17 “Can a person be more righteous than God,
or a man more pure than his Maker?”(A)
18 If God puts no trust in His servants
and He charges His angels with foolishness,[a](B)
19 how much more those who dwell in clay houses,(C)
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.(D)
21 Are their tent cords not pulled up?
They die without wisdom.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 4:18 Or error; Hb obscure

17 ‘Can a mortal person[a] be more righteous than God?
    Or can the purity of the valiant exceed that of his maker?’[b]

18 “Indeed, since he doesn’t trust his servants,[c]
    since he charges[d] his angels with error,
19 how much less confidence[e] does he have
    in those who dwell in houses of clay;
who were formed from a foundation in dust
    and can perish[f] like a moth?
20 They are defeated between morning and evening;
    they perish forever—and no one notices!
21 Their wealth[g] perishes with them, doesn’t it?
    They die, and do so without having wisdom, don’t they?”

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Footnotes

  1. Job 4:17 Lit. a man
  2. Job 4:17 The quotation possibly continues through v 21.
  3. Job 4:18 Cf. Job 15:15
  4. Job 4:18 Or lay upon
  5. Job 4:19 The Heb. lacks confidence
  6. Job 4:19 Lit. can crush them
  7. Job 4:21 Or remnants, left over