Job 4:12–5:7

¹²Once a message came quietly,

so quietly I could hardly hear it.

^13*Like a nightmare it disturbed my sleep.

¹⁴I trembled and shuddered;

my whole body shook with fear.

¹⁵A light breeze touched my face,

and my hair bristled with fright.

¹⁶I could see something standing there;

I stared, but couldn’t tell what it was.

Then I heard a voice out of the silence:

¹⁷“Can anyone be righteous in the sight of^g God

or be pure before^h his Creator?

¹⁸God does not trust his heavenly servants;

he finds fault even with his angels.

¹⁹Do you think he will trust a creature of clay,

a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?

²⁰Someone may be alive in the morning,

but die unnoticed before evening comes.

²¹All that he has is taken away;

he dies, still lacking wisdom.”

5Call out, Job. See if anyone answers.

Is there any angel to whom you can turn?

²To worry yourself to death with resentment

would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.

³I have seen fools who looked secure,

but I called down a sudden curse on their homes.

⁴Their children can never find safety;

no one stands up to defend them in court.

⁵Hungry people will eat the fool’s crops—

even the grain growing among thorns—ⁱ

and thirsty people will envy his wealth.

⁶Evil does not grow in the soil,

nor does trouble grow out of the ground.

⁷No indeed! People bring trouble on themselves,

as surely as sparks fly up from a fire.^j