Job 4
1 Forsothe Eliphat Themanytes answeride, and seide,
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 If we bigynnen to speke to thee, in hap thou schalt take it heuyli; but who may holde a word conseyued?
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
3 Lo! thou hast tauyt ful many men, and thou hast strengthid hondis maad feynt.
Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
4 Thi wordis confermyden men doutynge, and thou coumfortidist knees tremblynge.
Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
5 But now a wounde is comun on thee, and thou hast failid; it touchide thee, and thou art disturblid.
But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6 Where is thi drede, thi strengthe, and thi pacience, and the perfeccioun of thi weies?
Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
7 Y biseche thee, haue thou mynde, what innocent man perischide euere, ethir whanne riytful men weren doon awei?
Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
8 Certis rathir Y siy hem, that worchen wickidnesse, and sowen sorewis,
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
9 and repen tho, to haue perischid bi God blowynge, and to be wastid bi the spirit of his ire.
By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
10 The roryng of a lioun, and the vois of a lionesse, and the teeth of `whelpis of liouns ben al to-brokun.
The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 Tigris perischide, for sche hadde not prey; and the whelpis of a lioun ben distried.
The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 Certis an hid word was seid to me, and myn eere took as theueli the veynes of priuy noise therof.
Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
13 In the hidousnesse of `nyytis siyt, whanne heuy sleep is wont to occupie men,
In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
14 drede and tremblyng helde me; and alle my boonys weren aferd.
fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
15 And whanne the spirit `yede in my presence, the heiris of `my fleisch hadden hidousnesse.
Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
16 Oon stood, whos chere Y knewe not, an ymage bifor myn iyen; and Y herde a vois as of softe wynd.
It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
17 Whether a man schal be maad iust in comparisoun of God? ethir whethir a man schal be clennere than his Makere?
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
18 Lo! thei that seruen hym ben not stidefast; and he findith schrewidnesse in hise aungels.
If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
19 Hou myche more thei that dwellen in housis of cley, that han an ertheli foundement, schulen be wastyd as of a mouyte.
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
20 Fro morewtid til to euentid thei schulen be kit doun; and for no man vndurstondith, thei schulen perische with outen ende.
They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 Sotheli thei, that ben residue, schulen be takun awei; thei schulen die, and not in wisdom.
Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
