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 4,17 Hiob 4,17
Doth God pervert justice?Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness?
If I wash myself {Another reading is, with snow.}with snow water,And {Hebrew: cleanse my hands with lye.}make my hands never so clean;
Of a truth I know that it is so: {Or, For}But how can man be just {Or, before}with God?
Yet wilt thou plunge me in the ditch,And mine own clothes shall abhor me.
Thinkest thou this to be thy right,Or sayest thou, My righteousness is more than God's,
{Or, Oh that a clean thing could come out of an unclean! not one can}Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
Wilt thou even annul my judgment?Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justified?
What is man, that he should be clean?And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
How then can man be just {Or, before}with God?Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?
And enter not into judgment with thy servant;For in thy sight no man living is righteous.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
Jehovah is righteous in all his ways,And gracious in all his works.
And he said, That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man.
For from within, out of the heart of men, {Greek: thoughts that are evil.}evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness:
all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.
{Or, For}Surely there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying,Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and {Or, who cometh}who is to come.
Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend with thee; yet would I {Hebrew: speak of judgements.}reason the cause with thee: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously?
but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
{Greek: Be it not so: and so elsewhere.}God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, {Psalm 51:4}That thou mightest be justified in thy words,And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.
But if our unrighteousness commendeth the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who visiteth with wrath? (I speak after the manner of men.)
{Greek: Be it not so: and so elsewhere.}God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
{Many ancient authorities read For.}But if the truth of God through my lie abounded unto his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?
O the depth {Or, of the riches and the wisdom & c.}of the riches {Or, both of wisdom & c.}both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!