| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1In reply, Eliphaz from Teman answered: | 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: |
| 2"Will you get offended if somebody tries to talk to you? Who can keep from speaking at a time like this? | 2Should anyone try to speak with you when you are exhausted? Yet who can keep from speaking? |
| 3Look! You've admonished many people, and you've strengthened feeble hands. | 3Indeed, you have instructed many and have strengthened weak hands. |
| 4A word from you has supported those who have stumbled, and has strengthened faltering knees. | 4Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling and braced the knees that were buckling. |
| 5"But now it's your turn, and you're the one who is worn out! Now it's striking you, and you're dismayed! | 5But now that this has happened to you, you have become exhausted. It strikes you, and you are dismayed. |
| 6"Your fear of God has been your confidence, hasn't it? The integrity of your life has been your hope, hasn't it? | 6Isn't your piety your confidence, and the integrity of your life your hope? |
| 7Now please think: Who has ever perished when they're innocent? Where have the upright been destroyed? | 7Consider: who has perished when he was innocent? Where have the honest been destroyed? |
| 8It's been my experience that those who plow the soil of iniquity and those who sow the seed of trouble will reap their harvest! | 8In my experience, those who plow injustice and those who sow trouble reap the same. |
| 9They perish by the breath of God; they are consumed by the storm that is his anger. | 9They perish at a single blast from God and come to an end by the breath of His nostrils. |
| 10"The lioness may roar, and the lion cub may growl; but even the ivory teeth of the full grown lion are broken. | 10The lion may roar and the fierce lion growl, but the fangs of young lions are broken. |
| 11Full grown lions die when they cannot find prey; that's when the lion cubs are scattered. | 11The strong lion dies if it catches no prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered. |
| 12"A message was confided to me; my ear caught a whisper of it. | 12A word was brought to me in secret; my ears caught a whisper of it. |
| 13Disquieting thoughts from dreams at night; when deep sleep falls on everyone. | 13Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night, when deep sleep descends on men, |
| 14A fear fell upon me, along with trembling that caused all my bones to shake in terror. | 14fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shake. |
| 15A spirit glided past me and made the hair on my skin to bristle. | 15A wind passed by me, and I shuddered with fear. |
| 16It remained standing, but I couldn't recognize its appearance. A form appeared before my eyes; At first there was silence, and then this voice: | 16A figure stood there, but I could not recognize its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes. I heard a quiet voice: |
| 17Can a mortal person be more righteous than God? Or can the purity of the valiant exceed that of his maker?' | 17"Can a person be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?" |
| 18"Indeed, since he doesn't trust his servants, since he charges his angels with error, | 18If God puts no trust in His servants and He charges His angels with foolishness, |
| 19how much less confidence does he have in those who dwell in houses of clay; who were formed from a foundation in dust and can perish like a moth? | 19how much more those who dwell in clay houses, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth! |
| 20They are defeated between morning and evening; they perish forever—and no one notices! | 20They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; they perish forever while no one notices. |
| 21Their wealth perishes with them, doesn't it? They die, and do so without having wisdom, don't they?" | 21Are their tent cords not pulled up? They die without wisdom. |
|
    |