• Eliphaz Accuses Job of Folly

  • 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
  • 2 “Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge, And fill himself with the east wind?
  • 3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk, Or by speeches with which he can do no good?
  • 4 Yes, you cast off fear, And restrain prayer 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; Yes, your own lips testify against you.
  • 7 “Are you the first man who was born? Or were you made before the hills?
  • 8 Have you heard the counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
  • 9 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not in us?
  • 10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, Much older than your father.
  • 11 Are the consolations of God too small for you, And the word spoken gently with you?
  • 12 Why does your heart carry you away, And what do your eyes wink at,
  • 13 That you turn your spirit against God, And let such words go out of your mouth?
  • 14 “What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?
  • 15 If God puts no trust in His saints, And the heavens are not pure in His sight,
  • 16 How much less man, who is abominable and filthy, Who drinks iniquity like water!
  • 17 “I will tell you, hear me; What I have seen I will declare,
  • 18 What wise men have told, Not hiding anything received from their fathers,
  • 19 To whom alone the land was given, And no alien passed among them:
  • 20 The wicked man writhes with pain all his days, And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.
  • 21 Dreadful sounds are in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.
  • 22 He does not believe that he will return from darkness, For a sword is waiting for him.
  • 23 He wanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.
  • 24 Trouble and anguish make him afraid; They overpower him, like a king ready for battle.
  • 25 For he stretches out his hand against God, And acts defiantly against the Almighty,
  • 26 Running stubbornly against Him With his strong, embossed shield.
  • 27 “Though he has covered his face with his fatness, And made his waist heavy with fat,
  • 28 He dwells in desolate cities, In houses which no one inhabits, Which are destined to become ruins.
  • 29 He will not be rich, Nor will his wealth continue, Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.
  • 30 He will not depart from darkness; The flame will dry out his branches, And by the breath of His mouth he will go away.
  • 31 Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself, For futility will be his reward.
  • 32 It will be accomplished before his time, And his branch will not be green.
  • 33 He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine, And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.
  • 34 For the company of hypocrites will be barren, And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
  • 35 They conceive trouble and bring forth futility; Their womb prepares deceit.”