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