Job 4

Eliphaz Speaks

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

2 “If someone tried to speak with you, would you be upset? I cannot keep from speaking.

3 Think about the many people you have taught and the weak hands you have made strong.

4 Your words have comforted those who fell, and you have strengthened those who could not stand.

5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; trouble hits you, and you are terrified.

6 You should have confidence because you respect God; you should have hope because you are innocent.

7 “Remember that the innocent will not die; honest people will never be destroyed.

8 I have noticed that people who plow evil and plant trouble, harvest it.

9 God’s breath destroys them, and a blast of his anger kills them.

10 Lions may roar and growl, but when the teeth of a strong lion are broken,

11 that lion dies of hunger. The cubs of the mother lion are scattered.

12 “A word was brought to me in secret, and my ears heard a whisper of it.

13 It was during a nightmare when people are in deep sleep.

14 I was trembling with fear; all my bones were shaking.

15 A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.

16 The spirit stopped, but I could not see what it was.
A shape stood before my eyes, and I heard a quiet voice.

17 It said, ‘Can a human be more right than God? Can a person be pure before his maker?

18 God does not trust his angels; he blames them for mistakes.
19 So he puts even more blame on people who live in clay houses, 

20 Between dawn and sunset many people are broken to pieces; without being noticed, they die and are gone forever.
21 The ropes of their tents are pulled up, and they die without wisdom.’

Job 4

Eliphaz Begins to Speak

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:t

2 “If someonet should attemptt a word with you,
will you be impatient?t
But who can refrain from speakingt?

3 Look,t you have instructedt many;
you have strengthenedt feeble hands.t

4 Your words have supportedt those
who stumbled,t
and you have strengthened the knees
that gave way.ts

5 But now the same thingt comes to you,
and you are discouraged;t
it strikes you,
and you are terrified.t

6 Is not your pietyt your confidence,t
and your blameless ways your hope?ts

7 Call to mind now:s
Who,t being innocent, ever perished?t
And where were upright peoplet ever destroyed?t

8 Even as I have seen,t those who plows iniquityt
and those who sow trouble reap the same.t

9 By the breatht of God they perish,s
and by the blastt of his anger they are consumed.

10 There ist the roaring of the lions
and the growlingt of the young lion,
but the teeth of the young lions are broken.t

11 The mighty liont perishest for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lionesst are scattered.

Ungodly Complainers Provoke God’s Wrath

12 “Now a word was secretlyt broughtt to me,
and my ear caughtt a whispert of it.

13 In the troubling thoughtst of the dreamst in the night
when a deep sleept falls on men,

14 a tremblingt gripped me – and a terror! –
and made all my bones shake.t

15 Then a breath of airt passest by my face;
it makest the hair of my flesh stand up.

16 It stands still,s
but I cannot recognizet its appearance;
an image is before my eyes,
and I hear a murmuring voice:s

17 “Ist a mortal mant righteoust beforet God?
Or a man pures before his Creator?t

18 Ift Godt puts no trust int his servantss
and attributest follyt to his angels,

19 how much more to those who live in houses of clay,s
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushedt liket a moth?

20 They are destroyedt between morning and evening;t
they perish forevers without anyone regarding it.t

21 Is not their excess wealtht taken away from them?st
They die,s yet without attaining wisdom.ts