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[1]Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite 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 mischief 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 old 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.
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