Eliphaz: The Innocent Prosper

1Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,

2Hast thou been often spoken to in distress? but who shall endure the force of thy words?

3For whereas thou hast instructed many, and hast strengthened the hands of the weak one,

4and hast supported the failing with words, and hast imparted courage to feeble knees.

5Yet now that pain has come upon thee, and touched thee, thou art troubled.

6Is not thy fear founded in folly, thy hope also, and the mischief of thy way?

7Remember then who has perished, being pure? or when were the true-hearted utterly destroyed?

8Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves.

9They shall perish by the command of the Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath.

10The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched.

11The old lion has perished for want of food, and the lions' whelps have forsaken one another.

12But if there had been any truth in thy words, none of these evils would have befallen thee. Shall not mine ear receive excellent revelations from him?

13But as when terror falls upon men, with dread and a sound in the night,

14horror and trembling seized me, and caused all my bones greatly to shake.

15And a spirit came before my face; and my hair and flesh quivered.

16I arose and perceived it not: I looked, and there, was no form before my eyes: but I only heard a breath and a voice, saying,

17What, shall a mortal be pure before the Lord? or a man be blameless in regard to his works?

18Whereas he trust not in his servants, and perceives perverseness in his angels.

19But as for them that dwell in houses of clay, of whom we also are formed of the same clay, he smites them like a moth.

20And from the morning to evening they no longer exist: they have perished, because they cannot help themselves.

21For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of wisdom.