Job 15
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,
2 “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?
3 Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?
Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?
4 But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.
Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry.
5 For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself.
6 Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.
It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you.
7 Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills?
8 Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?
Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?
10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side— men much older than your father.
With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?
Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?
12 Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,
Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up;
13 as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?
So that you are turning your spirit against God, and letting such words go out of your mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?
15 If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes;
16 how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water!
17 Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,
Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:
18 what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,
(The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us;
19 to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.
For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them: )
20 A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small.
21 Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:
22 He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.
He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;
23 He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
He is wandering about in search of bread, saying, Where is it? and he is certain that the day of trouble is ready for him:
24 Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him:
25 For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,
Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all,
26 rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.
Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight,
27 Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;
28 he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.
And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls.
29 He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.
He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth.
30 He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.
31 Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.
32 It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.
His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green.
33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers.
34 For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
For the band of the evil-doers gives no fruit, and the tents of those who give wrong decisions for reward are burned with fire.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.
