Eliphaz Says Job’s Lips Answer Against Him
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge
aAnd fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Should he argue with a word that cannot be used,
Or with speech which is not profitable?
4 Indeed, you annul reverent fear
And cut off musing before God.
5 For ayour iniquity teaches your mouth,
And you choose the tongue of bthe crafty.
6 Your aown mouth condemns you, and not I;
And your own lips answer against you.
7 “Were you the first man to be born,
Or awere you brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you hear the asecret counsel of God,
And cut down wisdom only unto yourself?
9 aWhat do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not with us?
10 Both the agray‑haired and the aged are among us,
Older than your father.
11 Are athe consolations of God too small for you,
Even the bword spoken gently with you?
12 Why does your aheart take you away?
And why do your eyes flash,
13 That you should turn your spirit against God
And allow such words to go out of your mouth?
14 What is man, that ahe should be pure,
Or bhe who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Behold, He puts no faith in His aholy ones,
And the bheavens are not pure in His sight;
16 How much less one who is aabominable and corrupt,
Man, who bdrinks unrighteousness like water!
17 “I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have beheld I will also recount;
18 What wise men have told,
And have not concealed from atheir fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked man writhes ain pain all his days,
And numbered are the years bstored up for the ruthless.
21 Sounds of adread are in his ears;
bWhile at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will areturn from darkness,
And he is destined for bthe sword.
23 He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of adarkness is ready at his hand.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him;
They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God
And amagnifies himself against the Almighty.
26 He rushes headlong at Him
With his massive shield.
27 For he has acovered his face with his fat
And made his thighs heavy with flesh.
28 He has adwelt in desolate cities,
In houses no one would inhabit,
Which are destined to become ruins.
29 He awill not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his grain will not stretch out over the land.
30 He will anot be able to depart from darkness;
The bflame will wither his shoots,
And by cthe breath of His mouth he will depart.
31 Let him not abelieve in emptiness, deceiving himself;
For emptiness will be his reward,
32 When ahis days are not yet fulfilled,
And his palm bbranch is not green.
33 He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine,
And will acast off his flower like the olive tree.
34 For the company of athe godless is barren,
And fire consumes bthe tents of the corrupt.
35 They aconceive trouble and give birth to wickedness,
And their belly prepares deception.”