The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,
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Empty words, Job!
2 Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?
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Empty words!
3 Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?
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No one who is wise would talk the way you do or defend himself with such meaningless words.
4 Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry.
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If you had your way, no one would fear God; no one would pray to him.
5 For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself.
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Your wickedness is evident by what you say; you are trying to hide behind clever words.
6 It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you.
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There is no need for me to condemn you; you are condemned by every word you speak.
7 Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills?
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Do you think you were the first person born? Were you there when God made the mountains?
8 Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself?
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Did you overhear the plans God made? Does human wisdom belong to you alone?
9 What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?
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There is nothing you know that we don't know.
10 With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father.
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We learned our wisdom from gray-haired people - those born before your father.
11 Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?
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God offers you comfort; why still reject it? We have spoken for him with calm, even words.
12 Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up;
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But you are excited and glare at us in anger.
13 So that you are turning your spirit against God, and letting such words go out of your mouth?
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You are angry with God and denounce him.
14 What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?
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Can any human being be really pure? Can anyone be right with God?
15 Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes;
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Why, God does not trust even his angels; even they are not pure in his sight.
16 How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water!
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And we drink evil as if it were water; yes, we are corrupt; we are worthless.
17 Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:
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Now listen, Job, to what I know.
18 (The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us;
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Those who are wise have taught me truths which they learned from their ancestors, and they kept no secrets hidden.
19 For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them:)
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Their land was free from foreigners; there was no one to lead them away from God.
20 The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small.
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The wicked who oppress others will be in torment as long as they live.
21 A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:
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Voices of terror will scream in their ears, and robbers attack when they think they are safe.
22 He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;
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They have no hope of escaping from darkness, for somewhere a sword is waiting to kill them,
23 He is wandering about in search of bread, saying, Where is it? and he is certain that the day of trouble is ready for him:
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and vultures are waiting to eat their corpses. They know their future is dark;
24 He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him:
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disaster, like a powerful king, is waiting to attack them.
25 Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all,
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That is the fate of those who shake their fists at God and defy the Almighty.
26 Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight,
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They are proud and rebellious; they stubbornly hold up their shields and rush to fight against God.
27 Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;
28 And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls.
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They are the ones who captured cities and seized houses whose owners had fled, but war will destroy those cities and houses.
29 He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth.
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They will not remain rich for long; nothing they own will last. Even their shadows will vanish,
30 He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.
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and they will not escape from darkness. They will be like trees whose branches are burned by fire, whose blossoms are blown away by the wind.
31 Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.
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If they are foolish enough to trust in evil, then evil will be their reward.
32 His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green.
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Before their time is up they will wither, wither like a branch and never be green again.
33 He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers.
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They will be like vines that lose their unripe grapes; like olive trees that drop their blossoms.
34 For the band of the evil-doers gives no fruit, and the tents of those who give wrong decisions for reward are burned with fire.
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There will be no descendants for godless people, and fire will destroy the homes built by bribery.
35 Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.
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These are the ones who plan trouble and do evil; their hearts are always full of deceit.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.