Eliphaz’s First Response to Job
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied to Job:
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied to Job:
2 “Will you be patient and let me say a word?
For who could keep from speaking out?
For who could keep from speaking out?
3 “In the past you have encouraged many people;
you have strengthened those who were weak.
you have strengthened those who were weak.
4 Your words have supported those who were falling;
you encouraged those with shaky knees.
you encouraged those with shaky knees.
5 But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart.
You are terrified when it touches you.
You are terrified when it touches you.
6 Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence?
Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope?
Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope?
7 “Stop and think! Do the innocent die?
When have the upright been destroyed?
When have the upright been destroyed?
8 My experience shows that those who plant trouble
and cultivate evil will harvest the same.
and cultivate evil will harvest the same.
9 A breath from God destroys them.
They vanish in a blast of his anger.
They vanish in a blast of his anger.
10 The lion roars and the wildcat snarls,
but the teeth of strong lions will be broken.
but the teeth of strong lions will be broken.
11 The fierce lion will starve for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness will be scattered.
and the cubs of the lioness will be scattered.
12 “This truth was given to me in secret,
as though whispered in my ear.
as though whispered in my ear.
13 It came to me in a disturbing vision at night,
when people are in a deep sleep.
when people are in a deep sleep.
14 Fear gripped me,
and my bones trembled.
and my bones trembled.
16 The spirit stopped, but I couldn’t see its shape.
There was a form before my eyes.
In the silence I heard a voice say,
There was a form before my eyes.
In the silence I heard a voice say,
17 ‘Can a mortal be innocent before God?
Can anyone be pure before the Creator?’
Can anyone be pure before the Creator?’
18 “If God does not trust his own angels
and has charged his messengers with foolishness,
and has charged his messengers with foolishness,
19 how much less will he trust people made of clay!
They are made of dust, crushed as easily as a moth.
They are made of dust, crushed as easily as a moth.
20 They are alive in the morning but dead by evening,
gone forever without a trace.
gone forever without a trace.
21 Their tent-cords are pulled and the tent collapses,
and they die in ignorance.
and they die in ignorance.
Job, 4 chapter