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