Job 4
Christian Standard Bible
First Series of Speeches
Eliphaz Speaks
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Should anyone try to speak with you
when you are exhausted?
Yet who can keep from speaking?
3 Indeed, you have instructed many
and have strengthened(A) weak hands.
4 Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling
and braced the knees that were buckling.(B)
5 But now that this has happened to you,
you have become exhausted.
It strikes(C) you, and you are dismayed.
6 Isn’t your piety your confidence,
and the integrity of your life[a] your hope?(D)
7 Consider: Who has perished when he was innocent?
Where have the honest[b] been destroyed?(E)
8 In my experience, those who plow injustice
and those who sow trouble(F) reap the same.(G)
9 They perish at a single blast(H) from God
and come to an end by the breath of his nostrils.(I)
10 The lion may roar and the fierce lion(J) growl,
but the teeth of young lions are broken.(K)
11 The strong lion dies if it catches no prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.(L)
12 A word was brought to me in secret;
my ears caught a whisper of it.(M)
13 Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night,(N)
when deep sleep(O) comes over men,
14 fear and trembling came over me(P)
and made all my bones shake.
15 I felt a draft[c] on my face,
and the hair on my body stood up.
16 A figure stood there,
but I could not recognize its appearance;
a form loomed before my eyes.
I heard a whispering voice:
17 “Can a mortal be righteous before God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?” (Q)
18 If God puts no trust in his servants
and he charges his angels with foolishness,[d](R)
19 how much more those who dwell in clay houses,(S)
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth!
20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;
they perish forever while no one notices.(T)
21 Are their tent cords not pulled up?
They die without wisdom.(U)
Job 4
New Life Version
Eliphaz Talks
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, 2 “If one speaks with you, will you want him to stop? But who can keep from speaking? 3 See, you have taught many, and you have given strength to weak hands. 4 Your words have helped him stand who would have fallen. You have given strength to weak knees. 5 But now it has come to you, and you are not happy. It touches you, and you are troubled and sad. 6 Is not your fear of God what gives you strength and your good ways that give you hope?
7 “Think now, who without guilt was ever destroyed? 8 As I have seen, those who plow sin and plant trouble gather the same. 9 By the breath of God they are destroyed. They are destroyed by the wind of His anger. 10 The noise of the lion, the voice of the angry lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken. 11 The strong lion dies because there is no food to get. And the young of the lioness are sent everywhere.
12 “Now a word was brought to me in secret. My ear heard it spoken in a quiet voice. 13 With troubled thoughts from the dreams of the night, when deep sleep comes upon men, 14 fear came to me and I shook. It made all my bones shake. 15 A spirit passed by my face. The hair of my flesh stood up. 16 The spirit stood still, but I could not understand what I saw. Something was in front of my eyes. All was quiet, then I heard a voice: 17 ‘Can man be right more than God? Can a man be pure more than his Maker? 18 He puts no trust even in His servants. He finds mistakes among His angels. 19 How much more those who live in houses of clay, who build upon the dust, who are crushed like the moth! 20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed. Without anyone seeing it they become lost forever. 21 Is not their tent-rope pulled up within them? They die, and have no wisdom.’
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