1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
1And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2“If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied?
Yet who can keep from speaking?
2“Should one try a word with you, will you be wearied? And who is able to be restrained from a word?
3Surely you have instructed many,
and have strengthened their feeble hands.
3Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened hands that are weak.
4Your words have steadied those who stumbled;
you have braced the knees that were buckling.
4The one stumbling, your words, and bent knees you have strengthened.
5But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary.
It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
5But now it has come to you, and you are weary; it touches unto you, and you are disturbed.
6Is your reverence not your confidence,
and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
6Is not your fear your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?
7Consider now, I plead:
Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Or where have the upright been destroyed?
7Remember please: Who is he who has perished being innocent? And where have the upright been cut off?
8As I have observed, those who plow iniquity
and those who sow trouble reap the same.
8According to what I have seen, those plowing iniquity and sowing trouble—they shall reap it.
9By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
9By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his nose they are consumed.
10The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl,
yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
10The roar of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
11The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12Now a word came to me secretly;
my ears caught a whisper of it.
12And to me a word was confided; and my ear took in a whisper of it.
13In disquieting visions in the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
13In disquieting thoughts from visions of the night, in the falling of deep sleep upon men,
14fear and trembling came over me
and made all my bones shudder.
14dread and trembling met me, and the multitude of my bones it frightened.
15Then a spirita glided past my face,
and the hair on my body bristled.
15And a spirit was gliding over my face, the hair of my flesh bristled.
16It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance;
a form loomed before my eyes,
and I heard a whispering voice:
16It stood still, I could not discern its appearance. A likeness was in front of my eyes; there was silence, and I heard a voice:
17‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God,
or a man more pure than his Maker?
17‘Shall a human be righteous more than God? Can a man be pure more than his Maker?
18If God puts no trust in His servants,
and He charges His angels with error,
18Behold, in His servants He does not trust, and His angels He charges with error;
19how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundations are in the dust,
who can be crushed like a moth!
19how much more those dwelling in houses of clay, for whom their foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before a moth?
20They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;
unnoticed, they perish forever.
20From morning to evening they are broken to pieces; without anyone noticing, they perish forever.
21Are not their tent cords pulled up,
so that they die without wisdom?’
21Has not their tent cord been pulled up with them? They will die, and not in wisdom?’