Job 4

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered Job.

Then Eliphaz, from Teman, replied to Job. He said,

2 “Could I say a word? I don't want to upset you but who could keep quiet and not respond?

“Will you please let me say something to you? I am not [RHQ] able to remain silent [any longer].

3 You've certainly encouraged many people and supported those who are weak.

In the past, you have instructed/taught many people, and you have encouraged those who were weak.

4 Your advice has helped those who are stumbling not to fall, and you have strengthened those whose knees are weak.

By what you said, you have helped those who (needed spiritual help/almost quit trusting in God) [MET], and you have enabled them to become spiritually strong again [MET].

5 But now you're the one suffering and you're upset.

But now, when you experience disasters, you become discouraged. The disasters hit you, and you are stunned.

6 Wasn't it your reverence for God that gave you confidence and your integrity that gave you hope?

You revere God; (does that not cause you to trust [in him]?/that should cause you to trust [in him].) [RHQ] If you were guiltless, you would [RHQ] be confident that [God] would not [have allowed] these disasters [to] happen to you!

7 Think about it: since when did the innocent die? Since when were good people destroyed?

Think about this: Do innocent people die [while they are still young] [RHQ]? Does God get rid of godly people [RHQ]? [No!]

8 From what I've seen it's those who plant evil and sow trouble who reap the same!

What I have experienced is this: [Just as] [MET] farmers who plant bad [seeds] do not harvest good [crops], [just as those who start] trouble for others, later bring trouble on themselves.

9 A breath from God destroys them; a blast of his anger wipes them out.

They die when God angrily blows his breath on them, when he is very angry with them.

10 Lions may roar and growl, but their teeth still break.

[Even though wicked people may be very powerful like] young lions, [God] will get rid of them [MET].

11 Even a lion dies from lack of food, and the lioness' cubs are scattered.

[They will die like] fierce lions [that] starve to death when there are no animals that they can kill and eat, and [their children will be separated from each other like] young lions separate from each other [to find food].”

12 A word quietly crept up on me; a whisper reached my ear.

“I heard a message that someone came and whispered to me.

13 Troubling thoughts came to me in nightmares when you fall into a deep sleep.

He spoke to me at night when I was having a bad dream that disturbed/frightened me while I was fast asleep.

14 I became terrified and trembled; all my bones were shaking.

It caused me to be afraid and tremble; it caused all my bones to shake.

15 Then a breath brushed my face and gave me goose-pimples.

A ghost glided past my face and caused the hair on [on the back of] my neck to stand straight up.

16 Something stopped, but I couldn't see its face. My eyes could only make out a shape. It was totally quiet, and then I heard a voice:

It stopped, but I could not see what form it had. But [I could sense that] there was some being in front of me, and it said in a quiet voice,

17 ‘Can anyone be right before God? Can anyone be pure before their Maker?

‘(Does God consider anyone to be righteous?/No human beings can be righteous in God’s sight!) [RHQ] (Their creator cannot consider them to be pure./Can their creator consider them to be pure?) [RHQ]

18 If he doesn't even trust his servants, and he says his angels make mistakes,

God cannot be sure that his own angels [will always do what is right]; he declares that some of them have done what is wrong.

19 how much more does this apply to those who live in these houses made of clay, whose foundations are based on dust, who fall apart like clothing to a moth?

So he certainly cannot trust human beings who were made from dust and clay, who are crushed as easily as moths are crushed!

20 Alive in the morning, they are dead by evening. They die, unnoticed.

People are sometimes well in the morning, but in the evening they are dead. They are gone forever and do not even know it (OR, and no one pays any attention to it).

21 They are like tent ropes that are pulled up, and they collapse in death. They die without wisdom.’

They are like [MET] tents that collapse [suddenly]: They die [suddenly] before they become wise.’”