Job 4

vayya'an elifaz hattemani vayyomar

Then Eliphaz the Temanite said in reply:

hanissah davar elekha tileh vatsor bemillin mi yukhal

If one ventures a word with you, will it be too much? But who can hold back his words?

hinneh yissarta rabbim veyadayim rafot tekhazzeq

See, you have encouraged many; You have strengthened failing hands.

koshel yeqimun millekha uvirkayim kore'ot te'ammets

Your words have kept him who stumbled from falling; You have braced knees that gave way.

ki attah tavo elekha vattele tigga adekha vattibbahel

But now that it overtakes you, it is too much; It reaches you, and you are unnerved.

halo yiratekha kislatekha tiqvatekha vetom derakhekha

Is not your piety your confidence, Your integrity your hope?

zekhor-na mi hu naqi avad ve'efoh yesharim nikhkhadu

Think now, what innocent ever perished? Where have the upright been destroyed?

ka'asher ra'iti khoreshe aven vezore'e amal yiqtseruhu

As I have seen, those who plow evil And sow mischief reap them.

minnishmat eloah yovedu umeruakh appo yikhlu

They perish by a blast from the divine, Are gone at the breath of God’s nostrils.

sha'agat aryeh veqol shakhal veshinne khefirim nitta'u

The lion may roar, the cub may howl, But the teeth of the king of beasts are broken.

layish oved mibbeli-taref uvene lavi yitparadu

The lion perishes for lack of prey, And its whelps are scattered.

ve'elay davar yegunnav vattiqqakh ozni shemets menhu

A word came to me in stealth; My ear caught a whisper of it.

bisippim mekhezyonot layelah binfol tardemah al-anashim

In thought-filled visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on everyone,

pakhad qera'ani ure'adah verov atsmotay hifkhid

Fear and trembling came upon me, Causing all my bones to quake with fright.

veruakh al-panay yakhalof tesammer sa'arat besari

A wind passed by me, Making the hair of my flesh bristle.

ya'amod velo-akkir marehu temunah leneged enay demamah vaqol eshma

It halted; its appearance was strange to me; A form loomed before my eyes; I heard a murmur, a voice,

ha'enosh me'eloah yitsdaq im me'osehu yithar-gaver

“Can a mortal be acquitted by God? Can a man be cleared by his Maker?

hen ba'avadayw lo ya'amin uvemalakhayw yasim toholah

If God’s own servants cannot be trusted, And angels receive reproach,

af shokhene vatte-khomer asher-be'afar yesodam yedakke'um lifne-ash

How much less those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose origin is dust, Who are crushed like the moth,

mibboqer la'erev yukkattu mibbeli mesim lanetsakh yovedu

Shattered between daybreak and evening, Perishing forever, unnoticed.

halo-nissa yitram bam yamutu velo vekhokhmah

Their cord is pulled up And they die, and not with wisdom.”