English Standard Version

Berean Study Bible

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2“Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

2“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?

3Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good?

3Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?

4But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God.

4But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.

5For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.

5For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.

6Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you.

6Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.

7“Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills?

7Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

8Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

8Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?

9What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us?

9What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?

10Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father.

10Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father.

11Are the comforts of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?

11Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?

12Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash,

12Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,

13that you turn your spirit against God and bring such words out of your mouth?

13as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?

14What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?

14What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

15Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight;

15If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,

16how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water!

16how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?

17“I will show you; hear me, and what I have seen I will declare

17Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,

18(what wise men have told, without hiding it from their fathers,

18what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,

19to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them).

19to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.

20The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.

20A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.

21Dreadful sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.

21Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.

22He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, and he is marked for the sword.

22He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.

23He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;

23He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

24distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.

24Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.

25Because he has stretched out his hand against God and defies the Almighty,

25For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,

26running stubbornly against him with a thickly bossed shield;

26rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.

27because he has covered his face with his fat and gathered fat upon his waist

27Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,

28and has lived in desolate cities, in houses that none should inhabit, which were ready to become heaps of ruins;

28he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.

29he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the earth;

29He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.

30he will not depart from darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots, and by the breath of his mouth he will depart.

30He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.

31Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment.

31Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.

32It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green.

32It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.

33He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine, and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.

33He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.

34For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.

34For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.

35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil, and their womb prepares deceit.”

35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

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