4 Then Elifaz the Teimani spoke up:

² “If one tries to speak to you, will you mind?
Yet who could keep from speaking?
³ You have given moral instruction to many,
you have firmed up feeble hands,
⁴ your words have supported those who were stumbling,
and you have strengthened the weak-kneed.

⁵ “But now it comes to you, and you are impatient;
at the first touch, you are in shock.
⁶ Isn’t your fear of God your assurance,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷ “Think back: what innocent person has perished?
Since when are the upright destroyed?
⁸ What I see is that those who plow sin
and sow trouble reap just that.
⁹ At a breath from God, they perish;
at a blast from his anger, they are consumed.
¹⁰ The lion may growl, the king lion may roar,
but that old lion’s teeth are broken;
¹¹ so the lion succumbs from lack of prey,
and the lion’s cubs are scattered.

¹² “For a word was stealthily brought to me,
my ear caught only a whisper of it.
¹³ In passing thoughts flashing through visions at night,
when sleep lies heavy on people,
¹⁴ a shiver of horror came over me;
it made all my bones tremble.
¹⁵ Then a spirit passed in front of my face;
the hair of my flesh stood on end.
¹⁶ It stood still,
but I couldn’t make out its appearance;
yet the form stayed there before my eyes.
Then I heard a subdued voice:
¹⁷ ‘Can a human be seen by God as righteous?
Can a mortal be pure before his maker?
¹⁸ [God] doesn’t trust his own servants,
he finds fault even with his angels;
¹⁹ much more those living in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust.
They are crushed more easily than a worm;
²⁰ shattered between morning and evening;
they perish forever, and no one takes notice.
²¹ Their cord within them is pulled up;
then they die, without ever gaining wisdom.’