Job 4:1-21 - Eliphaz's First Response To Job

¹ ELIPHAZ THE TEMANITE REPLIED TO JOB: ² If someone tries to talk to you, will you become impatient? But who can keep from talking? ³ Look, you have instructed many people. When hands were weak, you made them strong. ⁴ When someone stumbled, you lifted him up with your words. When knees were weak, you gave them strength. ⁵ But trouble comes to you, and you are impatient. It touches you, and you panic. ⁶ Does your respect for God give you confidence and your lifetime of integrity give you hope? ⁷ Now think about this: Which innocent person ever died an untimely death? Find me a decent person who has been destroyed. ⁸ When I saw those who plowed wickedness and planted misery, they gathered its harvest. ⁹ God destroys them with his breath and kills them with a blast of his anger. ¹⁰ The roar of the lion and the growl of the ferocious lion are loud. The young lions have had their teeth knocked out. ¹¹ The old lions die without any prey to eat, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹² Eliphaz of Teman continued: I was told something secretly and heard something whispered in my ear. ¹³ I am with disturbing thoughts from visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on people. ¹⁴ Fear and trembling came over me, and all my bones shook. ¹⁵ A spirit passed in front of me. It made my hair stand on end. ¹⁶ Something stood there. I could not tell what it was. A vague image was in front of my eyes. I heard a soft voice say: ¹⁷ Can any mortal be righteous to God? Can any human being be pure to his maker? ¹⁸ You see God does not trust his own servants. He accuses his angels of making mistakes. ¹⁹ How much more will he accuse those who live in clay houses that have their foundation in the dust? Those houses can be crushed quicker than a moth! ²⁰ From morning to evening, they are shattered. They will disappear forever without anyone noticing. ²¹ Have the ropes of their tent been loosened? Will they die without wisdom?