1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking? 3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. 4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. 5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. 6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? 8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. 9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. 10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. 11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad.
12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof. 13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, 14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. 15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up: 16 It 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 , 17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? 18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: 19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth? 20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it . 21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
1 respondens autem Eliphaz Themanites dixit
2 si coeperimus loqui tibi forsitan moleste accipias
sed conceptum sermonem tenere quis possit
3 ecce docuisti multos et manus lassas roborasti
4 vacillantes confirmaverunt sermones tui
et genua trementia confortasti
5 nunc autem venit super te plaga et defecisti
tetigit te et conturbatus es
6 timor tuus fortitudo tua patientia tua
et perfectio viarum tuarum
7 recordare obsecro te quis umquam innocens perierit
aut quando recti deleti sint
8 quin potius vidi eos qui operantur iniquitatem
et seminant dolores et metunt eos
9 flante Deo perisse et spiritu irae eius esse consumptos
10 rugitus leonis et vox leaenae
et dentes catulorum leonum contriti sunt
11 tigris periit eo quod non haberet praedam
et catuli leonis dissipati sunt
12 porro ad me dictum est verbum absconditum
et quasi furtive suscepit auris mea venas susurri
eius
13 in horrore visionis nocturnae quando solet sopor occupare homines
14 pavor tenuit me et tremor et omnia ossa mea perterrita sunt
15 et cum spiritus me praesente transiret
inhorruerunt pili carnis meae
16 stetit quidam cuius non agnoscebam vultum
imago coram oculis meis et vocem quasi aurae lenis audivi
17 numquid homo Dei conparatione iustificabitur
aut factore suo purior erit vir
18 ecce qui serviunt ei non sunt stabiles
et in angelis suis repperit pravitatem
19 quanto magis hii qui habitant domos luteas
qui terrenum habent fundamentum
consumentur velut a tinea
20 de mane usque ad vesperum succidentur
et quia nullus intellegit in aeternum peribunt
21 qui autem reliqui fuerint auferentur ex eis morientur et non in sapientia