Job 4

1 Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

2 If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill, but who can withhold the words he hath conceived?

"If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?

3 Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the weary hands:

Look, you have instructed many, you have strengthened the weak hands.

4 Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees:

Your words have supported him who was falling, You have made firm the feeble knees.

5 But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: it hath touched thee, and thou art troubled.

But now it is come to you, and you faint. It touches you, and you are troubled.

6 Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways?

Isn't your piety your confidence? Isn't the integrity of your ways your hope?

7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed?

"Remember, now, whoever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?

8 On the contrary I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them,

According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same.

9 Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath.

By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are they consumed.

10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of lions are broken:

The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

11 The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad.

The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.

12 Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth as it were received the veins of its whisper.

"Now a thing was secretly brought to me. My ear received a whisper of it.

13 In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men,

In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

14 Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted:

fear came on me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.

15 And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up.

Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood up.

16 There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice as it were of a gentle wind:

It stood still, but I couldn't discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,

17 Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker?

'Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?

18 Behold they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness:

Look, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error.

19 How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth?

How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth.

20 From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever.

Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it.

21 And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom.

Isn't their tent cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.'