Job 4

Brenton^{(i) 1} Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said, ² Hast thou been often spoken to in distress? but who shall endure the force of thy words? ³ For whereas thou hast instructed many, and hast strengthened the hands of the weak one, ⁴ and hast supported the failing with words, and hast imparted courage to feeble knees. ⁵ Yet now that pain has come upon thee, and touched thee, thou art troubled. ⁶ Is not thy fear founded in folly, thy hope also, and the mischief of thy way? ⁷ Remember then who has perished, being pure? or when were the true-hearted utterly destroyed? ⁸ Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves. ⁹ They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath. ¹⁰ The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched. ¹¹ The old lion has perished for want of food, and the lions' whelps have forsaken one another. ¹² But if there had been any truth in thy words, none of these evils would have befallen thee. Shall not mine ear receive excellent revelations from him? ¹³ But as when terror falls upon men, with dread and a sound in the night, ¹⁴ horror and trembling seized me, and caused all my bones greatly to shake. ¹⁵ And a spirit came before my face; and my hair and flesh quivered. ¹⁶ I arose and perceived it not: I looked, and there, was no form before my eyes: but I only heard a breath and a voice, saying, ¹⁷ What, shall a mortal be pure before the Lord? or a man be blameless in regard to his works? ¹⁸ Whereas he trust not in his servants, and perceives perverseness in his angels. ¹⁹ But as for them that dwell in houses of clay, of whom we also are formed of the same clay, he smites them like a moth. ²⁰ And from the morning to evening they no longer exist: they have perished, because they cannot help themselves. ²¹ For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of wisdom.