Job 4

1 Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:

Then responded Eliphaz the Temanite, and said: —

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then, a spirit, over my face, floated along, The hair of my flesh bristled-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 could not distinguish its appearance, I looked, but there was no form before mine eyes, —A whispering voice, I heard: —

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? Or a man be more pure than, his Maker?

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

Lo! in his own servants, he trusteth not, and, his own messengers, he chargeth 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 the dwellers in houses of clay, which, in the dust, have their foundation, which are crushed sooner than a moth:

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

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

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

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