1Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite , and said , 2Should a wise man make answer with vain knowledge , And fill himself with the east wind ? 3Should he reason with unprofitable talk , Or with speeches wherewith he can do no good ? 4Yea, thou doest away with fear , And hinderest devotion before God. 5For thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth , And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty . 6Thine own mouth condemneth thee , and not I ; Yea, thine own lips testify against thee . 7Art thou the first man that was born ? Or wast thou brought forth before the hills ? 8Hast thou heard the secret counsel of God ? And dost thou limit wisdom to thyself? 9What knowest thou , that we know not ? What understandest thou , which is not in us ? 10With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men , Much elder than thy father. 11Are the consolations of God too small for thee, Even the word that is gentle toward thee? 12Why doth thy heart carry thee away ? And why do thine eyes flash , 13That against God thou turnest thy spirit , And lettest words go out of thy mouth ? 14What is man, that he should be clean ? And he that is born of a woman , that he should be righteous ? 15Behold , he putteth no trust in his holy ones ; Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight : 16How much less one that is abominable and corrupt, A man that drinketh iniquity like water !
The Fate of the Wicked
17I will show thee , hear thou me ; And that which I have seen I will declare 18(Which wise men have told From their fathers, and have not hid it ; 19Unto whom alone the land was given , And no stranger passed among them ): 20The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days , Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor . 21A sound of terrors is in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him . 22He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness , And he is waited for of the sword . 23He wandereth abroad for bread , saying , Where is it ? He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand . 24Distress and anguish make him afraid ; They prevail against him , as a king ready to the battle . 25Because he hath stretched out his hand against God , And behaveth himself proudly against the Almighty ; 26He runneth upon him with a stiff neck , With the thick bosses of his bucklers ; 27Because he hath covered his face with his fatness , And gathered fat upon his loins ; 28And he hath dwelt in desolate cities , In houses which no man inhabited , Which were ready to become heaps ; 29He shall not be rich , neither shall his substance continue , Neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth. 30He shall not depart out of darkness ; The flame shall dry up his branches , And by the breath of God’s mouth shall he go away .
Job's Response Anticipated
31Let him not trust in vanity , deceiving himself; For vanity shall be his recompense. 32It shall be accomplished before his time , And his branch shall not be green . 33He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine , And shall cast off his flower as the olive-tree. 34For the company of the godless shall be barren , And fire shall consume the tents of bribery . 35They conceive mischief , and bring forth iniquity , And their heart prepareth deceit .