Job 4

¹Then Eliphaz, the Themanite, answered, and said:

²If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill; but who can withhold the words he hath conceived?

³Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the weary hands:

⁴Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees:

⁵But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: It hath touched thee, and thou art troubled.

⁶Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways?

⁷Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed?

⁸On the contrary, I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them,

⁹Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath.

¹⁰The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of lions, are broken:

¹¹The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad.

¹²Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth, as it were, received the veins of its whisper.

¹³In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men,

¹⁴Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted:

¹⁵And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up.

¹⁶There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice, as it were, of a gentle wind.

¹⁷Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker?

¹⁸Behold, they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness:

¹⁹How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth?

²⁰From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever.

²¹And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⁹By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁶It 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,

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

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

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

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

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