind?
3 In the past, you have instructed/taught many people, and you have encouraged those who were weak.
Truly, you have been a helper to others, and you have made feeble hands strong;
4 By what you said, you have helped those who (needed spiritual help/almost quit trusting in God) [MET], and you have enabled them to become spiritually strong again [MET].
He who was near to falling has been lifted up by your words, and you have given strength to bent knees.
5 But now, when you experience disasters, you become discouraged. The disasters hit you, and you are stunned.
But now it has come on you and it is a weariness to you; you are touched by it and your mind is troubled.
6 You revere God; (does that not cause you to trust [in him]?/that should cause you to trust [in him].) [RHQ] If you were guiltless, you would [RHQ] be confident that [God] would not [have allowed] these disasters [to] happen to you!
Is not your fear of God your support, and your upright way of life your hope?
7 Think about this: Do innocent people die [while they are still young] [RHQ]? Does God get rid of godly people [RHQ]? [No!]
Have you ever seen destruction come to an upright man? or when were the god-fearing ever cut off?
8 What I have experienced is this: [Just as] [MET] farmers who plant bad [seeds] do not harvest good [crops], [just as those who start] trouble for others, later bring trouble on themselves.
What I have seen is that those by whom trouble has been ploughed, and evil planted, get the same for themselves.
9 They die when God angrily blows his breath on them, when he is very angry with them.
By the breath of God destruction takes them, and by the wind of his wrath they are cut off.
10 [Even though wicked people may be very powerful like] young lions, [God] will get rid of them [MET].
Though the noise of the lion and the sounding of his voice, may be loud, the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 [They will die like] fierce lions [that] starve to death when there are no animals that they can kill and eat, and [their children will be separated from each other like] young lions separate from each other [to find food].”
The old lion comes to his end for need of food, and the young of the she-lion go wandering in all directions.
12 “I heard a message that someone came and whispered to me.
A word was given to me secretly, and the low sound of it came to my ears.
13 He spoke to me at night when I was having a bad dream that disturbed/frightened me while I was fast asleep.
In troubled thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep comes on men,
14 It caused me to be afraid and tremble; it caused all my bones to shake.
Fear came on me and shaking, and my bones were full of trouble;
15 A ghost glided past my face and caused the hair on [on the back of] my neck to stand straight up.
And a breath was moving over my face; the hair of my flesh became stiff:
16 It stopped, but I could not see what form it had. But [I could sense that] there was some being in front of me, and it said in a quiet voice,
Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:
17 ‘(Does God consider anyone to be righteous?/No human beings can be righteous in God’s sight!) [RHQ] (Their creator cannot consider them to be pure./Can their creator consider them to be pure?) [RHQ]
May a man be upright before God? or a man be clean before his Maker?
18 God cannot be sure that his own angels [will always do what is right]; he declares that some of them have done what is wrong.
Truly, he puts no faith in his servants, and he sees error in his angels;
19 So he certainly cannot trust human beings who were made from dust and clay, who are crushed as easily as moths are crushed!
How much more those living in houses of earth, whose bases are in the dust! They are crushed more quickly than an insect;
20 People are sometimes well in the morning, but in the evening they are dead. They are gone forever and do not even know it (OR, and no one pays any attention to it).
Between morning and evening they are completely broken; they come to an end for ever, and no one takes note.
21 They are like [MET] tents that collapse [suddenly]: They die [suddenly] before they become wise.’”
If their tent-cord is pulled up, do they not come to an end, and without wisdom?
