New International Version NIV
New Living Translation NLT
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
1
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “Would a wise person answer with empty notions or fill their belly with the hot east wind?
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“A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk! You are nothing but a windbag.
3 Would they argue with useless words, with speeches that have no value?
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The wise don’t engage in empty chatter. What good are such words?
4 But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God.
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Have you no fear of God, no reverence for him?
5 Your sin prompts your mouth; you adopt the tongue of the crafty.
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Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine; your own lips testify against you.
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Your own mouth condemns you, not I. Your own lips testify against you.
7 “Are you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
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“Were you the first person ever born? Were you born before the hills were made?
8 Do you listen in on God’s council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
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Were you listening at God’s secret council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
9 What do you know that we do not know? What insights do you have that we do not have?
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What do you know that we don’t? What do you understand that we do not?
10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men even older than your father.
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On our side are aged, gray-haired men much older than your father!
11 Are God’s consolations not enough for you, words spoken gently to you?
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“Is God’s comfort too little for you? Is his gentle word not enough?
12 Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,
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What has taken away your reason? What has weakened your vision,
13 so that you vent your rage against God and pour out such words from your mouth?
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that you turn against God and say all these evil things?
14 “What are mortals, that they could be pure, or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?
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Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be just?
15 If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,
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Look, God does not even trust the angels. Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight.
16 how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt, who drink up evil like water!
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How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness!
17 “Listen to me and I will explain to you; let me tell you what I have seen,
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“If you will listen, I will show you. I will answer you from my own experience.
18 what the wise have declared, hiding nothing received from their ancestors
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And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men who have heard the same thing from their fathers—
19 (to whom alone the land was given when no foreigners moved among them):
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from those to whom the land was given long before any foreigners arrived.
20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.
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“The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives. Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.
21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears; when all seems well, marauders attack him.
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The sound of terror rings in their ears, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.
22 He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness; he is marked for the sword.
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They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered.
23 He wanders about for food like a vulture; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
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They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’ They know their day of destruction is near.
24 Distress and anguish fill him with terror; troubles overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,
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That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for battle.
25 because he shakes his fist at God and vaunts himself against the Almighty,
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For they shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty.
26 defiantly charging against him with a thick, strong shield.
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Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him.
27 “Though his face is covered with fat and his waist bulges with flesh,
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“These wicked people are heavy and prosperous; their waists bulge with fat.
28 he will inhabit ruined towns and houses where no one lives, houses crumbling to rubble.
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But their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down.
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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Their riches will not last, and their wealth will not endure. Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.
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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“They will not escape the darkness. The burning sun will wither their shoots, and the breath of God will destroy them.
31 Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless, for he will get nothing in return.
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Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches, for emptiness will be their only reward.
32 Before his time he will wither, and his branches will not flourish.
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They will be cut down in the prime of life; their branches will never again be green.
33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.
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They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early, like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.
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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For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit.”
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They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their womb produces deceit.”
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.