4:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

4:2 If someone¹ should attempt² a word with you,
will you be impatient?³
but who can refrain from speaking⁴?
4:3 Look,⁵ you have instructed⁶ many,
you have strengthened⁷ feeble hands.⁸
4:4 Your words have supported⁹ those who stumbled,¹⁰
and you have strengthened the knees
that gave way.¹¹
4:5 But now the same thing¹² comes to you
and you are discouraged;¹³
it strikes you and you are terrified.¹⁴
4:6 Is not your piety¹⁵ your confidence,¹⁶
and your blameless ways your hope?¹⁷
4:7 Call to mind now:¹⁸
Who,¹⁹ being innocent, ever perished?²⁰
And where were upright people²¹ ever destroyed?²²
4:8 Even as I have seen,²³ those who plow²⁴ iniquity²⁵
and those who sow trouble reap the same.²⁶
4:9 From the breath²⁷ of God they perish,²⁸
and from the blast²⁹ of his anger they are consumed.
4:10 There is³⁰ the roaring of the lion³¹
and the growling³² of the young lion,
but the teeth of the great lions are broken.³³
4:11 The lion³⁴ perishes³⁵ for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness³⁶ are scattered.

4:12 Now a word was secretly³⁷ brought³⁸ to me,
and my ear caught³⁹ a whisper⁴⁰ of it.
4:13 In the troubling thoughts⁴¹ of the dreams⁴² in the night
when a deep sleep⁴³ falls upon men,
4:14 a trembling⁴⁴ took hold of me—and a terror!—
and made all my bones shake.⁴⁵
4:15 Then a breath⁴⁶ passes⁴⁷ by my face
it makes⁴⁸ the hair of my flesh stand up;
4:16 It stands still,⁴⁹
but I cannot recognize⁵⁰ its appearance;
an image is before my eyes,
and I hear a murmuring voice:⁵¹
4:17 “Is⁵² a mortal man⁵³ righteous⁵⁴ before⁵⁵ God?
or a man pure⁵⁶ before his Maker?⁵⁷
4:18 If⁵⁸ he puts no trust in⁵⁹ his servants⁶⁰
and attributes⁶¹ folly⁶² to his angels,
4:19 how much more to those who live in houses of clay,⁶³
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed⁶⁴ like⁶⁵ the moth?
4:20 They are destroyed⁶⁶ from morning to evening,⁶⁷
they perish forever⁶⁸ without any regarding it.⁶⁹
4:21 Is not their excess wealth⁷⁰ taken away from them?⁷¹
They die,⁷² even without wisdom.⁷³