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4:1  Eliphaz from Teman answered:
4:2  “I must say something. Would it upset you if I speak?
4:3  Job, you have taught many people. You encouraged those who were ready to quit.
4:4  Your words helped those who were ready to fall. You gave strength to those who could not stand by themselves.
4:5  But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged. Trouble hits you, and you are upset.
4:6  You worship God. You trust him. You are a good man, so let that be your hope.
4:7  Can you think of any innocent person who was ever destroyed? Do you know of any place where good people are punished?
4:8  Yes, I have seen people whose lives were cut short, but they were evil troublemakers.
4:9  They lost the breath God gave them. They were cut off from his breath of life.
4:10  They were like roaring lions, like growling lions with broken teeth—
4:11  like a lioness that cannot find prey. They died, and their cubs starved to death.
4:12  “I happened to hear a message. My ears caught a whisper of it.
4:13  Like a bad dream in the night, it ruined my sleep.
4:14  It frightened me, and I trembled down to my bones.
4:15  A spirit passed by my face. The hair on my body stood up!
4:16  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 quiet voice:
4:17  ‘A person cannot be more right than God. People cannot be more pure than their Maker.
4:18  Look, God cannot even trust his heavenly servants. He sees faults even in his angels.
4:19  So surely people are worse! They live in houses of clay built on dust. They can be crushed as easily as a moth!
4:20  From dawn to sunset people are destroyed. They die—gone forever—and no one even notices.
4:21  The ropes of their tent are pulled up, and they die before gaining wisdom.’