Eliphaz
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
But who can keep from speaking?
3Think how you have instructed many,
how you have strengthened feeble hands.
4Your words have supported those who stumbled;
you have strengthened faltering knees.
5But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;
it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6Should not your piety be your confidence
and your blameless ways your hope?
7“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Where were the upright ever destroyed?
8As I have observed, those who plow evil
and those who sow trouble reap it.
9At the breath of God they perish;
at the blast of his anger they are no more.
10The lions may roar and growl,
yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
11The lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12“A word was secretly brought to me,
my ears caught a whisper of it.
13Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
when deep sleep falls on people,
14fear and trembling seized me
and made all my bones shake.
15A spirit glided past my face,
and the hair on my body stood on end.
16It stopped,
but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
and I heard a hushed voice:
17‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
18If God places no trust in his servants,
if he charges his angels with error,
19how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundations are in the dust,
who are crushed more readily than a moth!
20Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
unnoticed, they perish forever.
21Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,
so that they die without wisdom?’
Elifas Mmuaeɛ A Ɛdi Ɛkan
1Na Temanni Elifas buaa Hiob sɛ,
2“Sɛ obi pɛ sɛ ɔne wo kasa a, worennya ntoboaseɛ mma no anaa?
Hwan na wɔbɛtumi aka nʼano ato mu?
3Dwene sɛdeɛ wakyerɛkyerɛ nnipa bebree,
sɛdeɛ woahyɛ nsa a emu ayɛ mmerɛ den.
4Wo nsɛm ahyɛ wɔn a wɔasunti no den;
woahyɛ nkotodwe a ayɛ mmerɛ mu den.
5Na afei a ɔhaw aba no, wʼaba mu abu;
aba wo so, na wo ho adwiri wo.
6Wo nyamesuro mma wo ahotosoɔ anaa,
na wʼakwan a ɛho nni asɛm mma wo anidasoɔ anaa?
7“Dwene ho: Wɔasɛe obi a ne ho nni asɛm pɛn anaa?
Ɛhefa na wɔsɛee obi a ɔyɛ pɛ?
8Sɛdeɛ mahunu no, wɔn a wɔfɛntɛm bɔne
ne wɔn a wɔdua ɔhaw no, wɔtwa so aba.
9Sɛ Onyankopɔn home a, wɔsɛe;
nʼabufuo ma wɔyera.
10Agyata bɛtumi abobom na wɔapɔ so,
nanso wɔbɛbubu gyata akɛseɛ no se.
11Gyata annya haboa a ɔwu,
na gyatabereɛ mma no bɔ hwete.
12“Wɔbɛkaa kokoamsɛm bi kyerɛɛ me
na mʼaso tee no sɛ asomusɛm.
13Wɔ anadwo daeɛso basabasa mu,
ɛberɛ a nnipa adeda nnahɔɔ no,
14ehu ne nketenkete kyeree me.
Ɛmaa me nnompe nyinaa wosoeɛ.
15Honhom bi twaa mʼani so,
na me ho nwi sɔre gyinaeɛ.
16Ɛgyinaeɛ,
nanso, manhunu nʼabɔsuo.
Biribi bɛgyinaa mʼanim,
na metee nne bɔkɔɔ bi a ɛrebisa sɛ,
17‘Onipa dasani bɛtumi atene asene Onyankopɔn?
Onipa bɛtumi ayɛ kronn asene ne Yɛfoɔ anaa?
18Sɛ Onyankopɔn ntumi mfa ne ho nto nʼankasa asomfoɔ so,
na sɛ ɔka nʼabɔfoɔ mpo anim a,
19hwan ne onipa a wɔde dɔteɛ anwene no,
a ne fapem sisi mfuturo mu
na wɔdwerɛ no ntɛm so sene abubummabaa?
20Ɛfiri anɔpahema kɔsi anwummerɛ wɔbubu wɔn mu nketenkete;
na wɔyera korakora a obiara nhunu wɔn bio.
21Wɔtete wɔn ntomadan nhoma mu,
ɛno enti wɔwuwu a wɔnnim.’
