Hopa 4
1 Katahi a Eripata Temani ka oho, ka mea,
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Ki te anga matou ki te korero ki a koe, e pouri ranei koe? otira e taea e wai te pehi te kupu?
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
3 Nana, he tokomaha i whakaakona e koe: nau hoki i whakakaha nga ringa kahakore.
Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
4 Ara ana i au kupu te tangata e hinga ana; nau hoki i kaha ai nga turi kua piko.
Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
5 Inaianei kua tae mai ki a koe, a e hemo ana koe: e pa ana ki a koe, ohorere ana koe.
But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6 He taka ianei kei tou wehi ki te Atua he okiokinga whakaaro mou? Kei te tapatahi o ou huarahi he tumanakohanga mou?
Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
7 Maharatia ra, ko wai o nga tangata harakore i huna? I ngaro ranei ki hea te hunga tika?
Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
8 Ko taku hoki tenei i kite ai, ko te hunga e parau ana i te he, e rua ana i te raruraru, ko ia ra ano ta ratou e kokoti ai.
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
9 Huna ana ratou e te ha o te Atua, moti iho ratou i te hau o tona riri.
By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
10 Ko te hamama o te raiona, ko te reo o te raiona tutu, ko nga niho o nga kuao raiona, whati ana.
The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 Ngaro ana te raiona katua i te kore kai, a marara noa atu nga kuao a te raiona.
The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 Na i kawea pukutia mai he korero ki ahau, a kapohia ana e toku taringa he komuhumuhu.
Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
13 I nga whakaaroaronga, no nga kite o te po, i te mea ka au iho te moe a te tangata,
In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
14 Ka pa te wehi ki ahau, me te ihiihi, a wiri ana oku wheua katoa.
fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
15 Na ka tika atu he wairua i toku aroaro, tutu ana nga huruhuru o toku kikokiko.
Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
16 Tu ana ia, otiia kihai ahau i mohio ki tona mata; he ahua te mea i toku aroaro: tu puku ana; na ka rongo ahau i te reo e ki ana,
It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
17 He nui atu ranei te tika o te tangata i to te Atua? He nui atu ranei i to tona Kaihanga to ma o te tangata?
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
18 Nana, kahore rawa ia e whakawhirinaki ki ana pononga; a ki tana, he he kei ana anahera.
If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
19 Tera atu to te hunga e noho ana i roto i nga whare uku, he puehu to ratou turanga; mongamonga kau ratou i te aroaro o te purehurehu.
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
20 I waenganui o te ata, o te ahiahi, ka whakangaromia ratou; huna ana ratou ake tonu atu, te ai tetahi hei whakaaro atu.
They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 Kahore ranei to ratou taura here teneti i motuhia i roto i a ratou? Mate ana ratou, kahore hoki he matauranga.
Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
