1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:2‘If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?3Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.4Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees.5But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.6Should 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?8As I have observed, those who plough evil and those who sow trouble reap it.9At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.10The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.11The 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.13Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people,14fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.15A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.16It 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 even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?18If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,19how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!20Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish for ever.21Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?”
Job 4
English Standard Version
Eliphaz Speaks: The Innocent Prosper
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:2“If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? Yet who can keep from speaking?3Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. (Isa 35:3; Heb 12:12)4Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees. (Job 4:3)5But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed.6Is not your fear of God[1] your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope? (Job 1:1; Job 31:24; Pr 3:26)7“Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? (Ps 37:25)8As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. (Ps 7:14; Pr 22:8; Ho 10:13; Ga 6:7)9By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed. (Ex 15:8; Job 15:30; Ps 18:15; Isa 11:4; Isa 30:33; 2Th 2:8)10The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions are broken. (Job 29:17; Ps 3:7; Ps 58:6)11The strong lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.12“Now a word was brought to me stealthily; my ear received the whisper of it. (Job 26:14)13Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, (Ge 2:21; Ge 15:12; 1Sa 26:12; Job 20:2; Job 33:15; Isa 29:10)14dread came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.15A spirit glided past my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.16It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice: (Nu 12:8; 1Ki 19:12)17‘Can mortal man be in the right before[2] God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? (Job 9:2; Job 10:4; Job 25:4; Job 32:2)18Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error; (Job 15:15)19how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like[3] the moth. (Ge 2:7; Ge 3:19; Ge 18:27; Job 10:9; Job 13:12; Job 13:28; Job 33:6; Isa 64:8; 2Co 4:7; 2Co 5:1)20Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces; they perish forever without anyone regarding it. (Ps 90:5; Isa 38:12; Isa 42:25; Isa 57:1)21Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them, do they not die, and that without wisdom?’ (Job 36:12; Pr 5:23; Pr 10:21; Ho 4:6)