Job 4
Good News Translation
The First Dialogue(A)
4 1-2 Job, will you be annoyed if I speak?
I can't keep quiet any longer.
3 You have taught many people
and given strength to feeble hands.
4 When someone stumbled, weak and tired,
your words encouraged him to stand.
5 Now it's your turn to be in trouble,
and you are too stunned to face it.
6 You worshiped God, and your life was blameless;
and so you should have confidence and hope.
7 Think back now. Name a single case
where someone righteous met with disaster.
8 I have seen people plow fields of evil
and plant wickedness like seed;
now they harvest wickedness and evil.
9 Like a storm, God destroys them in his anger.
10 The wicked roar and growl like lions,
but God silences them and breaks their teeth.
11 Like lions with nothing to kill and eat,
they die, and all their children are scattered.
12 Once a message came quietly,
so quietly I could hardly hear it.
13 (B)Like a nightmare it disturbed my sleep.
14 I trembled and shuddered;
my whole body shook with fear.
15 A light breeze touched my face,
and my skin crawled with fright.
16 I could see something standing there;
I stared, but couldn't tell what it was.
Then I heard a voice out of the silence:
17 “Can anyone be righteous in the sight of[a] God
or be pure before[b] his Creator?
18 God does not trust his heavenly servants;
he finds fault even with his angels.
19 Do you think he will trust a creature of clay,
a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?
20 We may be alive in the morning,
but die unnoticed before evening comes.
21 All that we have is taken away;
we die, still lacking wisdom.”
Job 4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Eliphaz Speaks: Job Has Sinned
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?
But who can keep from speaking?(A)
3 See, you have instructed many;
you have strengthened the weak hands.(B)
4 Your words have supported those who were stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.(C)
5 But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
it touches you, and you are dismayed.(D)
6 Is not your fear of God your confidence
and the integrity of your ways your hope?(E)
7 “Think now, who that was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?(F)
8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.(G)
9 By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.(H)
10 The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
and the teeth of the young lions are broken.(I)
11 The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.(J)
12 “Now a word came stealing to me;
my ear received the whisper of it.(K)
13 Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on mortals,
14 dread came upon me and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.(L)
15 A spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh bristled.
16 It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence; then I heard a voice:
17 ‘Can mortals be righteous before[a] God?
Can humans be pure before[b] their Maker?(M)
18 Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;(N)
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth.(O)
20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed;
they perish forever without any regarding it.(P)
21 Their tent cord is plucked up within them,
and they die devoid of wisdom.’(Q)
Job 4
Complete Jewish Bible
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.’
Job 4
The Message
Eliphaz Speaks Out
Now You’re the One in Trouble
4 1-6 Then Eliphaz from Teman spoke up:
“Would you mind if I said something to you?
Under the circumstances it’s hard to keep quiet.
You yourself have done this plenty of times, spoken words
that clarify, encouraged those who were about to quit.
Your words have put stumbling people on their feet,
put fresh hope in people about to collapse.
But now you’re the one in trouble—you’re hurting!
You’ve been hit hard and you’re reeling from the blow.
But shouldn’t your devout life give you confidence now?
Shouldn’t your exemplary life give you hope?
7-11 “Think! Has a truly innocent person ever ended up on the scrap heap?
Do genuinely upright people ever lose out in the end?
It’s my observation that those who plow evil
and sow trouble reap evil and trouble.
One breath from God and they fall apart,
one blast of his anger and there’s nothing left of them.
The mighty lion, king of the beasts, roars mightily,
but when he’s toothless he’s useless—
No teeth, no prey—and the cubs
wander off to fend for themselves.
12-16 “A word came to me in secret—
a mere whisper of a word, but I heard it clearly.
It came in a scary dream one night,
after I had fallen into a deep, deep sleep.
Dread stared me in the face, and Terror.
I was scared to death—I shook from head to foot.
A spirit glided right in front of me—
the hair on my head stood on end.
I couldn’t tell what it was that appeared there—
a blur . . . and then I heard a muffled voice:
17-21 “‘How can mere mortals be more righteous than God?
How can humans be purer than their Creator?
Why, God doesn’t even trust his own servants,
doesn’t even cheer his angels,
So how much less these bodies composed of mud,
fragile as moths?
These bodies of ours are here today and gone tomorrow,
and no one even notices—gone without a trace.
When the tent stakes are ripped up, the tent collapses—
we die and are never the wiser for having lived.’”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson