Job 4

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?

3 Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.

4 Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.

5 But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.

6 Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?

7 Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?

8 As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.

9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.

10 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, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12 Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.

13 In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

14 fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.

15 Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.

16 It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:

17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?

18 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 foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!

20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.

21 Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’

1 ¶ Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

2 [If] we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?

3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

6 [Is] not [this] thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?

7 ¶ Remember, I pray thee, who [ever] perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?

8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

9 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 fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.

12 ¶ Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.

13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,

14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:

16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image [was] before mine eyes, [there was] silence, and I heard a voice, [saying],

17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:

19 How much less [in] them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation [is] in the dust, [which] are crushed before the moth?

20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding [it].

21 Doth not their excellency [which is] in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.

1 Then Eliphaz of Theman answered and said:

2 Thou mayest not like it, if any man try to speak unto thee: but who can refrain?

3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and hast strengthened hands;

4 Thy speech hath lifted up the fallen, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees.

5 But when it cometh upon thee, thou shalt be weak: and when it cometh upon thee, thou shalt be afraid.

6 is this your (God's) fear, comfort, hope, and godliness?

7 Thinkest thou, where hath the innocent perished, or where hath the righteous ever been destroyed?

8 As I have seen them plow toil, and sow mischief, and they also reap it,

9 That they should perish by the breath of God, and be consumed by the spirit of his wrath.

10 The roaring of the lions, and the voice of the great lions, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

11 The lion is consumed, that he rob no more: and the young of the lioness are scattered.

12 And there came unto me a secret word, and mine ear received a word of it.

13 When I have beheld visions in the night, when sleep falleth upon men,

14 Then fear and trembling came upon me, and all my bones were troubled.

15 And when the Spirit passed over before me, the hair of my head stood on end in my flesh.

16 And there stood a vision before mine eyes, and I knew not the form thereof: it was still, and I heard a voice:

17 How can a man be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than he who made him?

18 Behold, there is none without blame among his servants, and he findeth folly in his messengers.

19 How many more of them that dwell in the houses of clay, and that are founded upon the earth, shall be eaten of the worms?

20 From the morning until the evening they are cut off, and before they know it they are gone;

21 And the remnant of them perish, and die also unawares.