Job 4
1 And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: —
Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
2 Hath one tried a word with thee? — Thou art weary! And to keep in words who is able?
If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill, but who can withhold the words he hath conceived?
3 Lo, thou hast instructed many, And feeble hands thou makest strong.
Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the weary hands:
4 The stumbling one do thy words raise up, And bowing knees thou dost strengthen.
Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees:
5 But now, it cometh in unto thee, And thou art weary; It striketh unto thee, and thou art troubled.
But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: it hath touched thee, and thou art troubled.
6 Is not thy reverence thy confidence? Thy hope — the perfection of thy ways?
Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways?
7 Remember, I pray thee, Who, being innocent, hath perished? And where have the upright been cut off?
Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed?
8 As I have seen — ploughers of iniquity, And sowers of misery, reap it!
On the contrary I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them,
9 From the breath of God they perish, And from the spirit of His anger consumed.
Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit 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 roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of lions are broken:
11 An old lion is perishing without prey, And the whelps of the lioness do separate.
The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad.
12 And unto me a thing is secretly brought, And receive doth mine ear a little of it.
Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth as it were received the veins of its whisper.
13 In thoughts from visions of the night, In the falling of deep sleep on men,
In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men,
14 Fear hath met me, and trembling, And the multitude of my bones caused to fear.
Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted:
15 And a spirit before my face doth pass, Stand up doth the hair of my flesh;
And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up.
16 It standeth, and I discern not its aspect, A similitude [is] over-against mine eyes, Silence! and a voice I hear:
There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice as it were of a gentle wind:
17 'Is mortal man than God more righteous? Than his Maker is a man cleaner?
Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker?
18 Lo, in His servants He putteth no credence, Nor in His messengers setteth praise.'
Behold they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness:
19 Also — the inhabitants of houses of clay, (Whose foundation [is] in the dust, They bruise them before a moth.)
How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth?
20 From morning to evening are beaten down, Without any regarding, for ever they perish.
From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever.
21 Hath not their excellency been removed with them? They die, and not in wisdom!
And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom.
