Study

15. Eliphaz Replies

    ² “Would a wise person answer with empty notions
   or fill their belly with the hot east wind?
³ Would they argue with useless words,
   with speeches that have no value?
⁴ But you even undermine piety
   and hinder devotion to God.
⁵ Your sin prompts your mouth;
   you adopt the tongue of the crafty.
⁶ Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
   your own lips testify against you.

    ⁷ “Are you the first man ever born?
   Were you brought forth before the hills?
⁸ Do you listen in on God’s council?
   Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
⁹ What do you know that we do not know?
   What insights do you have that we do not have?
¹⁰ The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
   men even older than your father.
¹¹ Are God’s consolations not enough for you,
   words spoken gently to you?
¹² Why has your heart carried you away,
   and why do your eyes flash,
¹³ so that you vent your rage against God
   and pour out such words from your mouth?

    ¹⁴ “What are mortals, that they could be pure,
   or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?
¹⁵ If God places no trust in his holy ones,
   if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,
¹⁶ how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,
   who drink up evil like water!

    ¹⁷ “Listen to me and I will explain to you;
   let me tell you what I have seen,
¹⁸ what the wise have declared,
   hiding nothing received from their ancestors
¹⁹ (to whom alone the land was given
   when no foreigners moved among them):
²⁰ All his days the wicked man suffers torment,
   the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.
²¹ Terrifying sounds fill his ears;
   when all seems well, marauders attack him.
²² He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;
   he is marked for the sword.
²³ He wanders about for food like a vulture;
   he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
²⁴ Distress and anguish fill him with terror;
   troubles overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,
²⁵ because he shakes his fist at God
   and vaunts himself against the Almighty,
²⁶ defiantly charging against him
   with a thick, strong shield.

    ²⁷ “Though his face is covered with fat
   and his waist bulges with flesh,
²⁸ he will inhabit ruined towns
   and houses where no one lives,
   houses crumbling to rubble.
²⁹ He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,
   nor will his possessions spread over the land.
³⁰ He will not escape the darkness;
   a flame will wither his shoots,
   and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
³¹ Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless,
   for he will get nothing in return.
³² Before his time he will wither,
   and his branches will not flourish.
³³ He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,
   like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.
³⁴ For the company of the godless will be barren,
   and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.
³⁵ They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;
   their womb fashions deceit.”