Then Elifaz the Temanite answered and said,

Then Elifaz the Temanite [(the son of Esav [who, being reared by Isaac, attained to the Holy Spirit])] raised his voice and said:

If one ventures a word to thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?

Do you tire with one trial? Who, then, can refrain from rebuttal?

Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

Did you not reprove many [who inveighed against the Almighty] and did you not strengthen the hands of those who were weak [in bearing up under the attribute of justice]?

Thy words have upheld him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

Your words would raise the stumbling and you would strengthen the buckling knees.

But now it is come upon thee, and thou art weary; it touches thee, and thou art troubled.

And now that it [(affliction)] comes upon you, do you weary? It touches you and you are confounded?

Is not thy fear of God thy confidence, and thy hope the integrity of thy ways?

Is it not [now evident that all] your fear [of the L rd] was folly, as was your hope [of good] and the uprightness of your ways?

Recall, now, who that was innocent ever perished? or where were the upright cut off?

Remember now: Who is the clean man that has gone lost, and where are the righteous who have been cut off,

Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

as I have seen the plowers of iniquity and the sowers of wrong reap it [(the fruits of their evil)]?

By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.

By the breath [(the tempestuous wrath)] of G d they go lost; they are cut off by the wind of His nostril. [(The allusion is to the generation of the flood.)]

The roar of the lion, and the cry of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

[Though theirs is] the roar of the [great] lion, and the voice of the lion, and the teeth of the young lions, they are confounded.

The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the lion’s whelps are scattered abroad.

The lion goes lost, without his prey, and the lion's children are scattered [(over all the earth [an allusion to the generation of the Tower of Bavel])].

Now a word came stealthily to me, and my ear took fright at it.

Now [(concerning you)] a thing [(a prophecy)] stole itself to me [(the Holy Spirit not coming openly to the gentile prophets)]; my ear caught a trace of it.

In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls,

In the thoughts of the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men.

fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

Fear possessed me and trembling, and it affrighted the bulk of my bones.

Then a spirit passed before my face; it made the hair of my flesh to bristle up:

And a spirit [(an angel)] passed before my face; it stood the hair of my flesh on end.

it stood still, but I could not discern its form: a shape was before my eyes: there was silence, and I heard a voice saying,

It stood, but I could not delineate its appearance, [though] its visage was before my eyes; a soft voice I heard;

Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

"Will a mortal [presume to] be more righteous than G d? Will a man be purer than his Maker?

Behold, he puts no trust in his servants; and his angels he charges with folly:

In His very servants [(Moses and Aaron)] He places no faith and to His angels [Moses and Aaron (viz. Numbers 20:16)] He ascribes wrong [viz. Ibid. 12].

how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth?

How much more so [is He exalted above] the inhabitants of houses of clay [i.e., graves], whose origin is in the dust, who are crushed before the worms [(which devour them)]!

Between morning and evening they are destroyed: they perish for ever without anyone paying heed.

From morning to night [i.e., in one day] they are broken, without taking [it to heart to repent], and they go lost for all time.

Is not their excellency which was in them gone away? they die; for they are without wisdom.

Is their primacy [(their pride and their wisdom)] not swallowed up in them? They die — and not in wisdom."