17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?(A)
    Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?(B)
18 If God places no trust in his servants,(C)
    if he charges his angels with error,(D)
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,(E)
    whose foundations(F) are in the dust,(G)
    who are crushed(H) more readily than a moth!(I)
20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
    unnoticed, they perish forever.(J)
21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,(K)
    so that they die(L) without wisdom?’(M)

Read full chapter

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?”

Read full chapter

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