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Job 4
New Century Version
Job 4
New Century Version
Eliphaz Speaks
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “If someone tried to speak with you, would you be upset?
I cannot keep from speaking.
3 Think about the many people you have taught
and the weak hands you have made strong.
4 Your words have comforted those who fell,
and you have strengthened those who could not stand.
5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
trouble hits you, and you are terrified.
6 You should have confidence because you respect God;
you should have hope because you are innocent.
7 “Remember that the innocent will not die;
honest people will never be destroyed.
8 I have noticed that people who plow evil
and plant trouble, harvest it.
9 God’s breath destroys them,
and a blast of his anger kills them.
10 Lions may roar and growl,
but when the teeth of a strong lion are broken,
11 that lion dies of hunger.
The cubs of the mother lion are scattered.
12 “A word was brought to me in secret,
and my ears heard a whisper of it.
13 It was during a nightmare
when people are in deep sleep.
14 I was trembling with fear;
all my bones were shaking.
15 A spirit glided past my face,
and the hair on my body stood on end.
16 The spirit stopped,
but I could not see what it was.
A shape stood before my eyes,
and I heard a quiet voice.
17 It said, ‘Can a human be more right than God?
Can a person be pure before his maker?
18 God does not trust his angels;
he blames them for mistakes.
19 So he puts even more blame on people who live in clay houses,[a]
whose foundations are made of dust,
who can be crushed like a moth.
20 Between dawn and sunset many people are broken to pieces;
without being noticed, they die and are gone forever.
21 The ropes of their tents are pulled up,
and they die without wisdom.’
Footnotes
- 4:19 clay houses This is probably talking about people’s bodies.
Job 4
New International Version
Job 4
New International Version
Eliphaz
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite(A) replied:
2 “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?(B)
3 Think how you have instructed many,(C)
how you have strengthened feeble hands.(D)
4 Your words have supported those who stumbled;(E)
you have strengthened faltering knees.(F)
5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;(G)
it strikes(H) you, and you are dismayed.(I)
6 Should not your piety be your confidence(J)
and your blameless(K) ways your hope?
7 “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?(L)
Where were the upright ever destroyed?(M)
8 As I have observed,(N) those who plow evil(O)
and those who sow trouble reap it.(P)
9 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)
Job 4
King James Version
Job 4
King James Version
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
New Century Version (NCV) 
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.