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17 ‘Shall mortal man be more just than God?
    Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 Behold, he puts no trust in his servants.
    He charges his angels with error.
19 How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay,
    whose foundation is in the dust,
    who are crushed before the moth!
20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed.
    They perish forever without any regarding it.
21 Isn’t their tent cord plucked up within them?
    They die, and that without wisdom.’

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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