1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite {temani: Edomite clansman} answered {anah: formal reply} and said,
2 Should a wise man answer with knowledge{daat-ruach: vain insight} of wind, and fill his belly{bitno: inner self} with the east wind?
3 Should he argue{hocheach: legal reproof} with a matter that is unprofitable{yiskon: yield profit}, and with words by which he does no good?
4 Even you annul fear {yirah: holy awe}, and you diminish meditation before God {El, Worthy Of Fear}.
5 For your iniquity {avon: guilty twisting} instructs your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty {arumim: practiced deceivers}.
6 Your mouth declares you guilty {yarshi'akha: legal verdict}, and not I; and your lips testify {ya'anu: courtroom reply} against you.
7 Were you born as the first{harishon: earliest possible} man? Or were you brought forth{cholalta: birthed with pain} before the hills?
8 Do you hear in the council {sod: confidential assembly} of God {Eloah, Counsel-Giver}, and do you withhold wisdom to yourself?
9 What have you known {yada'ta: lived knowledge} that we do not know? What do you understand that is not with us {immanu: in our midst}?
10 Both the gray-haired and the very aged are with us {banu: in our group}, greater in days {yamim: life years} than your father.
11 Is it too little from you, the consolations of God {El, Faithful Comforter}, and a word spoken softly {laat: in whispers} with you?
12 What is it that your heart {lev: inner motives} carries you away, and what is it that your eyes {ayin: hostile signal} flash?
13 That you turn your spirit against God {El, Offended Judge}, and you bring out words {millin: spoken utterances} from your mouth.
14 What is a mortal, that he should be pure {yizkeh: morally clean}? And one born of a woman {ishah: human mother}, that he should be righteous?
15 Behold, He {Elohim, Perfectly Holy} does not put trust in His holy ones {kedoshav: set-apart beings}, and the heavens are not pure in His eyes.
16 Indeed, how much more detestable and corrupt{neelach: morally tainted} is a man who drinks iniquity{avlah: crooked deeds} like water.
17 I will tell you; listen{shma: heed words} to me. And this I have seen, and I will recount{asapperah: full narration}.
18 What wise men {chakhamim: seasoned sages} declare, they do not hide {kichadu: kept secret} from their fathers.
19 The land was given to them alone {levadam: solely theirs}, and no foreigner {zar: non-kin outsider} passed through among them.
20 All the days of a wicked man, he writhes {mitholel: twisting pain}, and the number of years is hidden for the oppressor {arits: brutal strongman}.
21 A sound of terrors {pechadim: dread alarms} is in his ears; in peace, a destroyer {shoded: ruthless raider} will come upon him.
22 He does not believe he will return{shuv: come back} from darkness, and he is awaited{tsafuy: watched for} for the sword.
23 He wanders for bread {lechem: food supply}, saying, “Where is it?” He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand {beyado: close at hand}.
24 Distress and anguish {metsuqah: crushing constraint} terrify him; it overpowers him like a king ready for attack {kidor: siege assault}.
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God {El, Mighty Judge}, and he strengthens himself against the Almighty {Shaddai, Overpowering Ruler}.
26 He runs toward him with his neck {tsavvar: stiff defiance}, in the thickness {avi: dense mass} of the bosses of his shields.
27 For he has covered his face with fat {chelev: rich fat}, and he has made thickness upon his flanks {kasel: body sides}.
28 And he dwells in desolated {nikhchadot: laid waste} cities, in houses which no one inhabits, which have been made ready for heaps {galim: stone piles}.
29 He will not become rich, and his wealth{kheilo: accumulated might} will not stand, and his possessions will not spread{yitteh: stretch outward} over the land.
30 He will not turn aside from darkness; his shoot {yonakto: tender growth} will dry up by a flame, and he will depart by the breath {ruach: forceful wind} of His mouth.
31 Let him not trust in vanity {shav: empty promise}; he is led astray, for vanity will be his recompense {temurah: return payment}.
32 It will be accomplished {timmale: brought to end} before his time, and his branch {khipato: life symbol} will not be green.
33 He will shake off {yakhmos: strip away} like a vine its unripe grape {bisro: sour fruit}, and he will cast off like an olive tree its blossom.
34 For the company{adat: gathered assembly} of the godless is desolate, and fire has consumed the tents of bribery{shokhad: corrupt payoff}.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity {aven: ruinous wrong}; and their womb {beten: inner source} prepares deceit.