Job 4

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,

2 If anyone tries to speak with you, will you be impatient? But who can stop himself from speaking?

Hast thou been often spoken to in distress? but who shall endure the force of thy words?

3 See, you have instructed many; you have strengthened weak hands.

For whereas thou hast instructed many, and hast strengthened the hands of the weak one,

4 Your words have supported him who was falling; you have made feeble knees firm.

and hast supported the failing with words, and hast imparted courage to feeble knees.

5 But now trouble has come to you, and you are weary; it touches you, and you are troubled.

Yet now [that] pain has come upon thee, and touched thee, thou art troubled.

6 Is not your fear your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?

Is not thy fear [founded] in folly, thy hope also, and the mischief of thy way?

7 Think about this, please: Who has ever perished when innocent? Or when were the upright people ever cut off?

Remember then who has perished, being pure? or when were the true-hearted utterly destroyed?

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

Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves.

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

They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath.

10 The roaring of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions—they are broken.

The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched.

11 The old lion perishes for lack of victims; the cubs of the lioness are scattered everywhere.

The old lion has perished for want of food, and the lions' whelps have forsaken one another.

12 Now a certain matter was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper about it.

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?

13 Then came thoughts from visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on people.

But [as when] terror falls upon men, with dread and a sound in the night,

14 It was at night when fear and trembling came upon me, and all my bones shook.

horror and trembling seized me, and caused all my bones greatly to shake.

15 Then a spirit passed before my face, and the hair of my flesh stood up.

And a spirit came before my face; and my hair and flesh quivered.

16 The spirit stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, and I heard a voice that said,

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 “Can a mortal man be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?

What, shall a mortal be pure before the Lord? or a man be blameless in regard to his works?

18 See, if God puts no trust in his servants; if he accuses his angels of folly,

Whereas he trust not in his servants, and perceives perverseness in his angels.

19 how much more is this true of those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed sooner than a moth?

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 Between morning and evening they are destroyed; they perish forever without anyone noticing them.

And from the morning to evening they no longer exist: they have perished, because they cannot help themselves.

21 Are not their tent cords plucked up among them? They die; they die without wisdom.

For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of wisdom.