UJobe 4
1 UElifazi umThemani wasephendula wathi:
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Uba sizama ilizwi kuwe, uzadabuka yini? Kodwa ngubani ongazibamba emazwini?
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
3 Khangela, uqondisile abanengi, waqinisa izandla ezibuthakathaka.
Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
4 Amazwi akho amvusile okhubekayo, waqinisa amadolo axegayo.
Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
5 Kodwa khathesi kufikile kuwe, uyadinwa; kuyakuthinta wena, utshaywa luvalo.
But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6 Ukwesaba kwakho uNkulunkulu kakusiso isibindi sakho yini, lobuqotho bendlela zakho ithemba lakho?
Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
7 Akukhumbule, ngubani owake wachithwa engelacala? Kumbe abalungileyo bake baqunywa ngaphi?
Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
8 Njengengikubonileyo, abalima ububi behlanyela udubo, bavuna khona.
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
9 Ngokuphephetha kukaNkulunkulu bayabhubha, langokuphefumula kwamakhala akhe bayaphela.
By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
10 Ukubhonga kwesilwane, lelizwi lesilwane esesabekayo, lamazinyo amabhongo esilwane, kwephukile.
The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 Isilwane esidala siyabhubha ngokuswela impango, lemidlwane yesilwanekazi isabalale.
The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 Ngasenginyenyezelwa ilizwi, lendlebe yami yemukela okuncinyane kwalo.
Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
13 Phakathi kwemicabango yemibono yebusuku, lapho ubuthongo obukhulu busehlela abantu,
In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
14 ukwesaba kwangifikela lokuthuthumela okwenza ubunengi bamathambo ami baqhaqhazela.
fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
15 Kwasekusedlula umoya ebusweni bami, loboya benyama yami bavuka.
Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
16 Wema, kodwa angikuqondanga ukubonakala kwawo; isimo sasiphambi kwamehlo ami; kwathula, ngasengisizwa ilizwi lisithi:
It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
17 Kambe umuntu angalunga okwedlula uNkulunkulu? Umuntu angahlambuluka okwedlula uMenzi wakhe yini?
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
18 Khangela, kazithembi inceku zakhe, lengilosi zakhe uthi zingabaphosisi.
If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
19 Kangakanani abahlala endlini zebumba, abasisekelo sabo sisethulini, abachotshozwa phambi kwenundu.
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
20 Bakhandwa kusukela ekuseni kuze kube kusihlwa, kungelakunanzwa bayabhubha kuze kube nininini.
They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 Ubuhle babo kabususwa labo yini? Bayafa kodwa bengalanhlakanipho.
Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
