Job 15
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite, and said,
2 “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
Should a wise man utter windy knowledge, and fill his inward parts with the east wind?
3 Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?
Should he reason with a speech which availeth nothing? and with words in which there is no profit?
4 But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.
Yea, thou truly makest void the fear [of God], and diminishest devotion before God.
5 For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
For thy iniquity teacheth thy mouth, so that thou choosest the language of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.
Thy own mouth must condemn thee, but not I: yea, thy own lips will testify against thee.
7 Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
Wast thou born as the first man? or wast thou brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?
Hast thou listened to the secret counsel of God? and is wisdom therefore of little esteem with thee?
9 What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
What knowest thou, that we do not know? what understandest thou, which is not with us?
10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side— men much older than your father.
Both the grayheaded and the very aged are among us, — richer than thy father in days.
11 Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?
Are the divine consolations too little for thee? and the word that was so mild with thee?
12 Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,
Whither doth thy heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes gaze at?
13 as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?
That thou shouldst turn against God thy spirit, and utter [such] words out of thy 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 should be pure? and that he who is born of woman should be declared righteous?
15 If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
Behold, in his holy ones he putteth no trust; and the heavens are not pure in his eyes:
16 how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
How much more then the abominable and corrupt, the man who drinketh like water wrong-doing?
17 Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,
I will instruct thee, hear me; and what I have seen will I relate;
18 what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,
Which wise men have ever told, and have not concealed, as they obtained it from their fathers;
19 to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.
Unto whom alone the earth was given, and into whose midst no stranger ever entered.
20 A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
All his days is the wicked plagued with pain, and the number of years which are laid by for the tyrant.
21 Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
A sound of terrors is in his ears: during peace will the waster come over him.
22 He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.
He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is looked for by the sword.
23 He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
He wandereth abroad for bread, [saying, ] Where is it? he knoweth that there is ready at his hand the day of darkness.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
Distress and anguish terrify him: they assail him with might, as a king prepared for the battle.
25 For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,
Because he had stretched out against God his hand, and strengthened himself against the Almighty;
26 rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.
[And] he had run against him, with an [extended] neck, with the thick roundings of his bucklers;
27 Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
Because he had covered his face with his fat, and had made thick folds of fat on his flanks;
28 he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.
And he dwelt in abandoned cities, in houses which none inhabited, which were destined to be ruinous heaps.
29 He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.
[Yet] will he not remain rich, neither will his wealth endure, nor will he attain their perfection on 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 will never depart out of darkness: the flame shall dry up his shoots, and he will depart by the breath of God's mouth.
31 Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
Let him that goeth astray not trust in vanity; for vanity will be what he obtaineth thereby.
32 It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.
Even before his time will it be overfull, and his branches will not be green.
33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
He will shake off like the vine his unripe grapes, and cast off like the olive his blossoms.
34 For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
For the assembly of hypocrites will remain desolate, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
They conceive trouble, and bring forth wrong-doing, and their body prepareth deceit.
