Hiob 4
1 Tete Temanitɔ Elifaz ɖo eŋu na Hiob be,
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “Ne ame aɖe te kpɔ be yeaƒo nu kpli wò la, ɖe nàgbɔ dzi ɖi aseea? Ke ame kae ate ŋu azi ɖoɖoe le nu sia ŋuti?
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
3 Bu ale si nèfia nu ame geɖewo kple ale si nèdo ŋusẽ asi beliwoe ŋuti.
Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
4 Wò nyawo lé ame siwo yina anyi dze ge la ɖe te eye nèdo ŋusẽ klo beliwo.
Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
5 Ke azɔ la, dzɔgbevɔ̃e va dziwò, eye dzi ɖe le ƒo wò; eƒo wò ƒu anyi eye nèse veve.
But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6 Ɖe wò Mawuvɔvɔ̃ manye wò dzideƒo eye wò blibodede nanye wò mɔkpɔkpɔ oa?
Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
7 “Azɔ bu eŋuti kpɔ. Ame maɖifɔ ka wohe to na kpɔ? Afi ka wogblẽ ame dzɔdzɔe dome le kpɔ?
Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
8 Abe ale si mede dzesii ene la, ame siwo ŋlɔ vɔ̃ɖivɔ̃ɖi ƒe agble eye woƒã dzɔgbevɔ̃e lae ŋenɛ.
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
9 Ne Mawu gbɔ ɖe wo dzi la woyrɔna eye ne eƒe dziku fla la wotsrɔ̃na.
By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
10 Dzatawo aɖe gbe, axlɔ̃ sesĩe gake woate ŋu aŋe aɖu na dzataviwo.
The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 Dzata kuna ne mekpɔ nu lé o eye dzatanɔwo kakana.
The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 “Wotsɔ nya aɖe vɛ nam le adzame, nye towo see wotsɔe do dalĩ nam.
Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
13 Le drɔ̃ewo me le zã me, esi amewo dɔ alɔ̃ yi eme ʋĩi la,
In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
14 vɔvɔ̃ kple dzodzo nyanyanya lém eye wona nye ƒuwo katã dzo kpekpekpe.
fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
15 Gbɔgbɔ aɖe ɖo asagba va to nye ŋkume yi eye ɖadoe ɖo to ɖe ŋunye.
Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
16 Etɔ gake nyemate ŋu agblɔ nu si wònye o. Nɔnɔme aɖe va tsi tsitre ɖe ŋkunye me eye mese gbe bɔlɔe aɖe be,
It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
17 ‘Ɖe ame kodzogbea anɔ dzɔdzɔe wu Mawua? Ɖe amegbetɔ anɔ dzadzɛe wu eƒe Wɔlaa?
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
18 Ne Mawu meka ɖe eƒe dɔlawo dzi o eye wòbua fɔ eƒe dɔlawo be woda vo,
If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
19 ʋuu keke, ke wòahanye ame siwo le anyixɔwo me, ame siwo gɔme woɖo anyi ɖe ke me eye wogbãa wo bɔbɔe abe ŋɔvi ene!
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
20 Wogbãa wo gudugudu le fɔŋli kple zã dome, ame aɖeke menyana gɔ̃ hã o, ale wotsrɔ̃na gbidii.
They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 Ɖe womehoa woƒe agbadɔkawo, ale be woaku numanyamanyae oa?’”
Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
