1 Then Eliphaz from Teman replied ⌞to Job⌟,
2 “Should a wise person answer with endless details
3 Should he argue with words that don’t help,
4 Yes, you destroy the fear ⌞of God⌟
5 Your sin teaches you what to say.
6 Your ⌞own⌟ mouth condemns you, not I.
7 “Were you the first human to be born?
8 Did you listen in on God’s council meeting
9 What do you know that we don’t know?
10 Both the old and the gray-haired are among us.
11 Isn’t God’s comfort enough for you,
12 Why have your emotions carried you away?
13 when you turn against God
14 Why should a mortal be considered faultless
15 If God doesn’t trust his holy ones,
16 how much less will he trust the one who is disgusting and corrupt,
17 “I’ll tell you; listen to me!
18 I’ll tell you what wise people have declared
19 (The land was given to them alone,
20 “The wicked person is tortured all his days.
21 Terrifying sounds are in his ears.
22 He doesn’t believe he’ll return from the dark.
23 He wanders around for food and asks, ‘Where is it?’
24 “The day of darkness troubles him.
25 He stretches out his hand against God
26 He stubbornly charges at him with a thick shield.
27 “His face is bloated with fat,
28 He lives in ruined cities
29 He won’t get rich,
30 “He won’t escape the darkness.
31 He shouldn’t trust in worthless things and deceive himself
32 It will happen before his time has come,
33 He will drop his unripened grapes like a vine
34 because a mob of godless people produces nothing,
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.