Job 4
New International Reader's Version
The First Speech of Eliphaz
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied,
2 “Job, suppose someone tries to talk to you.
Will that make you uneasy?
I can’t keep from speaking up.
3 Look, you taught many people.
You made weak hands strong.
4 Your words helped those who had fallen down.
You made shaky knees strong.
5 Now trouble comes to you. And you are unhappy about it.
It strikes you down. And you are afraid.
6 Shouldn’t you worship God and trust in him?
Shouldn’t your honest life give you hope?
7 “Here’s something to think about.
Have people who aren’t guilty ever been wiped out?
Have honest people ever been completely destroyed?
8 Here’s what I’ve observed.
People gather a crop from what they plant.
If they plant evil and trouble, that’s what they will harvest.
9 The breath of God destroys them.
The blast of his anger wipes them out.
10 Powerful lions might roar and growl.
But their teeth are broken.
11 Lions die because they don’t have any food.
Then their cubs are scattered.
12 “A message came to me in secret.
It was as quiet as a whisper.
13 I had a scary dream one night.
I was sound asleep.
14 Fear and trembling seized me.
That made every bone in my body shake.
15 A spirit glided past my face.
The hair on my body stood on end.
16 Then the spirit stopped.
But I couldn’t tell what it was.
Something stood there in front of me.
I heard a soft voice.
17 It said, ‘Can a human being be more right than God?
Can even a strong man be more pure than the God who made him?
18 God doesn’t trust those who serve him.
He even brings charges against his angels.
19 So he’ll certainly find fault with human beings.
After all, they are made out of dust.
They can be crushed more easily than a moth.
20 Between sunrise and sunset they are broken to pieces.
Nobody even notices. They disappear forever.
21 Like a tent that falls down, they get weak.
They die because they didn’t follow God’s wisdom.’ ”
Job 4
Living Bible
4 A reply to Job from Eliphaz the Temanite:
2 “Will you let me say a word? For who could keep from speaking out? 3-4 In the past[a] you have told many a troubled soul to trust in God and have encouraged those who are weak or falling, or lie crushed upon the ground or are tempted to despair. 5 But now when trouble strikes, you faint and are broken.
6 “At such a time as this should not trust in God still be your confidence? Shouldn’t you believe that God will care for those who are good?[b] 7-8 Stop and think! Have you ever known a truly good and innocent person who was punished? Experience teaches that it is those who sow sin and trouble who harvest the same. 9 They die beneath the hand of God. 10 Though they are fierce as young lions, they shall all be broken and destroyed. 11 Like aged, helpless lions they shall starve, and all their children shall be scattered.
12 “This truth was given me in secret, as though whispered in my ear. 13 It came in a nighttime vision as others slept. 14 Suddenly, fear gripped me; I trembled and shook with terror, 15 as a spirit passed before my face—my hair stood up on end. 16 I felt the spirit’s presence, but couldn’t see it standing there. Then out of the dreadful silence came this voice:
17 “‘Is mere man more just than God? More pure than his Creator?’
18-19 “If God cannot trust his own messengers (for even angels make mistakes), how much less men made of dust, who are crushed to death as easily as moths! 20 They are alive in the morning, but by evening they are dead, gone forever with hardly a thought from anyone. 21 Their candle of life is snuffed out. They die and no one cares.
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