¹ Then spake Eliphaz the Temanite, and said:

² If one attempt a word with thee, wilt thou be offended? But who can refrain from speaking?

³ Behold, thou hast admonished many; Thou hast strengthened feeble hands;

⁴ Thy words have upheld him that was falling, And thou hast given strength to feeble knees.

⁵ But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; It toucheth thee, and thou art confounded!

⁶ Is not thy fear of God thy hope, And the uprightness of thy ways thy confidence?

⁷ Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? Or where have the righteous been cut off?

⁸ According to what I have seen, they who plough iniquity, And sow mischief, reap the same.

⁹ By the blast of God they perish, And by the breath of his nostrils they are 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 fierce lion perisheth for lack of prey, And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.

¹² A word was once secretly brought to me, And mine ear caught a whisper thereof.

¹³ Amid thoughts from visions of the night, When deep sleep falleth upon men,

¹⁴ A fear and a horror came upon me, Which made all my bones to shake.

¹⁵ Then a spirit passed before my face, The hair of my flesh rose on end;

¹⁶ It stood still, but its form I could not discern; An image was before mine eyes; There was silence, and I heard a voice:

¹⁷ "Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall man be more pure than his Maker?

¹⁸ Behold, he putteth no trust in his ministering spirits, And his angels he chargeth with frailty.

¹⁹ What then are they who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who crumble to pieces, as if moth-eaten!

²⁰ Between morning and evening are they destroyed; They perish for ever, and none regardeth it.

²¹ The excellency that is in them is torn away; They die before they have become wise."