• Eliphaz Says the Innocent Do Not Suffer

  • 1 Then 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?
  • 3 “Behold, you have disciplined many, And you have strengthened limp hands.
  • 4 “Your words have helped the stumbling to stand, And you have encouraged feeble knees.
  • 5 “But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; It touches you, and you are dismayed.
  • 6 “Is 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?
  • 8 “According to what I have seen, those who plow wickedness And those who sow trouble harvest it.
  • 9 “By the breath of God they perish, And by the wind of His anger they come to an end.
  • 10 “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 whelps of the lioness are scattered.
  • 12 “Now a word was brought to me stealthily, And my ear received a whisper of it.
  • 13 “Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on men,
  • 14 Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made the multitude of my bones shake in dread.
  • 15 “Then a spirit swept by my face; The hair of my flesh bristled up.
  • 16 “It 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?
  • 18 ‘He puts no trust even in His slaves; And against His angels He charges error.
  • 19 ‘How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!
  • 20 ‘Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces; Unobserved, they perish forever.
  • 21 ‘Is not their tent-cord pulled up within them? They die, yet without wisdom.’