[1] Eliphaz from Teman answered:
[2] “I must say something. Will it upset you if I try to speak?
[3] Job, you have taught many people. You gave strength to weak hands.
[4] Your words helped people who were ready to fall. You gave strength to people who couldn’t stand by themselves.
[5] But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged. Trouble hits you, and you are upset!
[6] You worship God. You trust him. You are a good man. So let that be your hope.
[7] Job, think about this: No innocent person was ever destroyed. Good people are never destroyed.
[8] I have seen some troublemakers and people who make life hard. But they are always punished!
[9] God’s punishment kills those people. God’s anger destroys them.
[10] The bad people roar and growl like lions. But God makes the bad people be quiet, and God breaks their teeth.
[11] Yes, those bad people are like lions that can’t find animals to kill. They die and their children wander away.
[12] “A message was brought to me in secret. My ears caught a whisper of it.
[13] Like a bad dream in the night, it ruined my sleep.
[14] I was afraid, and shook. All my bones shook!
[15] A ghost passed by my face. The hair on my body stood up!
[16] The spirit stood still, but I could not see what it was. A shape stood before my eyes, and there was silence. Then I heard a very quiet voice:
[17] 'A person can’t be more right than God. Man can’t be more pure than his Maker.
[18] Look, God can’t even trust his heavenly servants. God sees problems even in his angels.
[19] So surely people are worse! People live in houses of clay. The foundations of these houses of clay are in the dirt. They are crushed to death more easily than a moth!
[20] People die from dawn to sunset, and no one even notices. They die and are gone forever.
[21] The ropes of their tent are pulled up, and these people die without wisdom.’