1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite {temani: man of Teman region} answered {anah: replied in turn} and said:
2 If one tries {hanissah: cautious attempt} to speak a word to you, will you become weary {tileh: grow impatient}? Yet who can restrain himself from words?
3 Behold, you have instructed {yissarta: corrective guidance} many, and you have strengthened feeble hands {yadayim: instruments of work}.
4 Those who stumble have been raised up by your words {millekha: wise instruction}, and bending knees {birkayim: sign of frailty} you have strengthened.
5 But now it comes to you, and you are weary {tele: utterly exhausted}; it strikes you, and you are dismayed {tibbahel: shaken and confused}.
6 Is not your fear {yirah: devoted reverence} your confidence {kisla: secure trust}, and the integrity of your ways your hope?
7 Remember now, who {mi: which person} has ever perished, being innocent, and where have the upright {yesharim: morally straight ones} ever been destroyed?
8 As I have seen, those who plow {choreshei: those who prepare wrongdoing} evil {aven: morally corrupt schemes} and those who sow trouble will reap it.
9 By the breath of God {Eloah, Living God} they perish, and by the wind {ruach: breath of His anger} of His anger they are consumed.
10 The roar {shaagat: terrifying battle cry} of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken {shinnei: symbols of strength and power}.
11 The lion perishes for lack of prey {teref: hunted food}, and the sons of the lioness are scattered {yitparadu: driven apart}.
12 A word {davar: brief message} was secretly brought to me, and my ear caught a whisper {shemets: faint murmur} from it.
13 Amid thoughts {bis'eipim: troubling reflections} from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men {anashim: all human people}.
14 Fear {pachad: overwhelming dread} came upon me {qerani: abrupt onset}, and trembling, and it made the multitude of my bones afraid.
15 And a spirit {ruach: unseen movement} passed over my face {panai: close before me}, and the hair of my flesh stood on end.
16 It stood still, yet I did not recognize its appearance; a form {temunah: indistinct figure} was before my eyes. In silence I heard a voice {kol: spoken sound}.
17 Can a mortal be in the right before God {Eloah, Ultimate Judge}? Can a man be pure before his Maker {oseh: Creative Authority}?
18 Behold, He {He: God Himself} does not trust His servants, and even in His angels He charges error {taholah: moral folly}.
19 Indeed, those who dwell in houses of clay {batei chomer: fragile human bodies}, whose foundation is in the dust, are crushed like a moth {ash: easily destroyed creature}.
20 From morning to evening they are crushed {yukkatu: violently broken}; without anyone paying attention {mesim: giving heed}, they perish forever.
21 Is not their cord pulled up {nissa: pulled away} within them, so that they die and not in wisdom {chokhmah: skillful understanding}?