| 1 ¶ Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
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| 2 If we assay to1 commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold2 himself from speaking?
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| 3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
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| 4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
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| 5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
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| 6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
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| 7 ¶ Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
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| 8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
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| 9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath3 of his nostrils are they consumed.
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| 10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
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| 11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
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| 12 ¶ Now a thing was secretly4 brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
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| 13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
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| 14 Fear came5 upon me, and trembling, which made all6 my bones to shake.
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| 15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
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| 16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there7 was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
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| 17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
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| 18 Behold, he put no trust in his8 servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
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| 19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
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| 20 They are destroyed9 from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
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| 21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
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