Job 4:12–5:7

¹²“A word^l was secretly brought to me,

my ears caught a whisper^m of it.ⁿ

¹³Amid disquieting dreams in the night,

when deep sleep falls on people,^o

¹⁴fear and trembling^p seized me

and made all my bones shake.^q

¹⁵A spirit glided past my face,

and the hair on my body stood on end.^r

¹⁶It stopped,

but I could not tell what it was.

A form stood before my eyes,

and I heard a hushed voice:^s

¹⁷‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?^t

Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?^u

¹⁸If God places no trust in his servants,^v

if he charges his angels with error,^w

¹⁹how much more those who live in houses of clay,^x

whose foundations^y are in the dust,^z

who are crushed^a more readily than a moth!^b

²⁰Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;

unnoticed, they perish forever.^c

²¹Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,^d

so that they die^e without wisdom?’^f

5“Call if you will, but who will answer you?^g

To which of the holy ones^h will you turn?

²Resentmentⁱ kills a fool,

and envy slays the simple.^j

³I myself have seen^k a fool taking root,^l

but suddenly^m his house was cursed.ⁿ

⁴His children^o are far from safety,^p

crushed in court^q without a defender.^r

⁵The hungry consume his harvest,^s

taking it even from among thorns,

and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

⁶For hardship does not spring from the soil,

nor does trouble sprout from the ground.^t

⁷Yet man is born to trouble^u

as surely as sparks fly upward.