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 15,8 Hiob 15,8
And that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom!For he is manifold in understanding.Know therefore that God {Or, remitteth (Hebrew: causeth to be forgotten) unto thee of thine iniquity}exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.
No doubt but ye are the people,And wisdom shall die with you.
The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Oh that ye would altogether hold your peace!And it would be your wisdom.
The {Or, counsel Or, secret}friendship of Jehovah is with them that fear him; {Or, And his covenat, to make them know it}And he will show them his covenant.
Hear now my reasoning,And hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
For the perverse is an abomination to Jehovah;But his {Or, counsel}friendship is with the upright.
For who hath stood in the council of Jehovah, that he should perceive and hear his word? who hath marked {Another reading is, his.}my word, and heard it?
Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, except he reveal his secret unto his servants the prophets.
At that season Jesus answered and said, I {Or, praise}thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes:
And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, {Psalm 78:2.}I will open my mouth in parables;I will utter things hidden from the foundation {Many ancient authorities omit of the world.}of the world.
No longer do I call you {Greek: bondservants.}servants; for the {Greek: bondservant.}servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known unto you.
For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
{Some ancient authorities omit verse 25-27. Compare the end of chapter 14.}Now to him that is able to establish you according to my {See marginal note on chapter 1:1}gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal,
but now is manifested, and {Greek: through.}by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the {Or, Gentiles}nations unto obedience {Or, to the faith}of faith:
but as it is written, {Isaiah 64:4; 65:17.}Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not,And which entered not into the heart of man,Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him.
{Some ancient authorities read For.}But unto us God revealed {Or, it}them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God.
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.