Eliphaz: Job Does Not Fear God 1 Brenton Then Eliphaz the Thæmanite answered and said, BSB BSB: Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Brenton Will a wise man give for answer a mere breath of wisdom? and does he fill up the pain of his belly, BSB BSB: “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
3 Brenton reasoning with improper sayings, and with words wherein is no profit? BSB BSB: Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?
4 Brenton Hast not thou moreover cast off fear, and accomplished such words before the Lord? BSB BSB: But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.
5 Brenton Thou art guilty by the words of thy mouth, neither hast thou discerned the words of the mighty. BSB BSB: For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
6 Brenton Let thine own mouth, and not me, reprove thee: and thy lips shall testify against thee. BSB BSB: Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.
7 Brenton What! art thou the first man that was born? or wert thou established before the hills? BSB BSB: Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Brenton Or hast thou heard the ordinance of the Lord? or has God used thee as his counsellor? and has wisdom come only to thee? BSB BSB: Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?
9 Brenton For what knowest thou, that we know not? or what understandest thou, which we do not also? BSB BSB: What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
10 Brenton Truly among us are both the old and very aged man, more advanced in days than thy father. BSB BSB: Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father.
11 Brenton Thou hast been scourged for but few of thy sins: thou hast spoken haughtily and extravagantly. BSB BSB: Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?
12 Brenton What has thine heart dared? or what have thine eyes aimed at , BSB BSB: Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,
13 Brenton that thou hast vented thy rage before the Lord, and delivered such words from thy mouth? BSB BSB: so that you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?
14 Brenton For who, being a mortal, is such that he shall be blameless? or, who that is born of a woman, that he should be just? BSB BSB: What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Brenton Forasmuch as he trusts not his saints; and the heaven is not pure before him. BSB BSB: If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
16 Brenton Alas then, abominable and unclean is man, drinking unrighteousness as a draught. BSB BSB: how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
17 Brenton But I will tell thee, hearken to me; I will tell thee now what I have seen; BSB BSB: Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,
18 Brenton things wise men say, and their fathers have not hidden. BSB BSB: what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,
19 Brenton To them alone the earth was given, and no stranger came upon them. BSB BSB: to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.
20 Brenton All the life of the ungodly is spent in care, and the years granted to the oppressor are numbered. BSB BSB: A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
21 Brenton And his terror is in his ears: just when he seems to be at peace, his overthrow will come. BSB BSB: Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
22 Brenton Let him not trust that he shall return from darkness, for he has been already made over to the power of the sword. BSB BSB: He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.
23 Brenton And he has been appointed to be food for vultures; and he knows within himself that he is doomed to be a carcase: and a dark day shall carry him away as with a whirlwind. BSB BSB: He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
24 Brenton Distress also and anguish shall come upon him: he shall fall as a captain in the first rank. BSB BSB: Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
25 Brenton For he has lifted his hands against the Lord, and he has hardened his neck against the Almighty Lord. BSB BSB: For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,
26 Brenton And he has run against him with insolence, on the thickness of the back of his shield. BSB BSB: rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.
27 Brenton For he has covered his face with his fat, and made layers of fat upon his thighs. BSB BSB: Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
28 Brenton And let him lodge in desolate cities, and enter into houses without inhabitant: and what they have prepared, others shall carry away. BSB BSB: he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.
29 Brenton Neither shall he at all grow rich, nor shall his substance remain: he shall not cast a shadow upon the earth. BSB BSB: He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.
30 Brenton Neither shall he in any wise escape the darkness: let the wind blast his blossom, and let his flower fall off. 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 Brenton Let him not think that he shall endure; for his end shall be vanity. BSB BSB: Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
32 Brenton His harvest shall perish before the time, and his branch shall not flourish. BSB BSB: It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.
33 Brenton And let him be gathered as the unripe grape before the time, and let him fall as the blossom of the olive. BSB BSB: He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
34 Brenton For death is the witness of an ungodly man, and fire shall burn the houses of them that receive gifts. BSB BSB: For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35 Brenton And he shall conceive sorrows, and his end shall be vanity, and his belly shall bear deceit. BSB BSB: They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
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