Job 4
1 respondens autem Eliphaz Themanites dixit
Then Eliphaz, from Teman, replied to Job. He said,
2 si coeperimus loqui tibi forsitan moleste accipias sed conceptum sermonem tenere quis possit
“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 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 perierit aut quando recti deleti sint
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 irae eius esse consumptos
They die when God angrily blows his breath on them, when he is very angry with them.
10 rugitus leonis et vox leaenae 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 praedam 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 eius
“I heard a message that someone came and whispered to me.
13 in horrore visionis nocturnae 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 praesente transiret inhorruerunt pili carnis meae
A ghost glided past my face and caused the hair on [on the back of] my neck to stand straight up.
16 stetit quidam cuius non agnoscebam vultum imago coram oculis meis et vocem quasi aurae 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 conparatione iustificabitur 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 repperit 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 hii 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 vesperum succidentur et quia nullus intellegit in aeternum 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.’”
