1 ¶ Then Eliphaz, the Temanite, answered, and said,

And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: --

2 S hould a wise man utter vain knowledge and fill his belly with the east wind?

Doth a wise man answer vain knowledge? And fill an east wind his belly?

3 S hould he dispute with useless words and with reasons that are not profitable?

To reason with a word not useful? And speeches -- no profit in them?

4 T hou dost also cast off fear and undermine prayer before God.

Yea, thou dost make reverence void, And dost diminish meditation before God.

5 F or thy mouth has declared thine iniquity, and thou hast chosen the tongue of the crafty.

For thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity, And thou chooseth the tongue of the subtile.

6 T hine own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I; thine own lips shall testify against thee.

Thy mouth declareth thee wicked, and not I, And thy lips testify against thee.

7 W ast thou born before Adam? Or wast thou formed before the hills?

The first man art thou born? And before the heights wast thou formed?

8 H ast thou heard the secret of God, that thou dost detain wisdom in thee alone?

Of the secret counsel of God dost thou hear? And withdrawest thou unto thee wisdom?

9 W hat dost thou know that we do not? What dost thou understand, which is not in us?

What hast thou known, and we know not? Understandest thou -- and it is not with us?

10 A mong us are also gray hairs; there are also aged men, much elder than thy father.

Both the gray-headed And the very aged among us -- Greater than thy father days.

11 A re the consolations of God in such small esteem with thee? Is there by chance any secret thing concerning thee?

Too few for thee are the comforts of God? And a gentle word with thee,

12 W hy does thine heart carry thee away, and why do thine eyes blink,

What -- doth thine heart take thee away? And what -- are thine eyes high?

13 t hat thou dost reply unto God with thy spirit and bring forth such words out of thy mouth?

For thou turnest against God thy spirit? And hast brought out words from thy mouth:

14 W hat is man that he should be clean and that he that is born of a woman should be justified?

What man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?

15 B ehold, he puts no trust in his saints, and not even the heavens are clean in his sight.

Lo, in His holy ones He putteth no credence, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.

16 H ow much less the man who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water?

Also -- surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking as water perverseness.

17 ¶ Listen to me and I will show thee and declare unto thee that which I have seen,

I shew thee -- hearken to me -- And this I have seen and declare:

18 t hat which the wise men have told us of their fathers and have not hid it,

Which the wise declare -- And have not hid -- from their fathers.

19 u nto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

To them alone was the land given, And a stranger passed not over into their midst:

20 T he wicked man travails with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden from the violent.

`All days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one.

21 F earful sounds are in his ears; in peace the destroyer shall come upon him.

A fearful voice in his ears, In peace doth a destroyer come to him.

22 H e will not believe that he shall return out of darkness, and he is always watching the sword.

He believeth not to return from darkness, And watched he for the sword.

23 H e wanders abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? He knows that the day of darkness is prepared for him.

He is wandering for bread -- `Where it?' He hath known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness.

24 T ribulation and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

Terrify him do adversity and distress, They prevail over him As a king ready for a boaster.

25 B ecause he extended his hand against God and strengthens himself against the Almighty,

For he stretched out against God his hand, And against the Mighty he maketh himself mighty.

26 h e shall run him through in the neck, upon the thick shoulder pieces of his shields;

He runneth unto Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.

27 f or he covered his face with his fatness and made collops of fat on his flanks;

For he hath covered his face with his fat, And maketh vigour over confidence.

28 a nd he dwelt in desolate cities and in houses which no one inhabited, which were in heaps.

And he inhabiteth cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.

29 H e shall not become rich, nor shall his strength be established, neither shall he extend his beauty upon the earth.

He is not rich, nor doth his wealth rise, Nor doth he stretch out on earth their continuance.

30 H e shall not escape from the darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth he shall perish.

He turneth not aside from darkness, His tender branch doth a flame dry up, And he turneth aside at the breath of His mouth!

31 H e shall not be established; in vanity he shall err; therefore, he shall be changed into vanity.

Let him not put credence in vanity, He hath been deceived, For vanity is his recompence.

32 H e shall be cut off before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

Not in his day is it completed, And his bending branch is not green.

33 H e shall shake off his sour grapes as the vine and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

He shaketh off as a vine his unripe fruit, And casteth off as an olive his blossom.

34 F or the congregation of the hypocrites shall be made desolate, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

For the company of the profane gloomy, And fire hath consumed tents of bribery.

35 T hey conceive pain and bring forth iniquity, and their belly meditates deceit.

To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart doth prepare deceit.