[1] Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: [2] "If we attempt 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 upheld 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, who 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 excellence which is in them go away? They die, even without wisdom.'
