Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
If one assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved?
But who can withhold himself from speaking?
Behold, thou hast instructed many,
And thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
Thy words have upholden him that was falling,
And thou hast made firm the {Hebrew: bowing.}feeble knees.
But now it is come unto thee, and thou {Or, art grieved}faintest;
It toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
Is not thy fear of God thy confidence,
And the integrity of thy ways thy hope?
Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent?
Or where were the upright cut off?
According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity,
And sow {Or, mischief}trouble, reap the same.
By the breath of God they perish,
And by the blast of his anger are they consumed.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion,
And the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey,
And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
Now a thing was {Hebrew: brought by stealth.}secretly brought to me,
And mine ear received a whisper thereof.
In thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falleth on men,
Fear came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones to shake.
Then {Or, a breath passed over}a spirit passed before my face;
The hair of my flesh stood up.
It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof;
A form was before mine eyes:
{Or, I heard a still voice}There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
Shall mortal man {Or, be just before God}be more just than God?
Shall a man {Or, be pure before his Maker}be more pure than his Maker?
Behold, he putteth no trust in his servants;
And his angels he chargeth with folly:
How much more them that dwell in houses of clay,
Whose foundation is in the dust,
Who are crushed {Or, like}before the moth!
{Or, From morning to evening}Betwixt morning and evening they are {Hebrew: broken in pieces.}destroyed:
They perish for ever without any regarding it.
{Or, Is not their excellency which is in them removed?}Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them?
They die, and that without wisdom.
Querverweise zu Hiob 4,7 Hiob 4,7
It is all one; therefore I say,He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
If the scourge slay suddenly,He will mock at the {Or, calamity}trial of the innocent.
I have been young, and now am old;Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,Nor his seed begging bread.
All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his evil-doing.
For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before them.
All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not; as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
And when the barbarians saw the venomous creature hanging from his hand, they said one to another, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped from the sea, yet Justice hath not suffered to live.
the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment;