Job 4

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

Then responded Eliphaz the Temanite, and said: —

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

If one attempt a word unto thee, wilt thou be impatient? But, to restrain speech, who, can endure?

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

Lo! thou hast admonished many, and, slack hands, hast thou been wont to uphold:

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

Him that was stumbling, have thy words raised up, and, sinking knees, hast thou strengthened.

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

But, now, it cometh upon thee, and thou despairest, It smiteth even thee, and thou art dismayed.

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

Is not, thy reverence, thy confidence? And is not, thy hope, the very integrity of thy ways?

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

Remember, I pray thee, who, being innocent, hath perished, or when, the upright, have been cut off.

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

So far as I have seen, They who plow for iniquity and sow misery, reap the same:

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

By the blast of GOD, they perish, And, by the breath of his nostrils, are they consumed:

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

[Notwithstanding] the roaring of the lion, and the noise of the howling lion, yet, the teeth of the fierce lions, are broken:

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

The strong lion perishing for lack of prey, Even the whelps of the lioness, are scattered.

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

But, unto me, something was brought by stealth, —and mine ear caught a whispering of the same:

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

When there were thoughts, from visions of the night, —When deep sleep falleth upon men,

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

Dread, came upon me, and trembling, The multitude of my bones, it put in dread:

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

Then, a spirit, over my face, floated along, The hair of my flesh bristled-up:

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,

It stood still, but I could not distinguish its appearance, I looked, but there was no form before mine eyes, —A whispering voice, I heard: —

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

Shall, mortal man, be more just than GOD? Or a man be more pure than, his Maker?

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

Lo! in his own servants, he trusteth not, and, his own messengers, he chargeth with error:

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?

How much more the dwellers in houses of clay, which, in the dust, have their foundation, which are crushed sooner than a moth:

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

Betwixt morning and evening, are they broken in pieces, With none to save, they utterly perish:

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

Is not their tent-rope within them, torn away? They die, disrobed of wisdom!