New International Version NIV
American Standard Version ASV
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
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Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
2 “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?
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If one assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.
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Behold, thou hast instructed many, And thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
4 Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees.
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Thy words have upholden him that was falling, And thou hast made firm the feeble knees.
5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
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But now it is come unto thee, and thou faintest; It toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
6 Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?
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Is not thy fear [of God] thy confidence, [And] the integrity of thy ways thy hope?
7 “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?
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Remember, I pray thee, who [ever] perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?
8 As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
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According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, And sow trouble, reap the same.
9 At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.
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By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of his anger are they consumed.
10 The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
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The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, And the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
11 The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
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The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
12 “A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it.
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Now a thing was secretly brought to me, And mine ear received a whisper thereof.
13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people,
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In thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falleth on men,
14 fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.
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Fear came upon me, and trembling, Which made all my bones to shake.
15 A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.
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Then a spirit passed before my face; The hair of my flesh stood up.
16 It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:
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It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof; A form was before mine eyes: [There was] silence, and I heard a voice, [saying],
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
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Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,
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Behold, he putteth no trust in his servants; And his angels he chargeth with folly:
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!
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How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!
20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever.
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Betwixt morning and evening they are destroyed: They perish for ever without any regarding it.
21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
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Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.