Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz, from Teman, replied to Job. He said,
| ויען אליפז התימני ויאמר׃ |
2 “Will you please let me say something to you? I am not [RHQ] able to remain silent [any longer].
| הנסה דבר אליך תלאה ועצר במלין מי יוכל׃ |
3 In the past, you have instructed/taught many people, and you have encouraged those who were weak.
| הנה יסרת רבים וידים רפות תחזק׃ |
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].
| כושל יקימון מליך וברכים כרעות תאמץ׃ |
5 But now, when you experience disasters, you become discouraged. The disasters hit you, and you are stunned.
| כי עתה תבוא אליך ותלא תגע עדיך ותבהל׃ |
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!
| הלא יראתך כסלתך תקותך ותם דרכיך׃ |
7 Think about this: Do innocent people die [while they are still young] [RHQ]? Does God get rid of godly people [RHQ]? [No!]
| זכר נא מי הוא נקי אבד ואיפה ישרים נכחדו׃ |
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.
| כאשר ראיתי חרשי און וזרעי עמל יקצרהו׃ |
9 They die when God angrily blows his breath on them, when he is very angry with them.
| מנשמת אלוה יאבדו ומרוח אפו יכלו׃ |
10 [Even though wicked people may be very powerful like] young lions, [God] will get rid of them [MET].
| שאגת אריה וקול שחל ושני כפירים נתעו׃ |
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].”
| ליש אבד מבלי טרף ובני לביא יתפרדו׃ |
12 “I heard a message that someone came and whispered to me.
| ואלי דבר יגנב ותקח אזני שמץ מנהו׃ |
13 He spoke to me at night when I was having a bad dream that disturbed/frightened me while I was fast asleep.
| בשעפים מחזינות לילה בנפל תרדמה על אנשים׃ |
14 It caused me to be afraid and tremble; it caused all my bones to shake.
| פחד קראני ורעדה ורב עצמותי הפחיד׃ |
15 A ghost glided past my face and caused the hair on [on the back of] my neck to stand straight up.
| ורוח על פני יחלף תסמר שערת בשרי׃ |
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,
| יעמד ולא אכיר מראהו תמונה לנגד עיני דממה וקול אשמע׃ |
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]
| האנוש מאלוה יצדק אם מעשהו יטהר גבר׃ |
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.
| הן בעבדיו לא יאמין ובמלאכיו ישים תהלה׃ |
19 So he certainly cannot trust human beings who were made from dust and clay, who are crushed as easily as moths are crushed!
| אף שכני בתי חמר אשר בעפר יסודם ידכאום לפני עש׃ |
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).
| מבקר לערב יכתו מבלי משים לנצח יאבדו׃ |
21 They are like [MET] tents that collapse [suddenly]: They die [suddenly] before they become wise.’”
| הלא נסע יתרם בם ימותו ולא בחכמה׃ |
