Another discourse of Eliphaz
1Eliphaz the Temanite spoke:
2Should a wise man answer with airy notions,
puff himself up with senseless opinions?
3Should he argue in empty talk,
in words that are meaningless?
4You are undermining piety
and meditation in God’s presence.
5Your iniquity instructs your mouth,
and you talk like the crafty.
6Your own mouth condemns you,
your own lips, not mine.
7Are you mankind’s firstborn?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
8Are you privy to God’s counsels?
Do you alone possess wisdom?
9What knowledge have you that we do not have?
What do you understand that is obscure to us?
10The gray-haired and the aged are among us,
men older than your father.
11Are God’s consolations too small for you,
and the words spoken gently to you?
12Why does your heart carry you away,
why do your eyes flash
13when you turn your wrath against God
and utter such words as these?
14What is man to claim innocence,
the child of woman to be cleared of guilt?
15If God puts no trust in his holy ones,
and (the) heavens are not clean in his eyes,
16how much less man who is vile and corrupt,
who drinks evil as if it were water!
17Listen and I will explain;
I will tell you of my experience
18and of the sages’ teachings
passed on to them by their fathers,
19to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner moved among them.
20The wicked are in torment all their days.
During the years allotted to the tyrant
21his ears are filled with terrifying sounds,
his peace shattered by the attack of marauders.
22He despairs of escaping the darkness
and sees himself given to the sword,
23then left as a prey for vultures,
he knows his destruction is at hand.
24The hour of darkness fills him with dread,
as distress and anguish close in on him.
25But look: he challenged God,
he raised his hand against the Almighty,
26charging stubbornly against him
behind a thick, sturdy shield.
27His face had grown full and fat,
his thighs bulged with flesh.
28He would dwell in ruined cities,
in deserted and crumbling houses.
29He will not prosper or take root;
he will not escape from darkness;
30a flame will wither his shoots;
the wind will carry off his blossom.
31Let him not trust in greatness
for he will get nothing in return.
32He will be paid in full before his time,
and his branches will never again be green.
33Like a vine he will be stripped of unripe grapes;
like the olive, he will shed his blossoms.
34For the breed of the godless will be barren,
and fire will consume the tents of extortioners.
35Who conceives mischief will bring forth evil,
deceit will spring from his own womb.
