Chapter 4

¹ Then Eliphaz the Thæmanite answered and said,

² Hast thou been often spoken to in distress? but who shall endure the force of thy words? ³ For whereas thou hast instructed many, and hast strengthened the hands of the weak one, ⁴ and hast supported the failing with words, and hast imparted courage to feeble knees. ⁵ Yet now that pain has come upon thee, and touched thee, thou art troubled. ⁶ Is not thy fear founded in folly, thy hope also, and the ¹mischief of thy way? ⁷ Remember then who has perished, being pure? or when were the true-hearted utterly destroyed? ⁸ Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves. ⁹ They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath.

¹⁰ The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched. ¹¹ The ²old lion has perished for want of food, and the lions' whelps have forsaken one another.

¹² But if there had been any truth in thy words, none of these evils would have befallen thee. Shall not mine ear receive excellent revelations from him? ¹³ But as when terror falls upon men, with dread and a sound in the night, ¹⁴ horror and trembling seized me, and caused all my bones greatly to shake. ¹⁵ And a spirit came before my face; and my hair and flesh quivered. ¹⁶ I arose and perceived it not: I looked, and there, was no form before my eyes: but I only heard a breath and a voice, saying, ¹⁷ What, shall a mortal be pure before the Lord? or a man be blameless in regard to his works? ¹⁸ Whereas he trust not in his servants, and perceives perverseness in his angels.

¹⁹ But as for them that dwell in houses of clay, of whom we also are formed of the same clay, he smites them like a moth. ²⁰ And from the morning to evening they no longer exist: they have perished, because they cannot help themselves. ²¹ For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of wisdom.

Chapter 5

¹ But call, if any one will hearken to thee, or if thou shalt see any of the holy angels. ² For wrath destroys the foolish one, and envy slays him that has gone astray. ³ And I have seen foolish ones taking root: but suddenly their habitation was devoured. ⁴ Let their children be far from safety, and let them be crushed at the doors of vile men, and let there be no deliverer. ⁵ For what they have collected, the just shall eat; but they shall not be delivered out of calamities: let their strength be utterly exhausted. ⁶ For labour cannot by any means come out of the earth, nor shall trouble spring

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out of the mountains: ⁷ yet man is born to labour, and even so the vulture's young seek the high places.

⁸ Nevertheless I will beseech the Lord, and will call upon the Lord, the sovereign of all; ⁹ who does great things and untraceable, glorious things also, and marvellous, of which there is no number: ¹⁰ who gives rain upon the earth, sending water on the earth: ¹¹ who exalts the lowly, and raises up them that are lost: ¹² frustrating the counsels of the crafty, and their hands shall not perform the truth: ¹³ who takes the wise in their wisdom, and subverts the counsel of the crafty ¹⁴ In the day darkness shall come upon them, and let them grope in the noon-day even as in the night: ¹⁵ and let them perish in war, and let the weak escape from the hand of the mighty. ¹⁶ And let the weak have hope, but the mouth of the unjust be stopped.

¹⁷ But blessed is the man whom the Lord has reproved; and reject not thou the chastening of the Almighty. ¹⁸ for he causes a man to be in pain, and restores him again: he smites, and his hands heal. ¹⁹ Six time he shall deliver thee out of distresses: and in the seventh harm shall not touch thee. ²⁰ In famine he shall deliver thee from death: and in war he shall free thee from the ³power of the sword. ²¹ He shall hide thee from the scourge of the tongue: and thou shalt not be afraid of coming evils. ²² Thou shalt laugh at the unrighteous and the lawless: and thou shalt not be afraid of wild beasts. ²³ For the wild beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. ²⁴ Then shalt thou know that thy house shall be at peace, and the provision for thy tabernacle shall not ⁴fail. ²⁵ And thou shalt know that thy seed shall be abundant; and thy children shall be like the herbage of the field. ²⁶ And thou shalt come to the grave like ripe corn reaped in its season, or as a heap of the corn-flour collected in proper time.

²⁷ Behold, we have thus sought out these matters; these are what we have heard: but do thou reflect with thyself, if thou hast done anything wrong.