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Chapter 4

Eliphaz’s First Speech. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

If someone attempts a word with you, would you mind?
    How can anyone refrain from speaking?
Look, you have instructed many,
    and made firm their feeble hands.
Your words have upheld the stumbler;
    you have strengthened faltering knees.
But now that it comes to you, you are impatient;
    when it touches you, you are dismayed.
Is not your piety a source of confidence,
    and your integrity of life your hope?
Reflect now, what innocent person perishes?(A)
    Where are the upright destroyed?
As I see it, those who plow mischief
    and sow trouble will reap them.
By the breath of God they perish,(B)
    and by the blast of his wrath they are consumed.
10 Though the lion[a] roars, though the king of beasts cries out,
    yet the teeth of the young lions are broken;
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
    and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12 A word was stealthily brought to me,[b]
    my ear caught a whisper of it.
13 In my thoughts during visions of the night,(C)
    when deep sleep falls on mortals,
14 Fear came upon me, and shuddering,
    that terrified me to the bone.
15 Then a spirit passed before me,
    and the hair of my body stood on end.
16 It paused, but its likeness I could not recognize;
    a figure was before my eyes,
    in silence I heard a voice:(D)
17 “Can anyone be more in the right than God?(E)
    Can mortals be more blameless than their Maker?
18 Look, he puts no trust in his servants,(F)
    and even with his messengers he finds fault.
19 How much more with those who dwell in houses of clay,
    whose foundation is in the dust,
    who are crushed more easily than a moth!
20 Morning or evening they may be shattered;
    unnoticed, they perish forever.
21 The pegs of their tent are plucked up;
    they die without knowing wisdom.”

Footnotes

  1. 4:10 The lion: used figuratively here for the violent, rapacious sinner who cannot prevail against God.
  2. 4:12–21 A dramatic presentation of the idea of human nothingness in contrast to God’s greatness (v. 17). The message of the “private revelation” that stirs Eliphaz so deeply is in reality expressed countless times in the Bible. The statements of the friends are often “truths” that are insensitive or irrelevant to Job’s questioning.

Eliphaz

Then Eliphaz the Temanite(A) replied:

“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
    But who can keep from speaking?(B)
Think how you have instructed many,(C)
    how you have strengthened feeble hands.(D)
Your words have supported those who stumbled;(E)
    you have strengthened faltering knees.(F)
But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;(G)
    it strikes(H) you, and you are dismayed.(I)
Should not your piety be your confidence(J)
    and your blameless(K) ways your hope?

“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?(L)
    Where were the upright ever destroyed?(M)
As I have observed,(N) those who plow evil(O)
    and those who sow trouble reap it.(P)
At the breath of God(Q) they perish;
    at the blast of his anger they are no more.(R)
10 The lions may roar(S) and growl,
    yet the teeth of the great lions(T) are broken.(U)
11 The lion perishes for lack of prey,(V)
    and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.(W)

12 “A word(X) was secretly brought to me,
    my ears caught a whisper(Y) of it.(Z)
13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
    when deep sleep falls on people,(AA)
14 fear and trembling(AB) seized me
    and made all my bones shake.(AC)
15 A spirit glided past my face,
    and the hair on my body stood on end.(AD)
16 It stopped,
    but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
    and I heard a hushed voice:(AE)
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?(AF)
    Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?(AG)
18 If God places no trust in his servants,(AH)
    if he charges his angels with error,(AI)
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,(AJ)
    whose foundations(AK) are in the dust,(AL)
    who are crushed(AM) more readily than a moth!(AN)
20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
    unnoticed, they perish forever.(AO)
21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,(AP)
    so that they die(AQ) without wisdom?’(AR)