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New International Version (NIV) |
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1 Then Eli'phaz the Te'manite answered:
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1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
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2 "Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind?
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2 "Would a wise man answer with empty notions or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
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3 Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good?
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3 Would he argue with useless words, with speeches that have no value?
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4 But you are doing away with the fear of God, and hindering meditation before God.
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4 But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God.
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5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
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5 Your sin prompts your mouth; you adopt the tongue of the crafty.
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6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you.
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6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine; your own lips testify against you.
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7 "Are you the first man that was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills?
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7 "Are you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
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8 Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
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8 Do you listen in on God's council? Do you limit wisdom to yourself ?
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9 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
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9 What do you know that we do not know? What insights do you have that we do not have?
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10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father.
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10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men even older than your father.
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11 Are the consolations of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?
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11 Are God's consolations not enough for you, words spoken gently to you?
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12 Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash,
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12 Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,
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13 that you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go out of your mouth?
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13 so that you vent your rage against God and pour out such words from your mouth?
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14 What is man, that he can be clean? Or he that is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?
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14 "What is man, that he could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could be righteous?
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15 Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his sight;
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15 If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,
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16 how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water!
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16 how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water!
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17 "I will show you, hear me; and what I have seen I will declare
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17 "Listen to me and I will explain to you; let me tell you what I have seen,
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18 (what wise men have told, and their fathers have not hidden,
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18 what wise men have declared, hiding nothing received from their fathers
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19 to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them).
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19 (to whom alone the land was given when no alien passed among them):
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20 The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.
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20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless through all the years stored up for him.
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21 Terrifying sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.
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21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears; when all seems well, marauders attack him.
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22 He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, and he is destined for the sword.
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22 He despairs of escaping the darkness; he is marked for the sword.
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23 He wanders abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?' He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;
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23 He wanders about--food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
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24 distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king prepared for battle.
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24 Distress and anguish fill him with terror; they overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,
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25 Because he has stretched forth his hand against God, and bids defiance to the Almighty,
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25 because he shakes his fist at God and vaunts himself against the Almighty,
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26 running stubbornly against him with a thick-bossed shield;
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26 defiantly charging against him with a thick, strong shield.
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27 because he has covered his face with his fat, and gathered fat upon his loins,
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27 "Though his face is covered with fat and his waist bulges with flesh,
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28 and has lived in desolate cities, in houses which no man should inhabit, which were destined to become heaps of ruins;
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28 he will inhabit ruined towns and houses where no one lives, houses crumbling to rubble.
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29 he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure, nor will he strike root in the earth;
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29 He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the land.
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30 he will not escape from darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots, and his blossom will be swept away by the wind.
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30 He will not escape the darkness; a flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God's mouth will carry him away.
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31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; for emptiness will be his recompense.
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31 Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless, for he will get nothing in return.
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32 It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green.
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32 Before his time he will be paid in full, and his branches will not flourish.
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33 He will shake off his unripe grape, like the vine, and cast off his blossom, like the olive tree.
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33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.
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34 For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
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34 For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.
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35 They conceive mischief and bring forth evil and their heart prepares deceit."
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35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit."
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| Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Revised Standard Version - Holy Bible) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
