4:12 “Now a word was secretly brought to me,
and my ear caught a whisper of it.
4:13 In the troubling thoughts of the dreams in the night
when a deep sleep falls on men,
4:14 a trembling gripped me – and a terror! –
and made all my bones shake.
4:15 Then a breath of air passes by my face;
it makes the hair of my flesh stand up.
4:16 It stands still,
but I cannot recognize its appearance;
an image is before my eyes,
and I hear a murmuring voice:
4:17 “Is a mortal man righteous before God?
Or a man pure before his Creator?
4:18 If God puts no trust in his servants
and attributes folly to his angels,
4:19 how much more to those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth?
4:20 They are destroyed between morning and evening;
they perish forever without anyone regarding it.
4:21 Is not their excess wealth taken away from them?
They die, yet without attaining wisdom.
5:1 “Call now! Is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
5:2 For wrath kills the foolish person,
and anger slays the silly one.
5:3 I myself have seen the fool taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his place of residence.
5:4 His children are far from safety,
and they are crushed at the place where judgment is rendered,
nor is there anyone to deliver them.
5:5 The hungry eat up his harvest,
and take it even from behind the thorns,
and the thirsty swallow up their fortune.
5:6 For evil does not come up from the dust,
nor does trouble spring up from the ground,
5:7 but people are born to trouble,
as surely as the sparks fly upward.