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1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered Job. 2 “Could I say a word? I don't want to upset you but who could keep quiet and not respond?* 3 You've certainly encouraged many people and supported those who are weak. 4 Your advice has helped those who are stumbling not to fall, and you have strengthened those whose knees are weak. 5 But now you're the one suffering and you're upset. 6 Wasn't it your reverence for God that gave you confidence and your integrity that gave you hope? 7 Think about it: since when did the innocent die? Since when were good people destroyed? 8 From what I've seen it's those who plant† evil and sow trouble who reap the same! 9 A breath from God destroys them; a blast of his anger wipes them out. 10 Lions may roar and growl, but their teeth still break. 11 Even a lion dies from lack of food, and the lioness' cubs are scattered.
12 A word quietly crept up on me; a whisper reached my ear. 13 Troubling thoughts came to me in nightmares when you fall into a deep sleep. 14 I became terrified and trembled; all my bones were shaking. 15 Then a breath‡ brushed my face and gave me goose-pimples. 16 Something stopped, but I couldn't see its face. My eyes could only make out a shape. It was totally quiet, and then I heard a voice: 17 ‘Can anyone be right before God? Can anyone be pure before their Maker? 18 If he doesn't even trust his servants, and he says his angels make mistakes, 19 how much more does this apply to those who live in these houses made of clay,§ whose foundations are based on dust, who fall apart like clothing to a moth? 20 Alive in the morning, they are dead by evening. They die, unnoticed. 21 They are like tent ropes that are pulled up, and they collapse in death. They die without wisdom.’ ”
* 4:2 In other words, the situation demanded a response. † 4:8 Literally, “plow.” ‡ 4:15 Or “spirit”—the word is the same for both. § 4:19 Referring to human beings and their creation by God from the dust of the ground.