UJobe 4
1 UElifazi umThemani wasephendula wathi:
Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,
2 Uba sizama ilizwi kuwe, uzadabuka yini? Kodwa ngubani ongazibamba emazwini?
Hast you been often spoken to in distress? but who shall endure the force of your words?
3 Khangela, uqondisile abanengi, waqinisa izandla ezibuthakathaka.
For whereas you have instructed many, and have strengthened the hands of the weak one,
4 Amazwi akho amvusile okhubekayo, waqinisa amadolo axegayo.
and have supported the failing with words, and have imparted courage to feeble knees.
5 Kodwa khathesi kufikile kuwe, uyadinwa; kuyakuthinta wena, utshaywa luvalo.
Yet now [that] pain has come upon you, and touched you, you are troubled.
6 Ukwesaba kwakho uNkulunkulu kakusiso isibindi sakho yini, lobuqotho bendlela zakho ithemba lakho?
Is not your fear [founded] in folly, your hope also, and the mischief of your way?
7 Akukhumbule, ngubani owake wachithwa engelacala? Kumbe abalungileyo bake baqunywa ngaphi?
Remember then who has perished, being pure? or when were the true-hearted utterly destroyed?
8 Njengengikubonileyo, abalima ububi behlanyela udubo, bavuna khona.
Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves.
9 Ngokuphephetha kukaNkulunkulu bayabhubha, langokuphefumula kwamakhala akhe bayaphela.
They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath.
10 Ukubhonga kwesilwane, lelizwi lesilwane esesabekayo, lamazinyo amabhongo esilwane, kwephukile.
The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched.
11 Isilwane esidala siyabhubha ngokuswela impango, lemidlwane yesilwanekazi isabalale.
The old lion has perished for lack of food, and the lions' whelps have forsaken one another.
12 Ngasenginyenyezelwa ilizwi, lendlebe yami yemukela okuncinyane kwalo.
But if there had been any truth in your words, none of these evils would have befallen you. Shall not mine ear receive excellent [revelations] from him?
13 Phakathi kwemicabango yemibono yebusuku, lapho ubuthongo obukhulu busehlela abantu,
But [as when] terror falls upon men, with dread and a sound in the night,
14 ukwesaba kwangifikela lokuthuthumela okwenza ubunengi bamathambo ami baqhaqhazela.
horror and trembling seized me, and caused all my bones greatly to shake.
15 Kwasekusedlula umoya ebusweni bami, loboya benyama yami bavuka.
And a spirit came before my face; and my hair and flesh quivered.
16 Wema, kodwa angikuqondanga ukubonakala kwawo; isimo sasiphambi kwamehlo ami; kwathula, ngasengisizwa ilizwi lisithi:
I arose and perceived it not: I looked, and there, was no form before my eyes: but I only heard a breath and a voice, [saying],
17 Kambe umuntu angalunga okwedlula uNkulunkulu? Umuntu angahlambuluka okwedlula uMenzi wakhe yini?
What, shall a mortal be pure before the Lord? or a man be blameless in regard to his works?
18 Khangela, kazithembi inceku zakhe, lengilosi zakhe uthi zingabaphosisi.
Whereas he trust not in his servants, and perceives perverseness in his angels.
19 Kangakanani abahlala endlini zebumba, abasisekelo sabo sisethulini, abachotshozwa phambi kwenundu.
But [as for] them that dwell in houses of clay, of whom we also are formed of the same clay, he smites them like a moth.
20 Bakhandwa kusukela ekuseni kuze kube kusihlwa, kungelakunanzwa bayabhubha kuze kube nininini.
And from the morning to evening they no longer exist: they have perished, because they can’t help themselves.
21 Ubuhle babo kabususwa labo yini? Bayafa kodwa bengalanhlakanipho.
For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of wisdom.
