Job 4:3-21 ▼

3 Look! You've admonished many people, and you've strengthened feeble hands.

4 A word from you has supported those who have stumbled, and has strengthened faltering knees.

5 |But now it's your turn, and you're the one who is worn out! Now it's striking you, and you're dismayed!

6 |Your fear of God has been your confidence, hasn't it? The integrity of your life has been your hope, hasn't it?

7 Now please think: Who has ever perished when they're innocent? Where have the upright been destroyed?

8 It's been my experience that those who plow the soil of iniquity and those who sow the seed of trouble will reap their harvest!

9 They perish by the breath of God; they are consumed by the storm that is his anger.

10 |The lioness may roar, and the lion cub may growl; but even the ivory teeth of the full grown lion are broken.

11 Full grown lions die when they cannot find prey; that's when the lion cubs are scattered.

12 |A message was confided to me; my ear caught a whisper of it.

13 Disquieting thoughts from dreams at night; when deep sleep falls on everyone.

14 A fear fell upon me, along with trembling that caused all my bones to shake in terror.

15 A spirit glided past me and made the hair on my skin to bristle.

16 It remained standing, but I couldn't recognize its appearance. A form appeared before my eyes; At first there was silence, and then this voice:

17 Can a mortal person be more righteous than God? Or can the purity of the valiant exceed that of his maker?'

18 |Indeed, since he doesn't trust his servants, since he charges his angels with error,

19 how much less confidence does he have in those who dwell in houses of clay; who were formed from a foundation in dust and can perish like a moth?

20 They are defeated between morning and evening; they perish forever—and no one notices!

21 Their wealth perishes with them, doesn't it? They die, and do so without having wisdom, don't they?|