Top of Page
Page Style
Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “Should a wise man answer with empty counsel,
or fill his belly with a hot east wind?
3 Should he argue with useless talk,
or with speeches that serve no purpose?
4 But you even cast off devotion,
and hinder meditation before God.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth what to say,
and you choose the language of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
your own lips testify against you.
7 “Are you the first man born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you listen in on the council of God?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that we do not?
10 With us are both the gray-haired and the aged,
men older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God too small for you,
even words that deal gently with you?
12 Why does your heart mislead you,
and why do your eyes flash,
13 so that you vent your anger against God,
and allow such words to proceed from your mouth?
14 “What is man, that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
15 If God places no trust in His holy ones,
and if even the heavens are not clean in His eyes,
16 how much less man, who is vile and corrupt,
who drinks up iniquity like water!
17 “Listen to me and I will tell you;
what I have seen I will declare,
18 that which wise men have declared,
hiding nothing they received from their fathers,
19to whom alone the land was given,
when no foreigner passed among them.
20 A wicked man writhes in torment all his days,
and the ruthless through the number of years laid up for him.
21 Frightening sounds are in his ears;
when he is at ease, villains attack him.
22 He does not believe that he will return from the darkness;
he is destined for the sword.
23 He wanders about seeking food,
saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows the day of darkness is already at hand.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him;
they overwhelm him, like a king preparing for battle.
25 For he has shaken his fist at God,
and arrogantly opposed the Almighty,
26 rushing defiantly against Him
with his thick, studded shields.
27 “Though his face is covered with fat,
and his waistline bulges with flesh,
28 yet he will live in ruined cities,
in abandoned houses that no man would inhabit,
crumbling into rubble.
29 He will no longer be rich, and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions spread out over the land.
30 He will not escape the darkness;
flames will sear his branches,
and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
31 Let him not trust in worthless things, deceiving himself,
for futility will be his reward.
32 It will be accomplished before his time,
and his branches will never flourish.
33 He will be like a vine that has dropped its unripe grapes,
he will cast off his blossoms like an olive tree.
34 For the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of those who love bribery.
35 They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity;
their womb crafts deceit.”