International Standard Version | New International Version |
1Then Eliphaz from Teman responded: | 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: |
2"Should a wise person respond with knowledge based on wind? Should he fill his stomach with a wind storm from the east? | 2"Would a wise person answer with empty notions or fill their belly with the hot east wind? |
3Should he engage in unprofitable argument, or give a speech that benefits no one? | 3Would they argue with useless words, with speeches that have no value? |
4Yet you dispense with fear of God and hinder meditations before God. | 4But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God. |
5Because your sin dictates your speech, you have chosen the language of the crafty. | 5Your sin prompts your mouth; you adopt the tongue of the crafty. |
6Your own mouth is condemning you, not I; your own lips will testify against you." | 6Your own mouth condemns you, not mine; your own lips testify against you. |
7"Were you the first person to be born? Were you brought forth before the hills were made? | 7"Are you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills? |
8Have you listened in on God's secret council? Have you limited wisdom only to yourself? | 8Do you listen in on God's council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom? |
9What do you know that we don't know, or that you understand and that isn't clear to us? | 9What do you know that we do not know? What insights do you have that we do not have? |
10"We have both the gray-haired and the aged with us, and they are far older than your father. | 10The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men even older than your father. |
11Are God's encouragements inconsequential to you, even a word that has been spoken gently to you? | 11Are God's consolations not enough for you, words spoken gently to you? |
12Why have your emotions carried you away? And why do your eyes flash | 12Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash, |
13that you turn your anger against God and speak words like this? | 13so that you vent your rage against God and pour out such words from your mouth? |
14"What is mankind, that he can be blameless? Or does being born of a woman mean he'll be in the right? | 14"What are mortals, that they could be pure, or those born of woman, that they could be righteous? |
15Look, if God doesn't trust his holy ones, if even the heavens aren't pure as he looks at them, | 15If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes, |
16then how much less is one who is abhorred and corrupted, such as a man who drinks injustice like water?" | 16how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt, who drink up evil like water! |
17"I'll tell you what, listen to me! Let me relate what I've seen, | 17"Listen to me and I will explain to you; let me tell you what I have seen, |
18which is what wise men have explained, who didn't withhold anything from their ancestors. | 18what the wise have declared, hiding nothing received from their ancestors |
19To them alone was the land given, when no invader passed through their midst. | 19(to whom alone the land was given when no foreigners moved among them): |
20"The wicked person writhes in pain throughout his life, a number of years has been reserved for the ruthless. | 20All his days the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him. |
21Terrifying sounds ring in his ears; when times are prosperous, the Destroyer will attack him. | 21Terrifying sounds fill his ears; when all seems well, marauders attack him. |
22He does not believe he will escape darkness; he is destined for the sword. | 22He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness; he is marked for the sword. |
23He wanders around for food—where is it? He knows that a time of darkness is near. | 23He wanders about for food like a vulture; he knows the day of darkness is at hand. |
24Distress and pressure terrify him; they overwhelm him, like a king poised for attack. | 24Distress and anguish fill him with terror; troubles overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack, |
25"For he has raised his fist against God, defying the Almighty. | 25because he shakes his fist at God and vaunts himself against the Almighty, |
26He defiantly ran against him carrying his thick, reinforced shield. | 26defiantly charging against him with a thick, strong shield. |
27Though he covered his face with fat, and is grossly overweight at the waist, | 27"Though his face is covered with fat and his waist bulges with flesh, |
28He will live in devastated towns, in abandoned houses that are about to become heaps of rubble. | 28he will inhabit ruined towns and houses where no one lives, houses crumbling to rubble. |
29"He won't become rich and his wealth won't last; he won't expand his holdings to cover the land. | 29He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the land. |
30He won't escape darkness; a flame will wither his shoots; and he'll depart by the breath of God's mouth. | 30He will not escape the darkness; a flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God's mouth will carry him away. |
31Let him not trust in a worthless speech. He leads only himself astray, for emptiness will be his reward. | 31Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless, for he will get nothing in return. |
32This will be accomplished before his time; his branches won't grow luxuriant. | 32Before his time he will wither, and his branches will not flourish. |
33"He is like a vine that drops its unripe grapes; like an olive tree that loses its blossoms. | 33He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree shedding its blossoms. |
34For the company of the godless is desolation, and fire consumes the tents of those who bribe. | 34For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes. |
35For they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity; their womb is pregnant with deception." | 35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit." |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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