[1] Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, [2] “If we dare to converse with you, will you be impatient [or offended]? But who can restrain himself from speaking? [3] Behold, you have admonished and instructed many, And you have strengthened weak hands. [4] Your words have helped the one who was stumbling to stand, And you have strengthened feeble knees. [5] But now adversity comes upon you, and you are impatient and intolerant; It touches you, and you are horrified. [6] Is not your fear of God your confidence, And [is not] the integrity and uprightness of your ways your hope? [7] “Remember now, who, being innocent, ever perished? Or where [and in what circumstances] were those upright and in right standing with God destroyed? [8] As I have seen, those who plow wickedness And those who sow trouble and harm harvest it. [9] By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they are consumed. [10] The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, And the teeth of the young lions are broken. [11] The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the cubs of the lioness are scattered. [12] “Now a word was secretly brought to me, And my ear received a whisper of it. [13] Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on men, [14] Dread and trembling came upon me, Which made all my bones shake. [15] Then a spirit passed before my face; The hair on my skin stood on end! [16] The spirit stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, and then I heard a voice, saying: [17] ‘Can [mortal] man be just before God or be more righteous than He? Can a man be pure before his Maker or be more cleansed than He? [18] God puts no trust or confidence, even in His [heavenly] servants, And He charges His angels with error. [19] How much more [will He blame and charge] those who dwell in houses (bodies) of clay, Whose foundations are in the dust, Who are crushed like a moth. [20] Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces and destroyed; Unobserved and unnoticed, they perish forever. [21] Is not their tent-cord drawn up within them [so that the tent collapses]? Do they not die, and yet without [acquiring] wisdom?’
