Job 4
1 Respondens autem Eliphaz Themanites, dixit:
Then Eliphaz, from Teman, replied to Job. He said,
2 Si cœperimus loqui tibi, forsitan moleste accipies; sed conceptum sermonem tenere quis poterit?
“Will you please let me say something to you? I am not [RHQ] able to remain silent [any longer].
3 Ecce docuisti multos, et manus lassas roborasti;
In the past, you have instructed/taught many people, and you have encouraged those who were weak.
4 vacillantes confirmaverunt sermones tui, et genua trementia confortasti.
By what you said, you have helped those who (needed spiritual help/almost quit trusting in God) [MET], and you have enabled them to become spiritually strong again [MET].
5 Nunc autem venit super te plaga, et defecisti; tetigit te, et conturbatus es.
But now, when you experience disasters, you become discouraged. The disasters hit you, and you are stunned.
6 Ubi est timor tuus, fortitudo tua, patientia tua, et perfectio viarum tuarum?
You revere God; (does that not cause you to trust [in him]?/that should cause you to trust [in him].) [RHQ] If you were guiltless, you would [RHQ] be confident that [God] would not [have allowed] these disasters [to] happen to you!
7 Recordare, obsecro te, quis umquam innocens periit? aut quando recti deleti sunt?
Think about this: Do innocent people die [while they are still young] [RHQ]? Does God get rid of godly people [RHQ]? [No!]
8 Quin potius vidi eos qui operantur iniquitatem, et seminant dolores, et metunt eos,
What I have experienced is this: [Just as] [MET] farmers who plant bad [seeds] do not harvest good [crops], [just as those who start] trouble for others, later bring trouble on themselves.
9 flante Deo perisse, et spiritu iræ ejus esse consumptos.
They die when God angrily blows his breath on them, when he is very angry with them.
10 Rugitus leonis, et vox leænæ, et dentes catulorum leonum contriti sunt.
[Even though wicked people may be very powerful like] young lions, [God] will get rid of them [MET].
11 Tigris periit, eo quod non haberet prædam, et catuli leonis dissipati sunt.
[They will die like] fierce lions [that] starve to death when there are no animals that they can kill and eat, and [their children will be separated from each other like] young lions separate from each other [to find food].”
12 Porro ad me dictum est verbum absconditum, et quasi furtive suscepit auris mea venas susurri ejus.
“I heard a message that someone came and whispered to me.
13 In horrore visionis nocturnæ, quando solet sopor occupare homines,
He spoke to me at night when I was having a bad dream that disturbed/frightened me while I was fast asleep.
14 pavor tenuit me, et tremor, et omnia ossa mea perterrita sunt;
It caused me to be afraid and tremble; it caused all my bones to shake.
15 et cum spiritus, me præsente, transiret, inhorruerunt pili carnis meæ.
A ghost glided past my face and caused the hair on [on the back of] my neck to stand straight up.
16 Stetit quidam, cujus non agnoscebam vultum, imago coram oculis meis, et vocem quasi auræ lenis audivi.
It stopped, but I could not see what form it had. But [I could sense that] there was some being in front of me, and it said in a quiet voice,
17 Numquid homo, Dei comparatione, justificabitur? aut factore suo purior erit vir?
‘(Does God consider anyone to be righteous?/No human beings can be righteous in God’s sight!) [RHQ] (Their creator cannot consider them to be pure./Can their creator consider them to be pure?) [RHQ]
18 Ecce qui serviunt ei, non sunt stabiles, et in angelis suis reperit pravitatem;
God cannot be sure that his own angels [will always do what is right]; he declares that some of them have done what is wrong.
19 quanto magis hi qui habitant domos luteas, qui terrenum habent fundamentum, consumentur velut a tinea?
So he certainly cannot trust human beings who were made from dust and clay, who are crushed as easily as moths are crushed!
20 De mane usque ad vesperam succidentur; et quia nullus intelligit, in æternum peribunt.
People are sometimes well in the morning, but in the evening they are dead. They are gone forever and do not even know it (OR, and no one pays any attention to it).
21 Qui autem reliqui fuerint, auferentur ex eis; morientur, et non in sapientia.
They are like [MET] tents that collapse [suddenly]: They die [suddenly] before they become wise.’”
