Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
3 Behold, you have instructed many, you have strengthened the weak hands.
Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
4 Your words have supported him who was falling, you have made the feeble knees firm.
Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
5 But now it has come to you, and you faint. It touches you, and you are troubled.
But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6 Isn’t your piety your confidence? Isn’t the integrity of your ways your hope?
Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
7 “Remember, now, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?
Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
8 According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble, reap the same.
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
9 By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are they consumed.
By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.
The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 “Now a thing was secretly brought to me. My ear received a whisper of it.
Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
14 fear came on me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.
fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood up.
Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
16 It stood still, but I couldn’t discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,
It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
17 ‘Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
18 Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error.
If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
19 How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it.
They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 Isn’t their tent cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.’
Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
