A thoughtful guide for your walk of faith Read with context, practice with grace.
Wisdom & Poetry · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Job 4

Suffering, protest, limited human knowledge, friendship, and encounter with the sovereign God.

Old Testament

Job 4

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

2“If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?

3Behold, you have instructed many, you have strengthened the weak hands.

4Your words have supported him who was falling, you have made the feeble knees firm.

5But now it has come to you, and you faint. It touches you, and you are troubled.

6Isn’t your piety your confidence? Isn’t the integrity of your ways your hope?

7“Remember, now, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?

8According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble, reap the same.

9By the breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are they consumed.

10The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

11The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.

12“Now a thing was secretly brought to me. My ear received a whisper of it.

13In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

14fear came on me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.

15Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood up.

16It stood still, but I couldn’t discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,

17‘Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?

18Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels 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 forever without any regarding it.

21Isn’t their tent cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.’

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Suffering, protest, limited human knowledge, friendship, and encounter with the sovereign God. Read Job 4 within the complete Job overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Job 4

Job 4 contains 21 verses and about 310 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 21 closes: “Isn’t their tent cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.’” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include isn’t, lion, behold, perish, voice, stood. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Job 4

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Job 4:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer