1Elifaz tog nu til genmæle:2„Har man hørt mage til opblæst snak? Du kendes da ellers som en fornuftig mand.3Du burde tænke dig bedre om og ikke bruge den slags tomme ord.4Du undergraver fromhed og viser ingen respekt for Gud.5Du kommer med snedige udtalelser for at dække over dine overtrædelser.6Jeg er ikke ude på at dømme dig, du dømmer dig selv med dine ord.7Var du det første menneske i verden? Blev du født, før jorden blev skabt?8Var du til stede, da Gud planlagde det hele? Fik du monopol på alverdens visdom?9Hvad ved du, som vi ikke ved? Tror du virkelig, du er klogere end os?10Vores viden stammer fra de gamle vismænd, der er langt ældre end din far.11Er Guds trøst da ikke nok for dig? Er andres venlige ord til ingen nytte?12Hvorfor hidser du dig sådan op og sender os lynende blikke?13Husk lige, at det er Gud, du er vred på, det er ham, du anklager med dine ord.14Tror du virkelig, nogen kan være helt uskyldig? Kan et menneske være fuldstændig fejlfrit?15Ikke engang englene er uden synd. Selv de himmelske væsener kan svigte Gud.16Hvor meget mere skyld har da ikke et menneske, der tørster efter synd som var det vand.17Hør lige her, så skal jeg sige dig noget, lad mig fortælle dig, hvad jeg selv har hørt,18hvad de gamle vismænd har fortalt, det, de lærte af deres forfædre,19af dem, til hvem Gud gav dette land, før de blev påvirket af fremmede folk.20De onde må lide alle deres dage, de grusomme bliver selv grusomt behandlet.21Syndere må leve i evig angst, selv i fredstid bliver de overfaldet.22De tør ikke gå ud om natten af frygt for at blive myrdet.23De ved, at det vil gå galt til sidst, at de ender som føde for gribbene.24Gru og rædsel omringer dem som en hær, der venter på at angribe.25De har jo gjort oprør mod Gud, trodset den Almægtige.26Stædigt satte de sig op mod Gud, gik til angreb med sværd og skjold.27De ragede til sig på alle måder, maven blev tyk og kinderne fede.28De kommer til at bo i ødelagte byer, i forladte huse, der er ved at falde sammen.29Deres rigdom smuldrer og forgår, de efterlader sig intet af værdi.30De undslipper ikke dødens mørke, men fortæres af flammer, når Gud ånder på dem.31Fordi de stoler på den bedrageriske rigdom, bliver hele deres liv et tomt bedrag.32De er som et frugttræ, der ikke blomstrer og derfor bliver fældet i utide.33De er som en vinstok, der skæres ned, før druerne er modne, som et oliventræ, der mister blomsterne og ikke giver frugt.34De gudløses liv bærer ikke frugt. De, der har svindlet sig til rigdom, vil miste det hele.35De undfanger onde planer, som modnes i deres indre, indtil de fødes som løgn og bedrag.”
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: (Job 2,11)2“Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? (Job 6,26; Job 8,2; Job 12,3; Job 15,35; Job 16,3; Hos 12,1)3Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good?4But you are doing away with the fear of God[1] and hindering meditation before God.5For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.6Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you. (2.Sam 1,16; Job 9,20; Luk 19,22)7“Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills? (Job 38,21; Salm 90,2; Ord 8,25)8Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself? (1.Mos 1,26; 1.Mos 3,22; Job 29,4; Jer 23,18)9What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us? (Job 12,3; Job 13,2)10Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father. (Job 12,12; Job 32,6)11Are the comforts of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?12Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash,13that you turn your spirit against God and bring such words out of your mouth? (Job 21,4)14What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? (Job 14,1; Job 14,4; Job 25,4; Salm 14,3; Ord 20,9; Præd 7,20; 1.Joh 1,8; 1.Joh 1,10)15Behold, God[2] puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight; (Job 4,18; Job 5,1)16how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water! (Job 9,14; Job 34,7; Salm 14,3; Salm 53,1; Ord 19,28; Ord 26,6)17“I will show you; hear me, and what I have seen I will declare18(what wise men have told, without hiding it from their fathers, (Job 8,8; Salm 44,1)19to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them). (Joel 3,17)20The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless. (Job 6,23; Job 21,19; Job 24,1; Job 27,13)21Dreadful sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him. (Job 18,11; 1.Thess 5,3)22He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, and he is marked for the sword.23He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand; (Salm 59,15; Salm 109,10)24distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle. (Job 14,20)25Because he has stretched out his hand against God and defies the Almighty,26running stubbornly against him with a thickly bossed shield; (Job 16,14; Salm 75,5; Dan 8,6)27because he has covered his face with his fat and gathered fat upon his waist (Salm 17,10)28and has lived in desolate cities, in houses that none should inhabit, which were ready to become heaps of ruins;29he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the earth;[3]30he will not depart from darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots, and by the breath of his mouth he will depart. (Job 4,9)31Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment. (Es 59,4)32It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green. (Job 22,16; Salm 55,23; Salm 102,24; Præd 7,17)33He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine, and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.34For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery. (Job 16,7; Job 20,26)35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil, and their womb prepares deceit.” (Job 15,2; Salm 7,14; Es 59,4; Hos 10,13)