1 A nd Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: --

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

2 D oth a wise man answer vain knowledge? And fill an east wind his belly?

Should a wise man utter vain knowledge and fill his belly with the east wind?

3 T o reason with a word not useful? And speeches -- no profit in them?

Should he dispute with useless words and with reasons that are not profitable?

4 Y ea, thou dost make reverence void, And dost diminish meditation before God.

Thou dost also cast off fear and undermine prayer before God.

5 F or thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity, And thou chooseth the tongue of the subtile.

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

6 T hy mouth declareth thee wicked, and not I, And thy lips testify against thee.

Thine own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I; thine own lips shall testify against thee.

7 T he first man art thou born? And before the heights wast thou formed?

Wast thou born before Adam? Or wast thou formed before the hills?

8 O f the secret counsel of God dost thou hear? And withdrawest thou unto thee wisdom?

Hast thou heard the secret of God, that thou dost detain wisdom in thee alone?

9 W hat hast thou known, and we know not? Understandest thou -- and it is not with us?

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

10 B oth the gray-headed And the very aged among us -- Greater than thy father days.

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

11 T oo few for thee are the comforts of God? And a gentle word with thee,

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

12 W hat -- doth thine heart take thee away? And what -- are thine eyes high?

Why does thine heart carry thee away, and why do thine eyes blink,

13 F or thou turnest against God thy spirit? And hast brought out words from thy mouth:

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

14 W hat man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?

What is man that he should be clean and that he that is born of a woman should be justified?

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

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

16 A lso -- surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking as water perverseness.

How much less the man who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water?

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

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

18 W hich the wise declare -- And have not hid -- from their fathers.

that which the wise men have told us of their fathers and have not hid it,

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

unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

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

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

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

Fearful sounds are in his ears; in peace the destroyer shall come upon him.

22 H e believeth not to return from darkness, And watched he for the sword.

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

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

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

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

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

25 F or he stretched out against God his hand, And against the Mighty he maketh himself mighty.

Because he extended his hand against God and strengthens himself against the Almighty,

26 H e runneth unto Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.

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

27 F or he hath covered his face with his fat, And maketh vigour over confidence.

for he covered his face with his fatness and made collops of fat on his flanks;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He shall not be established; in vanity he shall err; therefore, he shall be changed into vanity.

32 N ot in his day is it completed, And his bending branch is not green.

He shall be cut off before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

33 H e shaketh off as a vine his unripe fruit, And casteth off as an olive his blossom.

He shall shake off his sour grapes as the vine and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

34 F or the company of the profane gloomy, And fire hath consumed tents of bribery.

For the congregation of the hypocrites shall be made desolate, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

35 T o conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart doth prepare deceit.

They conceive pain and bring forth iniquity, and their belly meditates deceit.