Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
Should a wise man make answer with {Hebrew: knowledge of wind.}vain knowledge,
And fill himself with the east wind?
Should he reason with unprofitable talk,
Or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
Yea, thou doest away with fear,
And {Hebrew: diminishest.}hinderest {Or, meditation}devotion before God.
For {Or, thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity}thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth,
And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I;
Yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
Art thou the first man that was born?
Or wast thou brought forth before the hills?
{Or, Dost thou harken in the council}Hast thou heard the secret counsel of God?
And dost thou limit wisdom to thyself?
What knowest thou, that we know not?
What understandest thou, which is not in us?
With us are both the grayheaded and the very aged men,
Much elder than thy father.
Are the consolations of God too small for thee,
{Or, Or is there any secret thing with thee?}Even the word that is gentle toward thee?
Why doth thy heart carry thee away?
And why do thine eyes flash,
That against God thou turnest thy spirit,
And lettest words go out of thy mouth?
What is man, that he should be clean?
And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones;
Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight:
How much less {Or, that which is}one that is abominable and corrupt,
A man that drinketh iniquity like water!
I will show thee, hear thou me;
And that which I have seen I will declare
(Which wise men have told
From their fathers, and have not hid it;
Unto whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them):
The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days,
{Or, And years that are numbered are laid up &c.}Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.
A sound of terrors is in his ears;
In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness,
And he is waited for of the sword.
He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it?
He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
Distress and anguish make him afraid;
They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
Because he hath stretched out his hand against God,
And {Or, biddeth defiance to}behaveth himself proudly against the Almighty;
He runneth upon him with a stiff neck,
{Or, Upon}With the thick bosses of his bucklers;
Because he hath covered his face with his fatness,
And gathered fat upon his loins;
And he hath dwelt in {Hebrew: cut off. }desolate cities,
In houses which no man {Or, would inhabit}inhabited,
Which were ready to become heaps;
He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue,
Neither shall {Or, their produce bend to the earth}their possessions be extended on the earth.
He shall not depart out of darkness;
The flame shall dry up his branches,
And by the breath of {Hebrew: his.}God's mouth shall he go away.
Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself;
For vanity shall be his recompense.
It shall be {Or, paid in full.}accomplished before his time,
And his branch shall not be green.
He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine,
And shall cast off his flower as the olive-tree.
For the company of the godless shall be barren,
And fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity,
And their heart prepareth deceit.
Querverweise zu Hiob 15,7 Hiob 15,7
With us are both the grayheaded and the very aged men,Much elder than thy father.
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?Declare, {Hebrew: if thou knowest understanding.}if thou hast understanding.
Who determined the measures thereof, {Or, seeing}if thou knowest?Or who stretched the line upon it?
Whereupon were the {Hebrew: sockets.}foundations thereof {Hebrew: made to sink.}fastened?Or who laid the corner-stone thereof,
When the morning stars sang together,And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Or who shut up the sea with doors,When it brake forth, {Or, and issued}as if it had issued out of the womb;
When I made clouds the garment thereof,And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,
And {Hebrew: brake.}marked out for it my bound,And set bars and doors,
And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began,And caused the dayspring to know its place;
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,And the wicked be shaken out of it?
It is changed as clay under the seal;And all things stand forth {Or, as in a garment}as a garment:
And from the wicked their light is withholden,And the high arm is broken.
Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?Or hast thou walked in the {Or, search}recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Hast thou comprehended the earth in its breadth?Declare, if thou knowest it all.
Where is the way to the dwelling of light?And as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?
Doubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born,And the number of thy days is great!
Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow,Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,Against the day of battle and war?
{Or, Which is the way to the place where the light is &c.}By what way is the light parted,Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?
Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood,Or the way for the lightning of the thunder;
To cause it to rain on a land where no man is;On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
To satisfy the waste and desolate ground,And to cause the {Or, greensward}tender grass to spring forth?
Hath the rain a father?Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
Out of whose womb came the ice?And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath {Or, given it birth}gendered it?
The waters {Or, are congealed like stone}hide themselves and become like stone,And the face of the deep {Hebrew: cohereth.}is frozen.
Canst thou bind the {Or, chain Or, sweet influences}cluster of the Pleiades,Or loose the bands of Orion?
Canst thou lead forth {Or, the signs of the Zodiac}the Mazzaroth in their season?Or canst thou guide the Bear with her {Hebrew: sons.}train?
Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens?Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,That abundance of waters may cover thee?
Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go,And say unto thee, Here we are?
Who hath put wisdom in the {Or, dark clouds}inward parts?Or who hath given understanding to the {Or, meteor}mind?
Who can number the clouds by wisdom?Or who can {Hebrew: cause to lie down.}pour out the bottles of heaven,
When the dust runneth into a mass,And the clods cleave fast together?
Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness,Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
When they couch in their dens,And abide in the covert to lie in wait?
Who provideth for the raven his prey,When his young ones cry unto God, And wander for lack of food?
{Or, With aged men, ye say, is wisdom}With aged men is wisdom,And in length of days understanding.
Before the mountains were brought forth,Or ever thou {Hebrew: gavest birth to.}hadst formed the earth and the world,Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
And the man knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have {Hebrew: kanah, to get.}gotten a man with the help of Jehovah.
Jehovah {Or, formed}possessed me {Or, as}in the beginning of his way, {Or, The first of}Before his works of old.
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,Before the earth was.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth,When there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled,Before the hills was I brought forth;