| 1 | And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: -- |
| 2 | Doth a wise man answer [with] vain knowledge? And fill [with] an east wind his belly? |
| 3 | To reason with a word not useful? And speeches—no profit in them? |
| 4 | Yea, thou dost make reverence void, And dost diminish meditation before God. |
| 5 | For thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity, And thou chooseth the tongue of the subtile. |
| 6 | Thy mouth declareth thee wicked, and not I, And thy lips testify against thee. |
| 7 | The first man art thou born? And before the heights wast thou formed? |
| 8 | Of the secret counsel of God dost thou hear? And withdrawest thou unto thee wisdom? |
| 9 | What hast thou known, and we know not? Understandest thou —and it is not with us? |
| 10 | Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us— Greater than thy father [in] days. |
| 11 | Too few for thee are the comforts of God? And a gentle word [is] with thee, |
| 12 | What—doth thine heart take thee away? And what—are thine eyes high? |
| 13 | For thou turnest against God thy spirit? And hast brought out words from thy mouth: |
| 14 | What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman? |
| 15 | Lo, in His holy ones He putteth no credence, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes. |
| 16 | Also—surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking as water perverseness. |
| 17 | I shew thee—hearken to me—And this I have seen and declare: |
| 18 | Which the wise declare—And have not hid—from their fathers. |
| 19 | To them alone was the land given, And a stranger passed not over into their midst: |
| 20 | 'All days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one. |
| 21 | A fearful voice [is] in his ears, In peace doth a destroyer come to him. |
| 22 | He believeth not to return from darkness, And watched [is] he for the sword. |
| 23 | He is wandering for bread—'Where [is] it?' He hath known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness. |
| 24 | Terrify him do adversity and distress, They prevail over him As a king ready for a boaster. |
| 25 | For he stretched out against God his hand, And against the Mighty he maketh himself mighty. |
| 26 | He runneth unto Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields. |
| 27 | For he hath covered his face with his fat, And maketh vigour over [his] confidence. |
| 28 | And he inhabiteth cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps. |
| 29 | He is not rich, nor doth his wealth rise, Nor doth he stretch out on earth their continuance. |
| 30 | He turneth not aside from darkness, His tender branch doth a flame dry up, And he turneth aside at the breath of His mouth! |
| 31 | Let him not put credence in vanity, He hath been deceived, For vanity is his recompence. |
| 32 | Not in his day is it completed, And his bending branch is not green. |
| 33 | He shaketh off as a vine his unripe fruit, And casteth off as an olive his blossom. |
| 34 | For the company of the profane [is] gloomy, And fire hath consumed tents of bribery. |
| 35 | To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart doth prepare deceit. |