| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: | 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: |
| 2“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind? | 2“A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk! You are nothing but a windbag. |
| 3Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose? | 3The wise don’t engage in empty chatter. What good are such words? |
| 4But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him. | 4Have you no fear of God, no reverence for him? |
| 5For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and 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, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you. | 6Your own mouth condemns you, not I. Your own lips testify against you. |
| 7Were 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 the council of God or 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 do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us? | 9What do you know that we don’t? What do you understand that we do not? |
| 10Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father. | 10On our side are aged, gray-haired men much older than your father! |
| 11Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently 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, |
| 13as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words 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 puts 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 vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water? | 16How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness! |
| 17Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen, | 17“If you will listen, I will show you. I will answer you from my own experience. |
| 18what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers, | 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. |
| 20A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless. | 20“The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives. Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless. |
| 21Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him. | 21The sound of terror rings in their ears, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer. |
| 22He despairs of his return 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 as food for vultures; he knows 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, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack. | 24That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for battle. |
| 25For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty, | 25For they shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty. |
| 26rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield. | 26Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him. |
| 27Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh, | 27“These wicked people are heavy and prosperous; their waists bulge with fat. |
| 28he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble. | 28But their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down. |
| 29He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread 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 from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away. | 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 deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward. | 31Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches, for emptiness will be their only reward. |
| 32It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish. | 32They will be cut down in the prime of life; their branches will never again be green. |
| 33He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its 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 will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery. | 34For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn. |
| 35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.” | 35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their womb produces deceit.” |
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