• Eliphaz Says the Innocent Do Not Suffer

  • 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,
  • 2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you become impatient? But who can refrain from speaking?
  • 3 “Behold, you have taught many, And you have strengthened weak hands.
  • 4 “Your words have helped the stumbling to stand, And you have strengthened feeble knees.
  • 5 “But now it comes to you, and you are impatient; It touches you, and you are horrified.
  • 6 “Is your fear of God not your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope?
  • 7 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed?
  • 8 “According to what I have seen, those who plow wrongdoing And those who sow trouble harvest it.
  • 9 “By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast 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 out.
  • 11 “The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
  • 12 “Now a word was brought to me secretly, And my ear received a whisper of it.
  • 13 “Amid disquieting thoughts from visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on people,
  • 14 Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake.
  • 15 “Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh stood up.
  • 16 “Something was standing 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 righteous before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?
  • 18 ‘He puts no trust even in His servants; And He accuses His angels of error.
  • 19 ‘How much more those who live 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; Unregarded, they perish forever.
  • 21 ‘Is their tent-cord not pulled out within them? They die, yet without wisdom.’