| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, | 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: |
| 2If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking? | 2Should anyone try to speak with you when you are exhausted? Yet who can keep from speaking? |
| 3Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. | 3Indeed, you have instructed many and have strengthened weak hands. |
| 4Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. | 4Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling and braced the knees that were buckling. |
| 5But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. | 5But now that this has happened to you, you have become exhausted. It strikes you, and you are dismayed. |
| 6Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? | 6Isn't your piety your confidence, and the integrity of your life your hope? |
| 7Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? | 7Consider: who has perished when he was innocent? Where have the honest been destroyed? |
| 8Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. | 8In my experience, those who plow injustice and those who sow trouble reap the same. |
| 9By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. | 9They perish at a single blast from God and come to an end by the breath of His nostrils. |
| 10The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. | 10The lion may roar and the fierce lion growl, but the fangs of young lions are broken. |
| 11The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad. | 11The strong lion dies if it catches no prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered. |
| 12Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof. | 12A word was brought to me in secret; my ears caught a whisper of it. |
| 13In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, | 13Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night, when deep sleep descends on men, |
| 14Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. | 14fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shake. |
| 15Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up: | 15A wind passed by me, and I shuddered with fear. |
| 16It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, | 16A figure stood there, but I could not recognize its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes. I heard a quiet voice: |
| 17Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? | 17"Can a person be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?" |
| 18Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: | 18If God puts no trust in His servants and He charges His angels with foolishness, |
| 19How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth? | 19how much more those who dwell in clay houses, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth! |
| 20They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it. | 20They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; they perish forever while no one notices. |
| 21Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom. | 21Are their tent cords not pulled up? They die without wisdom. |
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