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 4,20 Hiob 4,20
And they were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God did vex them with all adversity.
My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd's tent:I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; he will cut me off from the {Hebrew: thrum.}loom:From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
If a man die, shall he live again?All the days of my warfare {Or, will…shall come}would I wait,Till my {Or, change}release should come.
His remembrance shall perish from the earth,And he shall have no name in the street.
{Or, I thought until morning, As a lion, o will he break &c.}I quieted myself until morning; as a lion, so he breaketh all my bones:From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
For when a few years are come,I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung:They that have seen him shall say, Where is he?
Oh {Or, look away from me}spare me, that I may {Hebrew: brighten up.}recover strength,Before I go hence, and be no more.
Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years: and he departed without being desired; and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.
When the wicked spring as the grass,And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish;It is that they shall be destroyed for ever.
{Or, Yet he passed away}But one passed by, and, lo, he was not:Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
The memory of the righteous is blessed;But the name of the wicked shall rot.