15
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temani, and said,
2 Should a chacham (wise man) utter vain knowledge,
and fill his inner being with the east wind?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable davar (talk)?
Or with speeches wherewith no good is done?
4 Yea, thou makest void yireh [Elohim],
and doth diminish si'akh (meditation) before El.
5 For thy mouth uttereth thine avon,
and thou choosest the leshon arumim (tongue of the crafty).
6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and loh Ani (not I);
yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
7 Art thou harishon adam (the first man) that was born?
Or wast thou made before the hills?
8 Hast thou attended to the sod Eloah (counsel of G-d)?
And dost thou limit chochmah to thyself?
9 Of what dost thou have da'as, that we know not?
What understandest thou, which is not in us?
10 Both the grayheaded and very aged men are among us,
much elder than avicha.
11 Are the tanechumot El (consolations of G-d) not enough for thee?
Or the davar that deals gently with thee?
12 Why doth thine lev carry thee away?
And why do thy eyes flash,
13 That thou ventest thy ruach against El (G-d),
and lettest such words pour out of thy mouth?
14 What is enosh, that he should be pure [in the sight of Hashem]?
And he which is born of an isha, that yitzdak (he should be in the right)?
15 If He trusteth not His Kedoshim;
yea, Shomayim is not pure in His eyes.
16 How much more vile and corrupt is ish,
which drinketh iniquity like mayim?
17 I will show thee, shema to me;
and that which I have seen I will declare;
18 Things which chachamim declare
from their avot without concealment;
19 Unto whom alone ha'aretz was given,
and no zar passed among them.
20 The reshah travaileth with pain all his yamim,
and numbered shanim are reserved for the oppressor.
21 A dreadful sound is in his oznayim;
during shalom the shoded (destroyer) shall come upon him.
22 He believeth not in a return from choshech,
and he is marked for the cherev.
23 He wandereth about after lechem, saying, Where is it?
He has da'as the Yom Choshech is near at hand for him.
24 Distress and anguish shall make him afraid;
they shall seize him as a melech poised for battle.
25 For he stretcheth out his yad against El (G-d),
and with insolence vaunts himself against Shaddai.
26 He charges against Him, with a stiff neck,
with the thick bosses of his mogen (shield);
27 Though he covereth his panim with his fatness,
and addeth fat on his flanks;
28 And he dwelleth in desolate towns,
and in batim (houses) which no man inhabiteth,
which are ready to crumble to rubble.
29 He shall not be osher, neither shall his substance continue;
neither shall their possessions spread over ha'aretz.
30 He shall not escape from choshech;
the flame shall wither his branches,
and in the ruach of his mouth shall he perish.
31 Let not him that is deceived trust in shav (vanity);
for shav shall be his recompense.
32 His Yom is not yet;
then it is accomplished, and his branch shall not flourish.
33 He shall shake off his unripe grape like the gefen,
and shall cast off his blossom like the zayit (olive tree).
34 For the Adat Chanef (congregation of hypocrites) shall be barren,
and eish shall consume the ohalim of bribery.
35 They conceive amal (trouble), and give birth to evil,
and their belly worketh mirmar (deceit).