Job 4:12–5:7

¹²“Now a word was brought to me stealthily,

my ear received the whisper of it.

¹³Amid thoughts from visions of the night,

when deep sleep falls on men,

¹⁴dread came upon me, and trembling,

which made all my bones shake.

¹⁵A spirit glided past my face;

the hair of my flesh stood up.

¹⁶It stood still,

but I could not discern its appearance.

A form was before my eyes;

there was silence, then I heard a voice:

¹⁷‘Can mortal man be righteous before God?

Can a man be pure before his Maker?

¹⁸Even in his servants he puts no trust,

and his angels he charges with error;

¹⁹how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

whose foundation is in the dust,

who are crushed before the moth.

²⁰Between morning and evening they are destroyed;

they perish for ever without any regarding it.

²¹If their tent-cord is plucked up within them,

do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

Chapter 5

¹“Call now; is there any one who will answer you?

To which of the holy ones will you turn?

²Surely vexation kills the fool,

and jealousy slays the simple.

³I have seen the fool taking root,

but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

⁴His sons are far from safety,

they are crushed in the gate,

and there is no one to deliver them.

⁵His harvest the hungry eat,

and he takes it even out of thorns;

and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

⁶For affliction does not come from the dust,

nor does trouble sprout from the ground;

⁷but man is born to trouble

as the sparks fly upward.