Hiob 4 | New International Reader’s Version

The first speech of Eliphaz

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied, 2 ‘Job, suppose someone tries to talk to you. Will that make you uneasy? I can’t keep from speaking up. 3 Look, you taught many people. You made weak hands strong. 4 Your words helped those who had fallen down. You made shaky knees strong. 5 Now trouble comes to you. And you are unhappy about it. It strikes you down. And you are afraid. 6 Shouldn’t you worship God and trust in him? Shouldn’t your honest life give you hope? 7 ‘Here’s something to think about. Have people who aren’t guilty ever been wiped out? Have honest people ever been completely destroyed? 8 Here’s what I’ve observed. People gather a crop from what they plant. If they plant evil and trouble, that’s what they will harvest. 9 The breath of God destroys them. The blast of his anger wipes them out. 10 Powerful lions might roar and growl. But their teeth are broken. 11 Lions die because they don’t have any food. Then their cubs are scattered. 12 ‘A message came to me in secret. It was as quiet as a whisper. 13 I had a scary dream one night. I was sound asleep. 14 Fear and trembling seized me. That made every bone in my body shake. 15 A spirit glided past my face. The hair on my body stood on end. 16 Then the spirit stopped. But I couldn’t tell what it was. Something stood there in front of me. I heard a soft voice. 17 It said, “Can a human being be more right than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than the God who made him? 18 God doesn’t trust those who serve him. He even brings charges against his angels. 19 So he’ll certainly find fault with human beings. After all, they are made out of dust. They can be crushed more easily than a moth. 20 Between sunrise and sunset they are broken to pieces. Nobody even notices. They disappear for ever. 21 Like a tent that falls down, they get weak. They die because they didn’t follow God’s wisdom.” ’

English Standard Version

Eliphaz Speaks: The Innocent Prosper

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: 2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? Yet who can keep from speaking? 3 Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. 4 Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees. 5 But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed. 6 Is not your fear of God* your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope? 7 “Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? 8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and 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 roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions are broken. 11 The 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. 13 Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, 14 dread came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake. 15 A spirit glided past my face; the hair of my flesh stood up. 16 It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice: 17 ‘Can mortal man be in the right before* God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? 18 Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error; 19 how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like* the moth. 20 Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces; they perish forever without anyone regarding it. 21 Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them, do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

Hiob 4 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

The first speech of Eliphaz

Eliphaz Speaks: The Innocent Prosper