| Holman Christian Standard Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: | 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: |
| 2Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill himself with the hot east wind? | 2“Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? |
| 3Should he argue with useless talk or with words that serve no good purpose? | 3Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good? |
| 4But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him. | 4But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God. |
| 5Your iniquity teaches you what to say, and you choose the language of the crafty. | 5For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty. |
| 6Your own mouth condemns you, not I; your own lips testify against you. | 6Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you. |
| 7Were you the first person ever born, or were you brought forth before the hills? | 7“Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills? |
| 8Do you listen in on the council of God, or have a monopoly on wisdom? | 8Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself? |
| 9What do you know that we don't? What do you understand that is not clear to us? | 9What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us? |
| 10Both the gray-haired and the elderly are with us, men older than your father. | 10Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father. |
| 11Are God's consolations not enough for you, even the words that deal gently with you? | 11Are the comforts of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you? |
| 12Why has your heart misled you, and why do your eyes flash | 12Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash, |
| 13as you turn your anger against God and allow such words to leave your mouth? | 13that you turn your spirit against God and bring such words out of your mouth? |
| 14What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous? | 14What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? |
| 15If God puts no trust in His holy ones and the heavens are not pure in His sight, | 15Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight; |
| 16how much less one who is revolting and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water? | 16how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water! |
| 17Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen, | 17“I will show you; hear me, and what I have seen I will declare |
| 18what was declared by wise men and was not suppressed by their ancestors, | 18(what wise men have told, without hiding it from their fathers, |
| 19the land was given to them alone when no foreigner passed among them. | 19to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them). |
| 20A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless. | 20The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless. |
| 21Dreadful sounds fill his ears; when he is at peace, a robber attacks him. | 21Dreadful sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him. |
| 22He doesn't believe he will return from darkness; he is destined for the sword. | 22He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, and he is marked for the sword. |
| 23He wanders about for food, saying, "Where is it?" He knows the day of darkness is at hand. | 23He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand; |
| 24Trouble and distress terrify him, overwhelming him like a king prepared for battle. | 24distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle. |
| 25For he has stretched out his hand against God and has arrogantly opposed the Almighty. | 25Because he has stretched out his hand against God and defies the Almighty, |
| 26He rushes headlong at Him with his thick, studded shields. | 26running stubbornly against him with a thickly bossed shield; |
| 27Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with it, | 27because he has covered his face with his fat and gathered fat upon his waist |
| 28he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become piles of rubble. | 28and has lived in desolate cities, in houses that none should inhabit, which were ready to become heaps of ruins; |
| 29He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not increase in the land. | 29he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the earth; |
| 30He will not escape from the darkness; flames will wither his shoots, and by the breath of God's mouth, he will depart. | 30he will not depart from darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots, and by the breath of his mouth he will depart. |
| 31Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray, for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless. | 31Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment. |
| 32It will be accomplished before his time, and his branch will not flourish. | 32It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green. |
| 33He will be like a vine that drops its unripe grapes and like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms. | 33He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine, and cast off his blossom like the olive tree. |
| 34For the company of the godless will have no children, and fire will consume the tents of those who offer bribes. | 34For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery. |
| 35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb prepares deception. | 35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil, and their womb prepares deceit.” |
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