Ἰώβ 4
1 ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Ελιφας ὁ Θαιμανίτης λέγει
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 μὴ πολλάκις σοι λελάληται ἐν κόπῳ ἰσχὺν δὲ ῥημάτων σου τίς ὑποίσει
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
3 εἰ γὰρ σὺ ἐνουθέτησας πολλοὺς καὶ χεῖρας ἀσθενοῦς παρεκάλεσας
Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
4 ἀσθενοῦντάς τε ἐξανέστησας ῥήμασιν γόνασίν τε ἀδυνατοῦσιν θάρσος περιέθηκας
Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
5 νῦν δὲ ἥκει ἐπὶ σὲ πόνος καὶ ἥψατό σου σὺ δὲ ἐσπούδασας
But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6 πότερον οὐχ ὁ φόβος σού ἐστιν ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ καὶ ἡ ἐλπίς σου καὶ ἡ ἀκακία τῆς ὁδοῦ σου
Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
7 μνήσθητι οὖν τίς καθαρὸς ὢν ἀπώλετο ἢ πότε ἀληθινοὶ ὁλόρριζοι ἀπώλοντο
Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
8 καθ’ ὃν τρόπον εἶδον τοὺς ἀροτριῶντας τὰ ἄτοπα οἱ δὲ σπείροντες αὐτὰ ὀδύνας θεριοῦσιν ἑαυτοῖς
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
9 ἀπὸ προστάγματος κυρίου ἀπολοῦνται ἀπὸ δὲ πνεύματος ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ ἀφανισθήσονται
By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
10 σθένος λέοντος φωνὴ δὲ λεαίνης γαυρίαμα δὲ δρακόντων ἐσβέσθη
The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 μυρμηκολέων ὤλετο παρὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν βοράν σκύμνοι δὲ λεόντων ἔλιπον ἀλλήλους
The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 εἰ δέ τι ῥῆμα ἀληθινὸν ἐγεγόνει ἐν λόγοις σου οὐθὲν ἄν σοι τούτων κακὸν ἀπήντησεν πότερον οὐ δέξεταί μου τὸ οὖς ἐξαίσια παρ’ αὐτοῦ
Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
13 φόβοι δὲ καὶ ἠχὼ νυκτερινή ἐπιπίπτων φόβος ἐπ’ ἀνθρώπους
In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
14 φρίκη δέ μοι συνήντησεν καὶ τρόμος καὶ μεγάλως μου τὰ ὀστᾶ συνέσεισεν
fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
15 καὶ πνεῦμα ἐπὶ πρόσωπόν μου ἐπῆλθεν ἔφριξαν δέ μου τρίχες καὶ σάρκες
Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
16 ἀνέστην καὶ οὐκ ἐπέγνων εἶδον καὶ οὐκ ἦν μορφὴ πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν μου ἀλλ’ ἢ αὔραν καὶ φωνὴν ἤκουον
It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
17 τί γάρ μὴ καθαρὸς ἔσται βροτὸς ἐναντίον κυρίου ἢ ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ ἄμεμπτος ἀνήρ
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
18 εἰ κατὰ παίδων αὐτοῦ οὐ πιστεύει κατὰ δὲ ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ σκολιόν τι ἐπενόησεν
If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
19 τοὺς δὲ κατοικοῦντας οἰκίας πηλίνας ἐξ ὧν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πηλοῦ ἐσμεν ἔπαισεν αὐτοὺς σητὸς τρόπον
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
20 καὶ ἀπὸ πρωίθεν ἕως ἑσπέρας οὐκέτι εἰσίν παρὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι αὐτοὺς ἑαυτοῖς βοηθῆσαι ἀπώλοντο
They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 ἐνεφύσησεν γὰρ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐξηράνθησαν ἀπώλοντο παρὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν αὐτοὺς σοφίαν
Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
