1 ARST Then Eliphaz, Job’ s friend from the town of Teman, replied to what Job had said. Eliphaz told him, BSB BSB: Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 ARST “If you were truly wise, you would not have said such useless things. You have said a lot, but it has all been insignificant. BSB BSB: “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
3 ARST You should not be saying things that do not benefit anyone. No, you should not speak things that are not helpful. BSB BSB: Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?
4 ARST You are actually encouraging others not to respect God. Yes, you are discouraging people from honoring him. BSB BSB: But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.
5 ARST You are wicked, and that is why you say what you do. You are talking in the way that deceptive people talk. BSB BSB: For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
6 ARST Everything that you say shows that God should punish you. It is not necessary for me to prove that. BSB BSB: Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.
7 ARST { You should not think that you know so much} You were not the first person whom God created. God did not make you when he first formed the world. BSB BSB: Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 ARST You do not listen as God makes his plans. You should not think that you are the only person who is wise. BSB BSB: Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?
9 ARST We know everything that you know. We understand everything that you understand. BSB BSB: What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
10 ARST My friends and I are saying the same things that old, wise people say, people who were born before your father was. BSB BSB: Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father.
11 ARST God wants to comfort you and speak gently to you, but you do not appreciate that. BSB BSB: Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?
12 ARST You should not be allowing yourself to become so emotional. No, you should not be allowing yourself to lose your temper. BSB BSB: Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,
13 ARST You have become angry with God, and so you are saying harsh things against him. BSB BSB: so that you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?
14 ARST No human being can be sinless. No one on this earth can be completely righteous. BSB BSB: What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
15 ARST God does not even trust his own angels{ to do the right thing every time}. He does not consider the heavens to be completely pure. BSB BSB: If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
16 ARST So God certainly does not consider people to be pure who commit terrible wrongs, who do evil deeds as often as they drink water. BSB BSB: how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
17 ARST Job, I want to explain{ why you are experiencing so much suffering}. Please listen to me. I have learned many things, and I want to explain them to you. BSB BSB: Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,
18 ARST These are things that wise people have passed down from their ancestors. These wise people have declared all these things openly. BSB BSB: what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,
19 ARST God gave the land{ of Edom} exclusively to my wise ancestors. No one came from another country and caused them to think wrongly about God. BSB BSB: to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.
20 ARST Wicked people suffer great pain the whole time that they are alive. God has determined that this will happen constantly to those who oppress others. BSB BSB: A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
21 ARST Wicked people constantly experience terrible things. They may become wealthy, but they will lose that wealth. BSB BSB: Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
22 ARST Wicked people lose hope that their troubles will ever end. They are always afraid that they are going to die violently. BSB BSB: He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.
23 ARST They have to go and search for food to eat. They do not know where to find it. They know that they will certainly experience disasters soon. BSB BSB: He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
24 ARST Wicked people are always afraid that bad things will happen to them. Their fear keeps them from taking actions that might protect them, as if an opposing king had defeated them in a battle{ and they had become helpless}. BSB BSB: Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
25 ARST These things happen to wicked people because they oppose God. They think they are strong enough to defeat Shaddai. BSB BSB: For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,
26 ARST Wicked people stubbornly oppose God as if they had a strong shield to protect themselves against God. BSB BSB: rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.
27 ARST But they are so fat that they would not be able to fight! BSB BSB: Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
28 ARST Wicked people have to live in cities that others have deserted. They live in homes that others have abandoned. Those homes are about to collapse into a pile of ruins. BSB BSB: he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.
29 ARST Few wicked people become rich, and those who do become rich do not stay rich for very long. No, they do not acquire great wealth. BSB BSB: He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.
30 ARST Wicked people will always be in trouble. They will be like trees whose branches burn up. When God gives the command, they will die. BSB BSB: He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
31 ARST Wicked people are often foolish and want to get things that are actually worthless. In the end, all they have are those worthless things. BSB BSB: Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
32 ARST While they are still young, they will die. They are like branches that have broken off a tree and dried up. BSB BSB: It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.
33 ARST Wicked people are like vines whose grapes fall off before they are ripe. They are like olive trees whose blossoms fall off before they produce any fruit. BSB BSB: He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
34 ARST Surely wicked people will not have any descendants. Those who took money from bribes will not have any money left in the end. BSB BSB: For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35 ARST They plan to cause trouble and to do evil things. They continually think of ways to deceive other people.” BSB BSB: They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.