Job 4
Common English Bible
Eliphaz tries to comfort Job
4 Then Eliphaz, a native of Teman, responded:
2 If one tries to answer you, will you be annoyed?
But who can hold words back?
3 Look, you’ve instructed many
and given strength to drooping hands.
4 Your words have raised up the falling;
you’ve steadied failing knees.
5 But now it comes to you, and you are dismayed;
it has struck you, and you are frightened.
6 Isn’t your religion the source of[a] your confidence;
the integrity of your conduct, the source of your hope?
Sinners don’t live long
7 Think! What innocent person has ever perished?
When have those who do the right thing been destroyed?
8 As I’ve observed, those who plow sin
and sow trouble will harvest it.
9 When God breathes deeply, they perish;
by a breath of his nostril they are annihilated.
10 The roar of a lion and snarl of the king of beasts—
yet the teeth of lions are shattered;
11 the lion perishes without prey,
and its cubs are scattered.
A frightening dream
12 But a word sneaked up on me;
my ears caught a hint of it.
13 In profound thoughts, visions of night,
when deep sleep falls on people,
14 fear and dread struck me;
all of my bones shook.
15 A breeze swept by my face;
the hair of my skin bristled.
16 It stopped. I didn’t recognize its visible form,
although a figure was in front of my eyes.
Silence! Then I heard a voice:
17 “Can a human be more righteous than God,
a person purer than their maker?”
Its interpretation
18 If he doesn’t trust his servants
and levels a charge against his messengers,
19 how much less those who dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundations are in dust,
and who are crushed like a moth?
20 They are smashed between morning and evening;
they perish forever without anyone knowing.
21 Isn’t their tent cord pulled up?
They die without wisdom.[b]
Job 4
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 If we venture to converse with you, will you be offended? Yet who can restrain himself from speaking?
3 Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands.
4 Your words have held firm him who was falling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees.
5 But now it is come upon you, and you faint and are grieved; it touches you, and you are troubled and dismayed.
6 Is not your [reverent] fear of God your confidence and the integrity and uprightness of your ways your hope?
7 Think [earnestly], I beg of you: who, being innocent, ever perished? Or where were those upright and in right standing with God cut off?
8 As I myself have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble and mischief reap the same.
9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are 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 and strong lion perishes for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper of it.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
14 Fear came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up!
16 [The spirit] stood still, but I could not discern the appearance of it. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, and then I heard a voice, saying,
17 Can mortal man be just before God, or be more right than He is? Can a man be pure before his Maker, or be more cleansed than He is?(A)
18 Even in His [heavenly] servants He puts no trust or confidence, and His angels He charges with folly and error—
19 How much more those who dwell in houses (bodies) of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed like the moth.
20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed; without anyone noticing it they perish forever.
21 Is not their tent cord plucked up within them [so that the tent falls]? Do they not die, and that without [acquiring] wisdom?
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
