New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
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And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,
2 "Should the wise answer with windy knowledge, and fill themselves with the east wind?
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Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?
3 Should they argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which they can do no good?
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Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?
4 But you are doing away with the fear of God, and hindering meditation before God.
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Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
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For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you.
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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.
7 "Are you the firstborn of the human race? Were you brought forth before the hills?
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Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills?
8 Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
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Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
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What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?
10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, those older than your father.
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With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?
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Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash,
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Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up;
13 so that you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go out of your mouth?
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So that you are turning your spirit against God, and letting such words go out of your mouth?
14 What are mortals, that they can be clean? Or those born of woman, that they can be righteous?
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What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?
15 God puts no trust even in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his sight;
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Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes;
16 how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, one who drinks iniquity like water!
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How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water!
17 "I will show you; listen to me; what I have seen I will declare—
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Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:
18 what sages have told, and their ancestors have not hidden,
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(The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us;
19 to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them.
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For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them:)
20 The wicked writhe in pain all their days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.
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The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small.
21 Terrifying sounds are in their ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon them.
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A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:
22 They despair of returning from darkness, and they are destined for the sword.
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He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;
23 They wander abroad for bread, saying, "Where is it?' They know that a day of darkness is ready at hand;
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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:
24 distress and anguish terrify them; they prevail against them, like a king prepared for battle.
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He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him:
25 Because they stretched out their hands against God, and bid defiance to the Almighty,
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Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all,
26 running stubbornly against him with a thick-bossed shield;
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Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight,
27 because they have covered their faces with their fat, and gathered fat upon their loins,
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Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;
28 they will live in desolate cities, in houses that no one should inhabit, houses destined to become heaps of ruins;
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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.
29 they will not be rich, and their wealth will not endure, nor will they strike root in the earth;
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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.
30 they will not escape from darkness; the flame will dry up their shoots, and their blossom will be swept away by the wind.
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He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.
31 Let them not trust in emptiness, deceiving themselves; for emptiness will be their recompense.
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Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.
32 It will be paid in full before their time, and their branch will not be green.
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His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green.
33 They will shake off their unripe grape, like the vine, and cast off their blossoms, like the olive tree.
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He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers.
34 For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
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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.
35 They conceive mischief and bring forth evil and their heart prepares deceit."
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Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, 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.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.