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[1]And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: --
[2]Doth a wise man answer [with] vain knowledge? And fill [with] an east wind his belly?
[3]To reason with a word not useful? And speeches -- no profit in them?
[4]Yea, thou dost make reverence void, And dost diminish meditation before God.
[5]For thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity, And thou chooseth the tongue of the subtile.
[6]Thy mouth declareth thee wicked, and not I, And thy lips testify against thee.
[7]The first man art thou born? And before the heights wast thou formed?
[8]Of the secret counsel of God dost thou hear? And withdrawest thou unto thee wisdom?
[9]What hast thou known, and we know not? Understandest thou -- and it is not with us?
[10]Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us -- Greater than thy father [in] days.
[11]Too few for thee are the comforts of God? And a gentle word [is] with thee,
[12]What -- doth thine heart take thee away? And what -- are thine eyes high?
[13]For thou turnest against God thy spirit? And hast brought out words from thy mouth:
[14]What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?
[15]Lo, in His holy ones He putteth no credence, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.
[16]Also -- surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking as water perverseness.
[17]I shew thee -- hearken to me -- And this I have seen and declare:
[18]Which the wise declare -- And have not hid -- from their fathers.
[19]To them alone was the land given, And a stranger passed not over into their midst:
[20]`All days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one.
[21]A fearful voice [is] in his ears, In peace doth a destroyer come to him.
[22]He believeth not to return from darkness, And watched [is] he for the sword.
[23]He is wandering for bread -- `Where [is] it?' He hath known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness.
[24]Terrify him do adversity and distress, They prevail over him As a king ready for a boaster.
[25]For he stretched out against God his hand, And against the Mighty he maketh himself mighty.
[26]He runneth unto Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.
[27]For he hath covered his face with his fat, And maketh vigour over [his] confidence.
[28]And he inhabiteth cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.
[29]He is not rich, nor doth his wealth rise, Nor doth he stretch out on earth their continuance.
[30]He turneth not aside from darkness, His tender branch doth a flame dry up, And he turneth aside at the breath of His mouth!
[31]Let him not put credence in vanity, He hath been deceived, For vanity is his recompence.
[32]Not in his day is it completed, And his bending branch is not green.
[33]He shaketh off as a vine his unripe fruit, And casteth off as an olive his blossom.
[34]For the company of the profane [is] gloomy, And fire hath consumed tents of bribery.
[35]To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart doth prepare deceit.
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