1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill himself with the hot east wind ?
3 Should he argue with useless talk or with words that serve no good purpose?
4 But you even undermine the •fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.
5 Your iniquity teaches you what to say, and you choose the language of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I; your own lips testify against you.
7 Were you the first person ever born, or were you brought forth before the hills ?
8 Do you listen in on the council of God, or have a monopoly on wisdom ?
9 What do you know that we don’t? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
10 Both the gray-haired and the elderly are with us, men older than your father.
11 Are God’s consolations not enough for you, even the words that deal gently with you ?
12 Why has your heart misled you, and why do your eyes flash
13 as you turn your anger against God and allow such words to leave your mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
15 If God puts no trust in His holy ones and the heavens are not pure in His sight,
16 how much less one who is revolting and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
17 Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,
18 what was declared by wise men and was not suppressed by their ancestors,
19 the land was given to them alone when no foreigner passed among them.
20 A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
21 Dreadful sounds fill his ears; when he is at peace, a robber attacks him.
