Eliphaz: the Innocent Don’t Suffer
4 In reply, Eliphaz from Teman answered:
2 “Will you get offended if somebody tries to talk to you?
Who can keep from speaking at a time like this?
3 Look! You’ve admonished many people,
and you’ve strengthened feeble hands.
4 A word from you has supported those who have stumbled,
and has strengthened faltering knees.
5 “But now it’s your turn,
and you’re the one who is worn out!
Now it’s striking you,
and you’re dismayed!
6 “Your fear of God has been your confidence, hasn’t it?
The integrity of your life has been your hope, hasn’t it?
7 Now please think:
Who has ever perished when they’re innocent?
Where have the upright been destroyed?
8 It’s been my experience that those who plow the soil of iniquity
and those who sow the seed of trouble will reap their harvest!
9 They perish by the breath of God;
they are consumed by the storm that is his anger.
10 “The lioness may roar,
and the lion cub may growl;
but even the ivory teeth of the full grown lion are broken.
11 Full grown lions die when they cannot find prey;
that’s when the lion cubs are scattered.
12 “A message was confided to me;
my ear caught a whisper of it.
13 Disquieting thoughts from dreams at night;
when deep sleep falls on everyone.
14 A fear fell upon me, along with trembling
that caused all my bones to shake in terror.
15 A spirit glided past me
and made the hair on my skin to bristle.
16 It remained standing,
but I couldn’t recognize its appearance.
A form appeared before my eyes;
At first there was silence, and then this voice:
17 ‘Can a mortal person be more righteous than God?
Or can the purity of the valiant exceed that of his maker?’
18 “Indeed, since he doesn’t trust his servants,
since he charges his angels with error,
19 how much less confidence does he have
in those who dwell in houses of clay;
who were formed from a foundation in dust
and can perish like a moth?
20 They are defeated between morning and evening;
they perish forever—and no one notices!
21 Their wealth perishes with them, doesn’t it?
They die, and do so without having wisdom, don’t they?”
Footnotes
- Job 4:2
- Job 4:3
- Job 4:5
- Job 4:8
- Job 4:8
- Job 4:8
- Job 4:9
- Job 4:9
- Job 4:12
- Job 4:13
- Job 4:14
- Job 4:15
- Job 4:16
- Job 4:17
- Job 4:17
- Job 4:18
- Job 4:18
- Job 4:19
- Job 4:19
- Job 4:21
