Job, 4

¹ And Elʹi·phaz the Teʹman·ite proceeded to reply and say:

² “If one does try out a word^*1 to you, will you become weary? But to put a restraint on words who is able?

³ Look! You have corrected many, And the weak hands you used to strengthen.

⁴ Anyone stumbling, your words^*1 would raise up; And knees giving way you would make firm.

⁵ But this time it comes to you, and you become weary; It touches even you, and you get disturbed.

⁶ Is not your reverence [the basis of] your confidence? Is not your hope even the integrity of your ways?

⁷ Remember, please: Who that is innocent has ever perished? And where have the upright ever been effaced?

⁸ According to what I have seen, those devising what is hurtful And those sowing trouble will themselves reap it.

⁹ Through the breath of God they perish, And through the spirit of his anger they come to an end.

¹⁰ There is the roaring of a lion,^*1 and the voice of a young lion, But the teeth of maned young lions do get broken down.

¹¹ A lion is perishing from there being no prey, And the cubs of a lion^*1 are separated from one another.

¹² Now to me a word was stealthily brought, And my ear proceeded to get a whisper of it,

¹³ In disquieting thoughts from visions of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men.

¹⁴ A dread came over me, and a trembling, And the multitude of my bones it filled with dread.

¹⁵ And a spirit itself went passing over my face; The hair of my flesh began to bristle.

¹⁶ It began to stand still, But I did not recognize its appearance; A form was in front of my eyes; There was a calm, and I now heard a voice:

¹⁷ ‘Mortal man^*1—can he be more just than God^*2 himself? Or can able-bodied man be cleaner than his own Maker?’

¹⁸ Look! In his servants he has no faith, And his messengers^*1 he charges with faultiness.

¹⁹ How much more so with those dwelling in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust! One crushes them^*1 more quickly than a moth.

²⁰ From morning to evening they are crushed to pieces; Without anyone’s taking [it to heart] they perish forever.

²¹ Has not their tent cord within them been pulled out? They die for lack of wisdom.