The First Speech of Eliphaz
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied,
2“Job, suppose someone tries to talk to you.
Will that make you uneasy?
I can’t keep from speaking up.
3Look, you taught many people.
You made weak hands strong.
4Your words helped those who had fallen down.
You made shaky knees strong.
5Now trouble comes to you. And you are unhappy about it.
It strikes you down. And you are afraid.
6Shouldn’t you worship God and trust in him?
Shouldn’t your honest life give you hope?
7“Here’s something to think about.
Have people who aren’t guilty ever been wiped out?
Have honest people ever been completely destroyed?
8Here’s what I’ve observed.
People gather a crop from what they plant.
If they plant evil and trouble, that’s what they will harvest.
9The breath of God destroys them.
The blast of his anger wipes them out.
10Powerful lions might roar and growl.
But their teeth are broken.
11Lions die because they don’t have any food.
Then their cubs are scattered.
12“A message came to me in secret.
It was as quiet as a whisper.
13I had a scary dream one night.
I was sound asleep.
14Fear and trembling seized me.
That made every bone in my body shake.
15A spirit glided past my face.
The hair on my body stood on end.
16Then the spirit stopped.
But I couldn’t tell what it was.
Something stood there in front of me.
I heard a soft voice.
17It said, ‘Can a human being be more right than God?
Can even a strong man be more pure than the God who made him?
18God doesn’t trust those who serve him.
He even brings charges against his angels.
19So he’ll certainly find fault with human beings.
After all, they are made out of dust.
They can be crushed more easily than a moth.
20Between sunrise and sunset they are broken to pieces.
Nobody even notices. They disappear forever.
21Like a tent that falls down, they get weak.
They die because they didn’t follow God’s wisdom.’ ”
以利法的責難
1提幔人以利法回答說：
2「若有人向你進言，
你會厭煩嗎？
可是，誰能忍住不說呢？
3你曾教導許多人，
使無力的手強壯。
4你的話使人免於跌倒，
你使顫抖的膝硬朗。
5但現在苦難一來，
你便灰心喪膽；
災禍來臨，
你便驚慌失措。
6你敬畏上帝還沒有信心嗎？
你行為純全還沒有盼望嗎？
7你想一想，
哪有無辜的人滅亡？
哪有正直的人遭殃？
8據我所見，
播惡收惡，
種禍得禍。
9他們被上帝的氣息所毀，
被上帝的怒氣所滅。
10獅子咆哮，猛獅吼叫，
壯獅的牙齒被敲掉。
11雄獅因無食而死，
母獅的幼崽離散。
12「有信息暗暗地傳給我，
一聲低語傳入我耳中。
13夜間人們沉睡的時候，
在攪擾思緒的異象中，
14恐懼襲來，
令我戰慄不已，
全身發抖。
15有靈從我臉上拂過，
使我毛骨悚然。
16那靈停住，
我無法辨認其模樣。
眼前出現一個形狀，
寂靜中聽見有聲音說，
17『在上帝面前，世人豈算得上公義？
在創造主面前，凡人豈算得上純潔？
18連上帝的僕人都無法令祂信任，
連祂的天使都被祂找出過錯，
19更何況源自塵土、
住在土造的軀殼裡、
脆弱如蛾的世人呢？
20早晚之間，他們便被毀滅，
永遠消逝，無人察覺。
21他們帳篷的繩索被拔起，
他們毫無智慧地死去。』
