Job 4
Eliphaz tells Job that he has helped many with his words, but now that he is suffering, he is faltering. Eliphaz questions Job's reverence, fortitude, and patience, suggesting that the innocent do not perish and the righteous are not destroyed. He shares a vision he had in which a spirit told him that no man can be justified before God, and that even God's angels are imperfect, so how can humans, who are fragile and earthly, be pure.
But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, saidIf we start to speak to you, perhaps you will take it badly, but who can hold back the words he has conceivedBehold, you have taught many, and you have strengthened weary handsYour words have reassured the wavering, and you have fortified the trembling kneesBut now the scourge has overcome you, and you falter. It has touched you, and you are disturbedWhere is your reverence, your fortitude, your patience, and the perfection of your waysConsider this, I beg you: who ever perished being innocent? Or when have the righteous been destroyedIn fact, I have instead seen those who work iniquity and who sow resentments, reap themperishing by the breath of God, and being consumed by the wrath of his spiritThe roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of young lions have been worn awayThe tiger has perished because it does not have prey, and the young lions have been scatteredFurthermore, a word was spoken to me in secret, and, as if by theft, my ears received the pulse of its whisperIn the horror of a vision by night, when men are accustomed to be overtaken by a deep sleepfear and trembling seized me and all my bones were terrifiedAnd when a spirit passed before me, the hair on my body stood upThere appeared an image before my eyes, someone whose face I did not recognize, and I heard a voice like a gentle breezeShould man be justified in relation to God, or will a man be more pure than his MakerBehold, those who serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he finds imperfectionHow much more will those who live in houses of clay, which have an earthly foundation, be consumed like the mothFrom morning all the way to evening, they will be cut down, and because no one understands, they will be destroyed without ceasingBut those who are left behind will be taken away from them; they will die, and not in wisdom
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