1 ¶ Then Eliphaz, the Temanite, answered and said,

2 I f we attempt to commune with thee, thou wilt be grieved. But who can withhold himself from speaking?

3 B ehold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

4 T hy words have upheld the one that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

5 B ut now that it is come upon thee, thou art grieved; it touches thee, and thou art troubled.

6 I s not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the integrity of thy ways?

7 ¶ Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off?

8 E ven as I have seen, those that plow iniquity and sow wickedness, reap the same.

9 B y the breath of God they perish, and by the spirit of his anger they are consumed.

10 T he roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

11 T he old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad.

12 ¶ Now the matter was also hidden from me, but my ear has perceived a little of it.

13 I n imaginations of visions of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men,

14 f ear came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

15 T hen a spirit passed before me which caused the hair of my flesh to stand up.

16 A ghost stood in front of me, whose face I did not recognize, and I heard it say,

17 S hall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker?

18 B ehold, he put no trust in his slaves, and his angels he charged with folly.

19 H ow much more with those that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who shall be crushed by the moth!

20 T hey are destroyed from morning to evening; they perish for ever without anyone regarding it.

21 D oes their beauty perish with them? They die and do not know.