International Standard Version

King James Bible

1Then Eliphaz from Teman responded:

1Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

2"Should a wise person respond with knowledge based on wind? Should he fill his stomach with a wind storm from the east?

2Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

3Should he engage in unprofitable argument, or give a speech that benefits no one?

3Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

4Yet you dispense with fear of God and hinder meditations before God.

4Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.

5Because your sin dictates your speech, you have chosen the language of the crafty.

5For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

6Your own mouth is condemning you, not I; your own lips will testify against you."

6Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

7"Were you the first person to be born? Were you brought forth before the hills were made?

7Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?

8Have you listened in on God's secret council? Have you limited wisdom only to yourself?

8Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?

9What do you know that we don't know, or that you understand and that isn't clear to us?

9What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?

10"We have both the gray-haired and the aged with us, and they are far older than your father.

10With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

11Are God's encouragements inconsequential to you, even a word that has been spoken gently to you?

11Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?

12Why have your emotions carried you away? And why do your eyes flash

12Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,

13that you turn your anger against God and speak words like this?

13That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?

14"What is mankind, that he can be blameless? Or does being born of a woman mean he'll be in the right?

14What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

15Look, if God doesn't trust his holy ones, if even the heavens aren't pure as he looks at them,

15Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

16then how much less is one who is abhorred and corrupted, such as a man who drinks injustice like water?"

16How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?

17"I'll tell you what, listen to me! Let me relate what I've seen,

17I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;

18which is what wise men have explained, who didn't withhold anything from their ancestors.

18Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:

19To them alone was the land given, when no invader passed through their midst.

19Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

20"The wicked person writhes in pain throughout his life, a number of years has been reserved for the ruthless.

20The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

21Terrifying sounds ring in his ears; when times are prosperous, the Destroyer will attack him.

21A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

22He does not believe he will escape darkness; he is destined for the sword.

22He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

23He wanders around for food—where is it? He knows that a time of darkness is near.

23He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

24Distress and pressure terrify him; they overwhelm him, like a king poised for attack.

24Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

25"For he has raised his fist against God, defying the Almighty.

25For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.

26He defiantly ran against him carrying his thick, reinforced shield.

26He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:

27Though he covered his face with fat, and is grossly overweight at the waist,

27Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

28He will live in devastated towns, in abandoned houses that are about to become heaps of rubble.

28And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

29"He won't become rich and his wealth won't last; he won't expand his holdings to cover the land.

29He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

30He won't escape darkness; a flame will wither his shoots; and he'll depart by the breath of God's mouth.

30He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.

31Let him not trust in a worthless speech. He leads only himself astray, for emptiness will be his reward.

31Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.

32This will be accomplished before his time; his branches won't grow luxuriant.

32It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

33"He is like a vine that drops its unripe grapes; like an olive tree that loses its blossoms.

33He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

34For the company of the godless is desolation, and fire consumes the tents of those who bribe.

34For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

35For they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity; their womb is pregnant with deception."

35They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.