| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered: | 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: |
| 2"Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge, or fill his belly with the east wind? | 2“A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk! You are nothing but a windbag. |
| 3Does he argue with useless talk, with words that have no value in them? | 3The wise don’t engage in empty chatter. What good are such words? |
| 4But you even break off piety, and hinder meditation before God. | 4Have you no fear of God, no reverence for him? |
| 5Your sin inspires your mouth; you choose the language of the crafty. | 5Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception. |
| 6Your own mouth condemns you, not I; your own lips testify against you. | 6Your own mouth condemns you, not I. Your own lips testify against you. |
| 7"Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills? | 7“Were you the first person ever born? Were you born before the hills were made? |
| 8Do you listen in on God's secret council? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? | 8Were you listening at God’s secret council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom? |
| 9What do you know that we don't know? What do you understand that we don't understand? | 9What do you know that we don’t? What do you understand that we do not? |
| 10The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men far older than your father. | 10On our side are aged, gray-haired men much older than your father! |
| 11Are God's consolations too trivial for you; or a word spoken in gentleness to you? | 11“Is God’s comfort too little for you? Is his gentle word not enough? |
| 12Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash, | 12What has taken away your reason? What has weakened your vision, |
| 13when you turn your rage against God and allow such words to escape from your mouth? | 13that you turn against God and say all these evil things? |
| 14What is man that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous? | 14Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be just? |
| 15If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes, | 15Look, God does not even trust the angels. Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight. |
| 16how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt, who drinks in evil like water! | 16How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness! |
| 17"I will explain to you; listen to me, and what I have seen, I will declare, | 17“If you will listen, I will show you. I will answer you from my own experience. |
| 18what wise men declare, hiding nothing, from the tradition of their ancestors, | 18And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men who have heard the same thing from their fathers— |
| 19to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them. | 19from those to whom the land was given long before any foreigners arrived. |
| 20All his days the wicked man suffers torment, throughout the number of the years that are stored up for the tyrant. | 20“The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives. Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless. |
| 21Terrifying sounds fill his ears; in a time of peace marauders attack him. | 21The sound of terror rings in their ears, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer. |
| 22He does not expect to escape from darkness; he is marked for the sword; | 22They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered. |
| 23he wanders about--food for vultures; he knows that the day of darkness is at hand. | 23They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’ They know their day of destruction is near. |
| 24Distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him like a king ready to launch an attack, | 24That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for battle. |
| 25for he stretches out his hand against God, and vaunts himself against the Almighty, | 25For they shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty. |
| 26defiantly charging against him with a thick, strong shield! | 26Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him. |
| 27Because he covered his face with fat, and made his hips bulge with fat, | 27“These wicked people are heavy and prosperous; their waists bulge with fat. |
| 28he lived in ruined towns and in houses where no one lives, where they are ready to crumble into heaps. | 28But their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down. |
| 29He will not grow rich, and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the land. | 29Their riches will not last, and their wealth will not endure. Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon. |
| 30He will not escape the darkness; a flame will wither his shoots and he will depart by the breath of God's mouth. | 30“They will not escape the darkness. The burning sun will wither their shoots, and the breath of God will destroy them. |
| 31Let him not trust in what is worthless, deceiving himself; for worthlessness will be his reward. | 31Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches, for emptiness will be their only reward. |
| 32Before his time he will be paid in full, and his branches will not flourish. | 32They will be cut down in the prime of life; their branches will never again be green. |
| 33Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall, and like an olive tree he will shed his blossoms. | 33They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early, like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form. |
| 34For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of those who accept bribes. | 34For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn. |
| 35They conceive trouble and bring forth evil; their belly prepares deception." | 35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their womb produces deceit.” |
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