Eliphaz: Job Does Not Fear God

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

² “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel

or fill his belly with the hot east wind?

³ Should he argue with useless words

or speeches that serve no purpose?

⁴ But you even undermine the fear of God

and hinder meditation before Him.

⁵ For your iniquity instructs your mouth,

and you choose the language of the crafty.

⁶ Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you;

your own lips testify against you.

⁷ Were you the first^* man^* ever born?

Were you brought forth before the hills?

⁸ Do you listen in on the council of God

or limit wisdom to yourself?

⁹ What do you know that we do not?

What do you understand that is not clear to us?

¹⁰ Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side —

men much older than your father.

¹¹ Are the consolations of God not enough for you,

even words spoken gently to you?

¹² Why has your heart carried you away,

and why do your eyes flash,

¹³ so that you turn your spirit against God

and pour such words from 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,

if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,

¹⁶ how much less man, who is vile 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 concealed from their fathers,

¹⁹ to whom alone the land was given

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 Sounds of terror fill his ears;

in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.

²² He despairs of his return^* from darkness;

he is marked^* for the sword.

²³ He wanders about as food for vultures;

he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

²⁴ Distress and anguish terrify him,

overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.

²⁵ For he has stretched out his hand against God

and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,

²⁶ rushing headlong^* at Him

with a thick, studded shield.

²⁷ Though his face is covered with fat

and his waistline bulges with flesh,

²⁸ he will dwell in ruined cities,

in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.

²⁹ He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.

His possessions will not overspread the land.

³⁰ He will not escape from the darkness;

the flame will wither his shoots,

and the breath of God’s mouth

will carry him away.

³¹ Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness,

for emptiness will be his reward.

³² It will be paid in full before his time,

and his branch will not flourish.

³³ He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,

like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.

³⁴ For the company of the godless will be barren,

and fire will consume the tents of bribery.

³⁵ They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;^*

their womb is pregnant with^* deceit.”