איוב 4

1 ויען אליפז התימני ויאמר׃

But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, said:

2 הנסה דבר אליך תלאה ועצר במלין מי יוכל׃

If we start to speak to you, perhaps you will take it badly, but who can hold back the words he has conceived?

3 הנה יסרת רבים וידים רפות תחזק׃

Behold, you have taught many, and you have strengthened weary hands.

4 כושל יקימון מליך וברכים כרעות תאמץ׃

Your words have reassured the wavering, and you have fortified the trembling knees.

5 כי עתה תבוא אליך ותלא תגע עדיך ותבהל׃

But now the scourge has overcome you, and you falter. It has touched you, and you are disturbed.

6 הלא יראתך כסלתך תקותך ותם דרכיך׃

Where is your reverence, your fortitude, your patience, and the perfection of your ways?

7 זכר נא מי הוא נקי אבד ואיפה ישרים נכחדו׃

Consider this, I beg you: who ever perished being innocent? Or when have the righteous been destroyed?

8 כאשר ראיתי חרשי און וזרעי עמל יקצרהו׃

In fact, I have instead seen those who work iniquity and who sow resentments, reap them,

9 מנשמת אלוה יאבדו ומרוח אפו יכלו׃

perishing by the breath of God, and being consumed by the wrath of his spirit.

10 שאגת אריה וקול שחל ושני כפירים נתעו׃

The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of young lions have been worn away.

11 ליש אבד מבלי טרף ובני לביא יתפרדו׃

The tiger has perished because it does not have prey, and the young lions have been scattered.

12 ואלי דבר יגנב ותקח אזני שמץ מנהו׃

Furthermore, a word was spoken to me in secret, and, as if by theft, my ears received the pulse of its whisper.

13 בשעפים מחזינות לילה בנפל תרדמה על אנשים׃

In the horror of a vision by night, when men are accustomed to be overtaken by a deep sleep,

14 פחד קראני ורעדה ורב עצמותי הפחיד׃

fear and trembling seized me and all my bones were terrified.

15 ורוח על פני יחלף תסמר שערת בשרי׃

And when a spirit passed before me, the hair on my body stood up.

16 יעמד ולא אכיר מראהו תמונה לנגד עיני דממה וקול אשמע׃

There appeared an image before my eyes, someone whose face I did not recognize, and I heard a voice like a gentle breeze.

17 האנוש מאלוה יצדק אם מעשהו יטהר גבר׃

Should man be justified in relation to God, or will a man be more pure than his Maker?

18 הן בעבדיו לא יאמין ובמלאכיו ישים תהלה׃

Behold, those who serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he finds imperfection.

19 אף שכני בתי חמר אשר בעפר יסודם ידכאום לפני עש׃

How much more will those who live in houses of clay, which have an earthly foundation, be consumed like the moth?

20 מבקר לערב יכתו מבלי משים לנצח יאבדו׃

From morning all the way to evening, they will be cut down, and because no one understands, they will be destroyed without ceasing.

21 הלא נסע יתרם בם ימותו ולא בחכמה׃

But those who are left behind will be taken away from them; they will die, and not in wisdom.