• Eliphaz Says Job’s Lips Answer Against Him

  • 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
  • 2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge And 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 your iniquity teaches your mouth, And you choose the tongue of the crafty.
  • 6 “Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; And your own lips answer against you.
  • 7 “Were you the first man to be born, Or were you brought forth before the hills?
  • 8 “Do you hear the secret counsel of God, And cut down wisdom only unto yourself?
  • 9 “What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not with us?
  • 10 “Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, Older than your father.
  • 11 “Are the consolations of God too small for you, Even the word spoken gently with you?
  • 12 “Why does your heart 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 he should be pure, Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
  • 15 “Behold, He puts no faith in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight;
  • 16 How much less one who is abominable and corrupt, Man, who drinks 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 their fathers,
  • 19 To whom alone the land was given, And no stranger passed among them.
  • 20 “The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, And numbered are the years stored up for the ruthless.
  • 21 “Sounds of dread are in his ears; While at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
  • 22 “He does not believe that he will return from darkness, And he is destined for the sword.
  • 23 “He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness 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 magnifies himself against the Almighty.
  • 26 “He rushes headlong at Him With his massive shield.
  • 27 “For he has covered his face with his fat And made his thighs heavy with flesh.
  • 28 “He has dwelt in desolate cities, In houses no one would inhabit, Which are destined to become ruins.
  • 29 “He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure; And his grain will not stretch out over the land.
  • 30 “He will not be able to depart from darkness; The flame will wither his shoots, And by the breath of His mouth he will depart.
  • 31 “Let him not believe in emptiness, deceiving himself; For emptiness will be his reward,
  • 32 When his days are not yet fulfilled, And his palm branch is not green.
  • 33 “He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine, And will cast off his flower like the olive tree.
  • 34 “For the company of the godless is barren, And fire consumes the tents of the corrupt.
  • 35 “They conceive trouble and give birth to wickedness, And their belly prepares deception.”