17 Listen to me and I will inform you.
I will describe what I have seen,
18 what the wise have declared and not concealed,
that came from their ancestors,
19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.
I will describe what I have seen,
18 what the wise have declared and not concealed,
that came from their ancestors,
19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.
20 A wicked person writhes in pain all his days,
throughout the number of years reserved for the ruthless.
21 Dreadful sounds fill his ears;
when he is at peace, a robber attacks him.
22 He doesn’t believe he will return from darkness;
he is destined for the sword.
23 He wanders about for food, asking, “Where is it?”
He knows the day of darkness is at hand.
24 Trouble and distress terrify him,
overwhelming him like a king prepared for battle.
25 For he has stretched out his hand against God
and has arrogantly opposed the Almighty.
26 He rushes headlong at him
with his thick, studded shields.
27 Though his face is covered with fat
and his waistline bulges with it,
28 he will dwell in ruined cities,
in abandoned houses destined to become piles of rubble.
29 He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.
His possessions will not increase in the land.
30 He will not escape from the darkness;
flames will wither his shoots,
and by the breath of God’s mouth, he will depart.
31 Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray,
for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless.
32 It will be accomplished before his time,
and his branch will not flourish.
33 He will be like a vine that drops its unripe grapes
and like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
34 For the company of the godless will have no children,
and fire will consume the tents of those who offer bribes.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;
their womb prepares deception.
Commentary
(the following is from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, 1706 -- www.christianity.com)
"Eliphaz maintains that the wicked are certainly miserable: from where he would infer, that the miserable are certainly wicked, and therefore Job was so. But because many of God's people have prospered in this world, it does not therefore follow that those who are crossed and made poor, as Job, are not God's people. Eliphaz shows also that wicked people, particularly oppressors, are subject to continual terror, live very uncomfortably, and perish very miserably.
Will the prosperity of presumptuous sinners end miserably as here described? Then let the mischiefs which befall others, be our warnings. Though no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but instead grievous, nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness. No calamity, no trouble, however heavy, however severe, can rob a follower of the Lord of his favor. What shall separate him from the love of Christ?"
