IYOB 4

1 And Eliphaz the Tĕmanite answered and said,

2 “If one tries a word with you, would you become impatient? But who is able to withhold himself from speaking?

3 See, you have instructed many, and you have made weak hands strong.

4 Your words have raised up him who was stumbling, and you have strengthened the weak knees.

5 But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it strikes you, and you are troubled.

6 Is not your reverence your trust, the integrity of ways your expectancy?

7 Remember, please: who, being innocent, has ever perished? And where have the straight ones ever been cut off?

8 According to what I have seen, those who plough wickedness and sow suffering reap the same.

9 Through the breath of Eloah they perish, and through the wind of His nostrils they are consumed.

10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, but the teeth of the young lions shall be broken.

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

12 And unto me a word was secretly brought, and my ear received a little of it.

13 Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

14 fear came upon me, and trembling, causing my bones to shake greatly.

15 Then a spirit passed before my face, the hair on my body stood up.

16 It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes – silence, then a voice I heard,

17 ‘Is mortal man more righteous than Eloah? Is man more clean than his Maker?

18 ‘Look, He puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His messengers with straying.

19 ‘How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth?

20 ‘From morning till evening they are beaten down, they perish forever, with no one regarding.

21 ‘Are not the cords of their tents pulled up? They die, without wisdom!’