Job 4
1 And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: —
Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,
2 Hath one tried a word with thee? — Thou art weary! And to keep in words who is able?
Hast you been often spoken to in distress? but who shall endure the force of your words?
3 Lo, thou hast instructed many, And feeble hands thou makest strong.
For whereas you have instructed many, and have strengthened the hands of the weak one,
4 The stumbling one do thy words raise up, And bowing knees thou dost strengthen.
and have supported the failing with words, and have imparted courage to feeble knees.
5 But now, it cometh in unto thee, And thou art weary; It striketh unto thee, and thou art troubled.
Yet now [that] pain has come upon you, and touched you, you are troubled.
6 Is not thy reverence thy confidence? Thy hope — the perfection of thy ways?
Is not your fear [founded] in folly, your hope also, and the mischief of your way?
7 Remember, I pray thee, Who, being innocent, hath perished? And where have the upright been cut off?
Remember then who has perished, being pure? or when were the true-hearted utterly destroyed?
8 As I have seen — ploughers of iniquity, And sowers of misery, reap it!
Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves.
9 From the breath of God they perish, And from the spirit of His anger consumed.
They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath.
10 The roaring of a lion, And the voice of a fierce lion, And teeth of young lions have been broken.
The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched.
11 An old lion is perishing without prey, And the whelps of the lioness do separate.
The old lion has perished for lack of food, and the lions' whelps have forsaken one another.
12 And unto me a thing is secretly brought, And receive doth mine ear a little of it.
But if there had been any truth in your words, none of these evils would have befallen you. Shall not mine ear receive excellent [revelations] from him?
13 In thoughts from visions of the night, In the falling of deep sleep on men,
But [as when] terror falls upon men, with dread and a sound in the night,
14 Fear hath met me, and trembling, And the multitude of my bones caused to fear.
horror and trembling seized me, and caused all my bones greatly to shake.
15 And a spirit before my face doth pass, Stand up doth the hair of my flesh;
And a spirit came before my face; and my hair and flesh quivered.
16 It standeth, and I discern not its aspect, A similitude [is] over-against mine eyes, Silence! and a voice I hear:
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 'Is mortal man than God more righteous? Than his Maker is a man cleaner?
What, shall a mortal be pure before the Lord? or a man be blameless in regard to his works?
18 Lo, in His servants He putteth no credence, Nor in His messengers setteth praise.'
Whereas he trust not in his servants, and perceives perverseness in his angels.
19 Also — the inhabitants of houses of clay, (Whose foundation [is] in the dust, They bruise them before 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 From morning to evening are beaten down, Without any regarding, for ever they perish.
And from the morning to evening they no longer exist: they have perished, because they can’t help themselves.
21 Hath not their excellency been removed with them? They die, and not in wisdom!
For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of wisdom.
