Job 4:12-21

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

¹² ‘Now a word came stealing to me,
    my ear received the whisper of it.
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.
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 human beings be pure before^[b] their Maker?
¹⁸ Even in his servants he puts no trust,
    and his angels he charges with error;
¹⁹ how much more those who live in houses of clay,
    whose foundation is in the dust,
    who are crushed like a moth.
²⁰ Between morning and evening they are destroyed;
    they perish for ever without any regarding it.
²¹ Their tent-cord is plucked up within them,
    and they die devoid of wisdom.”