Eliphaz's First Speech
Please Be Patient and Listen
1 Eliphaz from Teman said:
2 Please be patient and listen
to what I have to say.
* 3 Remember how your words
4 have guided and encouraged
many in need.
5 But now you feel discouraged
when struck by trouble.
6 You respect God and live right,
so don't lose hope!
7 No truly innocent person
has ever died young.
8 In my experience, only those
who plant seeds of evil
harvest trouble,
9 and then they are swept away
by the angry breath of God.
10 They may roar and growl
like powerful lions.
But when God breaks their teeth,
11 they starve, and their children
are scattered.
A Secret Was Told to Me
12 A secret was told to me
in a faint whisper—
13 I was overcome by sleep,
but disturbed by dreams;
14 I trembled with fear,
15 and my hair stood on end,
as a wind blew past my face.
16 It stopped and stood still.
Then a form appeared—
a shapeless form.
And from the silence,
I heard a voice say,
17 “No humans are innocent
in the eyes of God
their Creator.
18 He finds fault with his servants
and even with his angels.
19 Humans are formed from clay
and are fragile as moths,
so what chance do you have?
20 Born after daybreak,
you die before nightfall
and disappear forever.
21 Your tent pegs are pulled up,
and you leave this life,
having gained no wisdom.”
© Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®) © 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.