Job 4

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?

3 Think how you have instructed many,
how you have strengthened feeble hands.

4 Your words have supported those who stumbled;
you have strengthened faltering knees.

5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
it strikes you, and you are dismayed.

6 Should not your piety be your confidence
and your blameless ways your hope?

7 “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Where were the upright ever destroyed?

8 As I have observed, those who plow evil
and those who sow trouble reap it.

9 At the breath of God they perish;
at the blast of his anger they are no more.

10 The lions may roar and growl,
yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.

11 The lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12 “A word was secretly brought to me,
my ears caught a whisper of it.

13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
when deep sleep falls on people,

14 fear and trembling seized me
and made all my bones shake.

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

16 It stopped,
but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
and I heard a hushed voice:

17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can human beings be more pure than their Maker?

18 If God places no trust in his servants,
if he charges his angels with error,

19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundations are in the dust,
who are crushed more readily than a moth!

20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
unnoticed, they perish forever.

21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,
so that 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