1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: | TOSK |
2 “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind? | TOSK |
3 Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose? | TOSK |
4 But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him. | TOSK |
5 For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty. | TOSK |
6 Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you. | TOSK |
7 Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills? | TOSK |
8 Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself? | TOSK |
9 What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us? | TOSK |
10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father. | TOSK |
11 Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you? | TOSK |
12 Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash, | TOSK |
13 as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth? | TOSK |
14 What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous? | TOSK |
15 If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes, | TOSK |
16 how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water? | TOSK |
17 Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen, | TOSK |
18 what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers, | TOSK |
19 to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them. | TOSK |
20 A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless. | TOSK |
21 Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him. | TOSK |
22 He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword. | TOSK |
23 He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand. | TOSK |
24 Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack. | TOSK |
25 For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty, | TOSK |
26 rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield. | TOSK |
27 Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh, | TOSK |
28 he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble. | TOSK |
29 He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land. | IP | TOSK |
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. | TOSK |
31 Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward. | TOSK |
32 It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish. | TOSK |
33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms. | TOSK |
34 For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery. | TOSK |
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.” | TOSK |