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 15,11 Hiob 15,11
But as for me, I would seek unto God,And unto God would I commit my cause;
Who doeth great things and unsearchable,Marvellous things without number:
Who giveth rain upon the earth,And sendeth waters upon the fields;
So that he setteth up on high those that are low,And those that mourn are exalted to safety.
He frustrateth the devices of the crafty,So that their hands {Or, can perform nothing of worth}cannot perform their enterprise.
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness;And the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
They meet with darkness in the day-time,And grope at noonday as in the night.
But he saveth from the sword {Hebrew: out of their mouth.}of their mouth,Even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
So the poor hath hope,And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
Behold, happy is the man whom God {Or, reproveth}correcteth:Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.
For he maketh sore, and bindeth up;He woundeth, and his hands make whole.
He will deliver thee in six troubles;Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
In famine he will redeem thee from death;And in war from the power of the sword.
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue;Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
At destruction and dearth thou shalt laugh;Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field;And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace;And thou shalt visit thy {Or, habitation}fold, and {Or, shall not err}shalt miss nothing.
Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great,And thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age,Like as a shock of grain cometh in in its season.
{Or, Dost thou harken in the council}Hast thou heard the secret counsel of God?And dost thou limit wisdom to thyself?
If thou set thy heart aright,And stretch out thy hands toward him;
If iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away,And let not unrighteousness dwell in thy tents.
Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot;Yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
For thou shalt forget thy misery;Thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away,
And thy life shall {Or, rise above}be clearer than the noonday;Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.
And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope;Yea, thou shalt search about thee, and shalt take thy rest in safety.
Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid;Yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
What ye know, the same do I know also:I am not inferior unto you.
Blessed be {Or, God and the Father See Romans 15:6 margin.}the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;
who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ.
Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of Jehovah from me to speak unto thee?
Nevertheless he that comforteth the lowly, even God, comforted us by the {Greek: presence. Compare 2 Thessalonians 2:9.}coming of Titus;