1 And Eliphaz the Tĕmanite answered and said,
2 “Would a wise man answer with vain knowledge, or fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Would he reason with useless talk, or by speeches with which do not profit?
4 Indeed, you do away with reverence, and withhold prayer before Ěl.
5 For your crookedness teaches your mouth what to say, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Not I, but your own mouth condemns you. And your own lips witness against you.
7 Were you the first one born? Or were you made before the hills?
8 Have you heard the secret counsel of Eloah? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know – understand, that is not within us?
10 Both the grey-haired and the aged are among us, much older than your father.
11 Are the comforts of Ěl not enough for you – and a word that deals gently with you?
12 What have you taken to heart? And why do your eyes flash?
13 That you should turn your spirit against Ěl, and let such words go out of your mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be clean? And one born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Look, He puts no trust in His set-apart ones, and the heavens are not clean in His eyes,
16 how much less one who is loathsome and corrupt, drinking unrighteousness like water!
17 Let me show you – hear me – and this I have seen and declare,
18 which the wise declare, and have not hidden from their fathers,
19 to them alone the land was given, and no stranger passed over into their midst:
20 All the days of the wrong one he is paining himself, and few years have been stored up for the ruthless.
21 A frightening sound is in his ears; in peace a destroyer comes to him.
22 He believes not to return from darkness, and he is reserved for the sword.
23 He wanders about for food – where is it? He knows that a day of darkness is prepared for him.
24 Distress and pain frighten him – they overwhelm him, like a sovereign ready for the attack.
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against Ěl, and acts mightily against the Almighty.
26 He runs against Him defiantly, with thick-bossed shields.
27 For he has covered his face with his fatness, and he has put layers of fat on his loins.
28 But he dwells in ruined cities, in houses which no one lives in, which have been ready to become heaps.
29 He shall not be rich, and his wealth shall not rise, and his possessions shall not overspread the earth.
30 He does not turn away from darkness. The flame dries up his branches, and he turns aside by the breath of His mouth.
31 Let him not trust in falsehood, deceiving himself, for falsehood is his reward.
32 Before his day it is accomplished, and his branch shall not be green.
33 He shakes off his unripe grape like a vine, and throws off his blossom like an olive tree.
34 For the company of the defiled ones is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive trouble and bring forth wickedness, even their womb prepares deception.”