1 Thenqch. 2:11 Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 “Shouldr[ch. 12:3] a wise man answer withsch. 16:3 windy knowledge,
and fill histver. 35 belly withuch. 6:26; 8:2; Hos. 12:1 the east wind?
3 Should he argue in unprofitable talk,
or in words with which he can do no good?
4 But you are doing away with the fear of God
and hindering meditation before God.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Yourvch. 9:20; Luke 19:22 own mouth condemns you, and not I;
w2 Sam. 1:16 your own lips testify against you.
7 x[ch. 38:21] Are you the first man who was born?
OryProv. 8:25 were you brought forthzPs. 90:2 before the hills?
8 Have you listened inach. 29:4; Jer. 23:18; [Gen. 1:26; 3:22] the council of God?
And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 bch. 12:3; 13:2 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?
10 c[ch. 12:12; 32:6, 7] Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
older than your father.
11 Are the comforts of God too small for you,
or the word that deals gently with you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
13 that you turn yourd[ch. 21:4] spirit against God
and bring such words out of your mouth?
14 eFor ver. 14-16, see ch. 25:4-6 What is man,f[ch. 14:4; Ps. 14:3; Prov. 20:9; Eccles. 7:20; 1 John 1:8, 10] that he can be pure?
Or he who isgSee ch. 14:1 born of a woman, that he can be righteous?
15 Behold, Godhch. 4:18 puts no trust in hisiSee ch. 5:1 holy ones,
and the heavens are not pure in his sight;
16 jch. 9:14 how much less one who is abominable andk[Ps. 14:3; 53:1] corrupt,
a man wholch. 34:7; [Prov. 19:28; 26:6] drinks injustice like water!
17 I will show you; hear me,
and what I have seen I will declare
18 (what wise men have told,
without hiding itm[ch. 8:8]; See Ps. 44:1 from their fathers,
19 to whom alone the land was given,
and nonJoel 3:17 stranger passed among them).
20 The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,
through all theo[ch. 21:19; 24:1] years that are laid up forpch. 6:23; 27:13 the ruthless.
21 qSee ch. 18:11 Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
inr[1 Thess. 5:3] prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,
and he is marked for the sword.
23 HesPs. 59:15; 109:10 wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it? ’
He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;
24 distress and anguish terrify him;
theytch. 14:20 prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God
and defies the Almighty,
26 u[ch. 16:14; Dan. 8:6] runningvPs. 75:5 stubbornly against him
with a thickly bossed shield;
27 because he haswSee Ps. 17:10 covered his face with his fat
and gathered fat upon his waist
28 and has lived in desolate cities,
in houses that none should inhabit,
which were ready to become heaps of ruins;
29 he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions spread over the earth;1Or nor will his produce bend down to the earth
30 he will not depart from darkness;
the flame will dry up his shoots,
and byxch. 4:9 the breath of his mouth he will depart.
31 Let him noty[Isa. 59:4] trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,
for emptiness will be his payment.
32 It will be paid in fullzch. 22:16; Eccles. 7:17; [Ps. 55:23; 102:24] before his time,
and his branch will not be green.
33 He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,
and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.
34 Forach. 16:7 the company of the godless is barren,
andb[ch. 20:26] fire consumes the tents of bribery.
35 TheycPs. 7:14; Isa. 59:4; [Hos. 10:13] conceive trouble and give birth to evil,
and theirdSee ver. 2 womb prepares deceit. ”