Eliphaz Says the Innocent Do Not Suffer

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

2“If one tries a word with you, will you become weary?

But who can hold back [†]from speaking?

3Behold, you have disciplined many,

And you have strengthened limp hands.

4Your words have [†]helped the stumbling to stand,

And you have encouraged [†]feeble knees.

5But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

It touches you, and you are dismayed.

6Is not your [†]fear of God your confidence,

And the integrity of your ways your hope?

7“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?

Or where were the upright wiped out?

8According to what I have seen, those who plow wickedness

And those who sow trouble harvest it.

9By the breath of God they perish,

And by the wind of His anger they come to an end.

10The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion,

And the teeth of the young lions are broken.

11The lion perishes for lack of prey,

And the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

12“Now a word was brought to me stealthily,

And my ear received a whisper of it.

13Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,

When deep sleep falls on men,

14Dread came upon me, and trembling,

And made the multitude of my bones shake in dread.

15Then a [†]spirit swept by my face;

The hair of my flesh bristled up.

16It stood still, but I could not recognize its appearance;

A form was before my eyes;

There was silence, then I heard a voice:

17‘Can mankind be right [†]before God?

Can a man be pure [†]before his Maker?

18He puts no trust even in His slaves;

And against His angels He charges error.

19How much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

Whose foundation is in the dust,

Who are crushed before the moth!

20Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces;

[†]Unobserved, they perish forever.

21Is not their tent-cord pulled up within them?

They die, yet without wisdom.’