Job

Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

1Then Eliphaz, the man from Teman, answered Job.

2Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

2"Would a wise man answer with empty words? Would he fill his belly with the hot east wind?

3Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

3Would he argue with useless talk, or with speeches that do no good at all?

4Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.

4But you tear down respect for God, and you get in the way of prayer to him.

5For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

5Your sin is what teaches your mouth what to say. You have chosen the words of a sneaky man.

6Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

6Your own mouth says you are guilty, not me. Your own lips speak against you.

7Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?

7Were you the first man ever born? Were you made before the hills were made?

8Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?

8Have you listened in when God plans things? Do you keep all wisdom for yourself?

9What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?

9What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that we do not?

10With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

10Gray-haired and very old men are on our side, men much older than your father.

11Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?

11Is the comfort God gives too small for you? Are gentle words not enough for you?

12Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,

12Why does your heart carry you away? Why do your eyes flash like that,

13That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?

13so that you turn your spirit against God and let words like these pour out of your mouth?

14What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

14What is a human being, that he should be clean? How can anyone born of a woman be right before God?

15Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

15Look: God does not even trust his holy ones. Even the heavens are not clean in his eyes.

Note"Saints" here does not mean holy people on earth. It means God's holy ones in heaven, his heavenly servants.

16How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?

16So how much worse is a human being, who is rotten and spoiled, who drinks in wrong like water?

17I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;

17Listen to me and I will show you. I will tell you what I have seen myself,

18Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:

18things that wise men have passed down from their fathers and have not kept hidden.

19Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

19The land was given to those wise men alone, and no stranger passed through among them.

20The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

20The wicked man twists in pain his whole life. The number of years left to the cruel man is hidden from him.

21A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

21Terrible sounds fill his ears. Even when things go well, a destroyer comes at him.

22He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

22He does not believe he will ever come back out of the dark. A sword is waiting for him.

23He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

23He wanders around looking for food, saying, "Where is it?" He knows the day of darkness is close.

24Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

24Trouble and pain fill him with fear. They beat him down like a king ready for battle.

25For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.

25All this because he shook his fist at God and made himself strong against the Almighty.

26He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:

26He charged straight at God, hiding behind a thick shield covered with metal studs.

NoteA "buckler" is a small shield. The "bosses" are the thick metal knobs on the front of it. The picture is a soldier charging behind his shield.

27Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

27His face is padded with fat, and thick rolls of fat hang at his sides.

Note"Collops" is an old word for thick slices or rolls of meat or fat. Eliphaz is describing a man grown fat and comfortable.

28And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

28But he will live in ruined towns, in empty houses that are about to fall into piles of stone.

29He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

29He will not stay rich. His money will not last. His goods will not spread across the land.

30He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.

30He will not get out of the dark. Fire will dry up his branches. God's breath will blow him away.

31Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.

31Let him not fool himself by trusting in what is empty, for empty is all he will get back.

32It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

32It will all be paid out before his time is up, and his branch will never turn green.

33He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

33He will be like a vine that drops its grapes before they ripen, like an olive tree that loses its blossoms.

34For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

34The crowd of fakers will end up with nothing, and fire will burn up the tents built on bribes.

35They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

35They plan trouble and give birth to nothing. What they carry inside them is a lie."