1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel
or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
2“Does a wise one answer with knowledge of wind, and fill his belly with the east wind?
3Should he argue with useless words
or speeches that serve no purpose?
3Should he reason with a word that does not benefit, and with words without profit in them?
4But you even undermine the fear of God
and hinder meditation before Him.
4Indeed, you break apart fear, and diminish meditation before the face of God.
5For your iniquity instructs your mouth,
and you choose the language of the crafty.
5For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you;
your own lips testify against you.
6Your own mouth declares you wicked, and not I; and your lips testify against you.
7Were you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
7Were you born as the first man? And were you formed before the face of the hills?
8Do you listen in on the council of God
or limit wisdom to yourself?
8Do you listen in the council of God, and reduce to yourself wisdom?
9What do you know that we do not?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?
9What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not with us?
10Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—
men much older than your father.
10Even the gray-haired and the aged are with us—greater than your father in days.
11Are the consolations of God not enough for you,
even words spoken gently to you?
11Are the consolations of God too small for you, or a word in gentleness to you?
12Why has your heart carried you away,
and why do your eyes flash,a
12Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash,
13so that you turn your spirit against God
and pour such words from your mouth?
13that you should turn your spirit against God, and bring out such words out of your mouth?
14What is man, that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
14What is man that he should be pure, or that he should be righteous, one born of woman?
15If God puts no trust in His holy ones,
if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
15Behold, He does not trust in His holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in His eyes;
16how much less man, who is vile and corrupt,
who drinks injustice like water?
16also surely the abominable and corrupt one is a man drinking iniquity like water!
17Listen to me and I will inform you.
I will describe what I have seen,
17I will tell you! Listen to me, and this that I have seen I will recount—
18what was declared by wise men
and was not concealed from their fathers,
18what the wise have brought forward and have not concealed from their fathers,
19to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.
19to whom alone the land was given, and a stranger did not pass over in their midst.
20A wicked man writhes in pain all his days;
only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
20All the days of the wicked, he is writhing, and the number of years is hidden for the ruthless.
21Sounds of terror fill his ears;
in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
21The voice of dread is in his ears; in prosperity, the destroyer comes upon him.
22He despairs of his return from darkness;
he is marked for the sword.
22He is not sure to return from darkness, and he is watched over unto the sword.
23He wanders about as food for vultures;
he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
23He is is wandering for bread for vultures, knowing that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24Distress and anguish terrify him,
overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
24Distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him like a king ready for the attack.
25For he has stretched out his hand against God
and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,
25For he stretched out his hand against God, and against Shaddai he sought to prevail,
26rushing headlong at Him
with a thick, studded shield.
26running against Him with the neck, with thickness of the bosses of his shields.
27Though his face is covered with fat
and his waistline bulges with flesh,
27For he has covered his face with his fat, and made thick fat upon his loin.
28he will dwell in ruined cities,
in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.
28And he dwells in desolate cities, houses in which they do not dwell, which are ready to be heaps.
29He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.
His possessions will not overspread the land.
29He will not be rich, and his wealth will not stand, nor will his possessions stretch out over the earth.
30He will not escape from the darkness;
the flame will wither his shoots,
and the breath of God’s mouth
will carry him away.
30He will not turn aside from darkness; the flame will dry out his shoot, and he will turn aside at the breath of His mouth.
31Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness,
for emptiness will be his reward.
31Do not let him trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his recompense.
32It will be paid in full before his time,
and his branch will not flourish.
32Not in his day will it be fulfilled, and his branch will not be green.
33He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,
like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
33He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine, and he will cast off his blossom like an olive tree.
34For the company of the godless will be barren,
and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
34For the company of the godless is barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;
their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
35They conceive trouble and give birth to inquity, and their belly prepares deceit.”