New Living Translation | International Standard Version |
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: | 1Then Eliphaz from Teman responded: |
2“A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk! You are nothing but a windbag. | 2"Should a wise person respond with knowledge based on wind? Should he fill his stomach with a wind storm from the east? |
3The wise don’t engage in empty chatter. What good are such words? | 3Should he engage in unprofitable argument, or give a speech that benefits no one? |
4Have you no fear of God, no reverence for him? | 4Yet you dispense with fear of God and hinder meditations before God. |
5Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception. | 5Because your sin dictates your speech, you have chosen the language of the crafty. |
6Your own mouth condemns you, not I. Your own lips testify against you. | 6Your own mouth is condemning you, not I; your own lips will testify against you." |
7“Were you the first person ever born? Were you born before the hills were made? | 7"Were you the first person to be born? Were you brought forth before the hills were made? |
8Were you listening at God’s secret council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom? | 8Have you listened in on God's secret council? Have you limited wisdom only to yourself? |
9What do you know that we don’t? What do you understand that we do not? | 9What do you know that we don't know, or that you understand and that isn't clear to us? |
10On our side are aged, gray-haired men much older than your father! | 10"We have both the gray-haired and the aged with us, and they are far older than your father. |
11“Is God’s comfort too little for you? Is his gentle word not enough? | 11Are God's encouragements inconsequential to you, even a word that has been spoken gently to you? |
12What has taken away your reason? What has weakened your vision, | 12Why have your emotions carried you away? And why do your eyes flash |
13that you turn against God and say all these evil things? | 13that you turn your anger against God and speak words like this? |
14Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be just? | 14"What is mankind, that he can be blameless? Or does being born of a woman mean he'll be in the right? |
15Look, God does not even trust the angels. Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight. | 15Look, if God doesn't trust his holy ones, if even the heavens aren't pure as he looks at them, |
16How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness! | 16then how much less is one who is abhorred and corrupted, such as a man who drinks injustice like water?" |
17“If you will listen, I will show you. I will answer you from my own experience. | 17"I'll tell you what, listen to me! Let me relate what I've seen, |
18And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men who have heard the same thing from their fathers— | 18which is what wise men have explained, who didn't withhold anything from their ancestors. |
19from those to whom the land was given long before any foreigners arrived. | 19To them alone was the land given, when no invader passed through their midst. |
20“The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives. Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless. | 20"The wicked person writhes in pain throughout his life, a number of years has been reserved for the ruthless. |
21The sound of terror rings in their ears, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer. | 21Terrifying sounds ring in his ears; when times are prosperous, the Destroyer will attack him. |
22They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered. | 22He does not believe he will escape darkness; he is destined for the sword. |
23They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’ They know their day of destruction is near. | 23He wanders around for food—where is it? He knows that a time of darkness is near. |
24That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for battle. | 24Distress and pressure terrify him; they overwhelm him, like a king poised for attack. |
25For they shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty. | 25"For he has raised his fist against God, defying the Almighty. |
26Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him. | 26He defiantly ran against him carrying his thick, reinforced shield. |
27“These wicked people are heavy and prosperous; their waists bulge with fat. | 27Though he covered his face with fat, and is grossly overweight at the waist, |
28But their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down. | 28He will live in devastated towns, in abandoned houses that are about to become heaps of rubble. |
29Their riches will not last, and their wealth will not endure. Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon. | 29"He won't become rich and his wealth won't last; he won't expand his holdings to cover the land. |
30“They will not escape the darkness. The burning sun will wither their shoots, and the breath of God will destroy them. | 30He won't escape darkness; a flame will wither his shoots; and he'll depart by the breath of God's mouth. |
31Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches, for emptiness will be their only reward. | 31Let him not trust in a worthless speech. He leads only himself astray, for emptiness will be his reward. |
32They will be cut down in the prime of life; their branches will never again be green. | 32This will be accomplished before his time; his branches won't grow luxuriant. |
33They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early, like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form. | 33"He is like a vine that drops its unripe grapes; like an olive tree that loses its blossoms. |
34For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn. | 34For the company of the godless is desolation, and fire consumes the tents of those who bribe. |
35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their womb produces deceit.” | 35For they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity; their womb is pregnant with deception." |
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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