¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered ,

²“If someone ventures to talk with you , will you be grieved ?

But who can withhold himself from speaking ?

³Behold , you have instructed many ,

you have strengthened the weak hands .

⁴Your words have supported him who was falling ,

you have made the feeble knees firm.

⁵But now it has come to you , and you faint.

It touches you , and you are troubled.

⁶Isn’t your piety your confidence ?

Isn’t the integrity of your ways your hope ?

⁷“Remember , now , who ever perished, being innocent ?

Or where were the upright cut off ?

⁸According to what I have seen , those who plough iniquity

and sow trouble , reap the same.

⁹By the breath of God they perish .

By the blast of his anger are they consumed .

¹⁰The roaring of the lion ,

and the voice of the fierce lion ,

the teeth of the young lions , are broken .

¹¹The old lion perishes for lack of prey .

The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad .

¹²“Now a thing was secretly brought to me .

My ear received a whisper of it .

¹³In thoughts from the visions of the night ,

when deep sleep falls on men,

¹⁴fear came on me, and trembling ,

which made all my bones shake .

¹⁵Then a spirit passed before my face .

The hair of my flesh stood up .

¹⁶It stood still , but I couldn’t discern its appearance .

A form was before my eyes .

Silence , then I heard a voice , saying ,

¹⁷‘Shall mortal man be more just than God?

Shall a man be more pure than his Maker ?

¹⁸Behold , he puts no trust in his servants .

He charges his angels with error .

¹⁹How much more those who dwell in houses of clay ,

whose foundation is in the dust ,

who are crushed before the moth !

²⁰Between morning and evening they are destroyed .

They perish forever without any regarding it .

²¹Isn’t their tent cord plucked up within them ?

They die , and that without wisdom .’