1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,
2 |Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge And fill himself with the east wind?
3 |Should he argue with useless talk, Or with words which are not profitable?
4 |Indeed, you do away with reverence And hinder meditation before God.
5 |For your guilt teaches your mouth, And you choose the language of the crafty.
6 |Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; And your own lips testify 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 limit wisdom to yourself?
9 |What do you know that we do not know? [What] do you understand that we do not?
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 carry 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 trust in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight;
16 How much less one who is detestable and corrupt, Man, who drinks iniquity like water!
17 |I will tell you, listen to me; And what I have seen I will also declare;
18 What wise men have told, And have not concealed from their fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given, And no alien 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 terror are in his ears; While at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
