| King James Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, | 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: |
| 2Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? | 2“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind? |
| 3Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good? | 3Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose? |
| 4Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God. | 4But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him. |
| 5For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. | 5For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty. |
| 6Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee. | 6Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you. |
| 7Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills? | 7Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills? |
| 8Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? | 8Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself? |
| 9What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us? | 9What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us? |
| 10With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father. | 10Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father. |
| 11Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee? | 11Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you? |
| 12Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at, | 12Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash, |
| 13That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth? | 13as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth? |
| 14What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? | 14What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous? |
| 15Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. | 15If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes, |
| 16How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water? | 16how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water? |
| 17I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare; | 17Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen, |
| 18Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it: | 18what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers, |
| 19Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them. | 19to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them. |
| 20The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. | 20A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless. |
| 21A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him. | 21Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him. |
| 22He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword. | 22He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword. |
| 23He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. | 23He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand. |
| 24Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. | 24Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack. |
| 25For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty. | 25For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty, |
| 26He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers: | 26rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield. |
| 27Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks. | 27Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh, |
| 28And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps. | 28he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble. |
| 29He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth. | 29He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land. |
| 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. | 30He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away. |
| 31Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence. | 31Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward. |
| 32It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green. | 32It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish. |
| 33He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive. | 33He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms. |
| 34For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery. | 34For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery. |
| 35They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit. | 35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.” |
|
