1: And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: -- 2: Doth a wise man answer [with] vain knowledge? And fill [with] an east wind his belly? 3: To reason with a word not useful? And speeches -- no profit in them? 4: Yea, thou dost make reverence void, And dost diminish meditation before God. 5: For thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity, And thou chooseth the tongue of the subtile. 6: Thy mouth declareth thee wicked, and not I, And thy lips testify against thee. 7: The first man art thou born? And before the heights wast thou formed? 8: Of the secret counsel of God dost thou hear? And withdrawest thou unto thee wisdom? 9: What hast thou known, and we know not? Understandest thou -- and it is not with us? 10: Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us -- Greater than thy father [in] days. 11: Too few for thee are the comforts of God? And a gentle word [is] with thee, 12: What -- doth thine heart take thee away? And what -- are thine eyes high? 13: For thou turnest against God thy spirit? And hast brought out words from thy mouth: 14: What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman? 15: Lo, in His holy ones He putteth no credence, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes. 16: Also -- surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking as water perverseness. 17: I shew thee -- hearken to me -- And this I have seen and declare: 18: Which the wise declare -- And have not hid -- from their fathers. 19: To them alone was the land given, And a stranger passed not over into their midst: 20: 'All days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one. 21: A fearful voice [is] in his ears, In peace doth a destroyer come to him. 22: He believeth not to return from darkness, And watched [is] he for the sword. 23: He is wandering for bread -- 'Where [is] it?' He hath known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness. 24: Terrify him do adversity and distress, They prevail over him As a king ready for a boaster. 25: For he stretched out against God his hand, And against the Mighty he maketh himself mighty. 26: He runneth unto Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields. 27: For he hath covered his face with his fat, And maketh vigour over [his] confidence. 28: And he inhabiteth cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps. 29: He is not rich, nor doth his wealth rise, Nor doth he stretch out on earth their continuance. 30: He turneth not aside from darkness, His tender branch doth a flame dry up, And he turneth aside at the breath of His mouth! 31: Let him not put credence in vanity, He hath been deceived, For vanity is his recompence. 32: Not in his day is it completed, And his bending branch is not green. 33: He shaketh off as a vine his unripe fruit, And casteth off as an olive his blossom. 34: For the company of the profane [is] gloomy, And fire hath consumed tents of bribery. 35: To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart doth prepare deceit.
