Another discourse of Eliphaz
1 Eliphaz the Temanite spoke:
2 Should a wise man answer with airy notions,
puff himself up with senseless opinions?
3 Should he argue in empty talk,
in words that are meaningless?
4 You are undermining piety
and meditation in God’s presence.
5 Your iniquity instructs your mouth,
and you talk like the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you,
your own lips, not mine.
7 Are you mankind’s firstborn?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Are you privy to God’s counsels?
Do you alone possess wisdom?
9 What knowledge have you that we do not have?
What do you understand that is obscure to us?
10 The gray-haired and the aged are among us,
men older than your father.
11 Are God’s consolations too small for you,
and the words spoken gently to you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away,
why do your eyes flash
13 when you turn your wrath against God
and utter such words as these?
14 What is man to claim innocence,
the child of woman to be cleared of guilt?
15 If God puts no trust in his holy ones,
and (the) heavens are not clean in his eyes,
16 how much less man who is vile and corrupt,
who drinks evil as if it were water!
17 Listen and I will explain;
I will tell you of my experience
18 and of the sages’ teachings
passed on to them by their fathers,
19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner moved among them.
20 The wicked are in torment all their days.
During the years allotted to the tyrant
21 his ears are filled with terrifying sounds,
his peace shattered by the attack of marauders.
22 He despairs of escaping the darkness
and sees himself given to the sword,
23 then left as a prey for vultures,
he knows his destruction is at hand.
24 The hour of darkness fills him with dread,
as distress and anguish close in on him.
25 But look: he challenged God,
he raised his hand against the Al mighty,
26 charging stubbornly against him
behind a thick, sturdy shield.
27 His face had grown full and fat,
his thighs bulged with flesh.
28 He would dwell in ruined cities,
in deserted and crumbling houses.
29 He will not prosper or take root;
he will not escape from darkness;
30 a flame will wither his shoots;
the wind will carry off his blossom.
31 Let him not trust in greatness
for he will get nothing in return.
32 He will be paid in full before his time,
and his branches will never again be green.
33 Like a vine he will be stripped of unripe grapes;
like the olive, he will shed his blossoms.
34 For the breed of the godless will be barren,
and fire will consume the tents of extortioners.
35 Who conceives mischief will bring forth evil,
deceit will spring from his own womb.
- Psalms 73,4
- Psalms 73,7
