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?’
Elifazi Anazungumza: Ayubu Ametenda Dhambi
14:1 Mwa 36:11; Ay 15:1; 22:1Ndipo Elifazi Mtemani akajibu:
24:2 Yer 4:19; 20:9; Ay 32:20“Kama mtu akithubutu kuzungumza nawe,
kutakukasirisha?
Lakini ni nani awezaye
kujizuia asiseme?
34:3 Sef 3:16; Hos 6:3; Ebr 12:12; Kum 32:2; Ay 29:23; 26:2; Za 71:9; Isa 13:7; 35:3Fikiri jinsi ambavyo umewafundisha watu wengi,
jinsi ambavyo umeitia nguvu
mikono iliyokuwa dhaifu.
44:4 Yer 31:8; Ay 16:5; 29:16, 25; Isa 1:17; 35:3; Ebr 12:12Maneno yako yamewategemeza wale waliojikwaa;
umeyatia nguvu magoti yaliyokuwa dhaifu.
54:5 Rut 1:13; Za 38:2; Ay 6:14; Mit 24:10; Lk 4:23Lakini sasa hii taabu imekujia wewe,
nawe unashuka moyo;
imekupiga wewe,
nawe unafadhaika.
64:6 Mwa 6:9; Za 71:5; Mit 3:26; Ay 1:1; 1Fal 18:19Je, kumcha Mungu kwako hakupaswi kuwa
ndiyo matumaini yako
na njia zako kutokuwa na lawama
ndilo taraja lako?
74:7 Za 41:12; 91:9-10; 37:25; 2Pet 2:9; Mit 12:21; Ay 5:11; 36:7; Mt 19:23“Fikiri sasa: Ni mtu yupi asiye na hatia ambaye aliwahi kuangamia?
Ni wapi wanyofu waliwahi kuangamizwa?
84:8 Amu 14:18; Gal 6:7-8; Hos 8:7; Za 7:14; Yos 1:9; Ay 5:3; 15:17; 5:6; 15:35; Mt 11:18Kwa jinsi ambavyo mimi nimechunguza,
wale walimao ubaya
na wale hupanda uovu,
huvuna hayo hayo hayo.
94:9 Kut 15:10; 2The 2:8; Law 26:38; Isa 25:7; Ay 41:21; 40:13Kwa pumzi ya Mungu huangamizwa;
kwa mshindo wa hasira zake huangamia.
104:10 Ay 38:15; 29:17; Za 22:13; 17:12; 22:21; Mt 28:15Simba anaweza kunguruma na kukoroma,
lakini bado meno ya simba mkubwa huvunjika.
114:11 Kum 28:41; Mit 30:14; Ay 5:4; Za 34:10; 58:6; Ay 27:14; 29:17Simba anaweza kuangamia kwa kukosa mawindo,
nao wana wa simba jike hutawanyika.
124:12 Ay 26:14; 33:14; 32:13; 12:23; Yer 9:23; Za 78:59“Neno lililetwa kwangu kwa siri,
masikio yangu yakasikia mnongʼono wake.
134:13 Ay 33:15Katikati ya ndoto za kutia wasiwasi wakati wa usiku,
hapo usingizi mzito uwapatapo wanadamu,
144:14 Dan 10:8; Hab 3:16; Ay 21:6; Za 48:6; 55:5; 119:120, 161; Yer 5:22; 2Kor 7:15hofu na kutetemeka kulinishika
na kufanya mifupa yangu yote itetemeke.
154:15 Za 104:4; Mt 14:26; Ebr 1:14; Dan 5:6; 7:15, 28; 10:8Kuna roho aliyepita mbele ya uso wangu,
nazo nywele za mwili wangu zikasimama.
164:16 1Fal 19:12Yule roho akasimama,
lakini sikuweza kutambua kilikuwa kitu gani.
Umbo fulani lilisimama mbele ya macho yangu,
kukawa na ukimya kisha nikasikia sauti:
174:17 Za 143:2; Mdo 17:24; Mal 2:10; Mit 20:9; Ay 9:2; 8:3; 10:3; 14:4; 15:14; 13:18; Mhu 7:20; Isa 51:13‘Je, binadamu aweza kuwa mwadilifu kuliko Mungu?
Je, mtu aweza kuwa safi kuliko Muumba wake?
184:18 Ay 25:5; 21:22; 5:4; 1Pet 2:4; Ebr 1:14Kama Mungu hawaamini watumishi wake,
kama yeye huwalaumu malaika zake kwa kukosea,
194:19 Isa 64:8; 2Kor 4:7; 2Pet 2:4; Mwa 2:7ni mara ngapi zaidi wale waishio katika nyumba
za udongo wa mfinyanzi,
ambazo misingi yake ipo mavumbini,
ambao wamepondwa kama nondo!
204:20 Za 89:47; 90:5-6; Yak 4:14; Ay 14:2, 20; 15:33; 20:7Kati ya mawio na machweo
huvunjwa vipande vipande;
bila yeyote kutambua,
huangamia milele.
214:21 Ay 8:22; Isa 38:12; Mit 5:23; Yn 8:24; Yer 9:3Je, kamba za hema yao hazikungʼolewa,
hivyo hufa bila hekima?’
