Job 15
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
Then Eliphaz replied to Job:
2 “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
“If you were truly wise [RHQ], you would not have replied to us by claiming that you know a lot; what you are saying is just a lot of hot air [MET].
3 Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?
You should not [RHQ] be saying things that do not benefit anyone, using words that do no one any good.
4 But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.
[By what you say, ] you show that you do not revere God, and you are hindering people from meditating/thinking about God.
5 For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
[It is as though] your sins are telling you what to say; you talk like people who will not admit that they are wicked.
6 Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.
Everything that you say [MTY] shows that you should be punished; so, it is not necessary for me to show that.
7 Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
[“Tell me do you know more than everyone else because you think that] you are the first person who was ever born? [SAR, RHQ] Were you born before the hills [were created]?
8 Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?
Were you listening when God made all his plans? [SAR, RHQ] Or do you think that you are the only person who is wise?
9 What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
(What do you know that we do not know?/You do not know anything that we do not know.) [RHQ] You do not understand [RHQ] anything that is not also clear to us.
10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side— men much older than your father.
My friends and I are also wise; we acquired [wisdom] from old gray-haired people, from people who were born before your father was born.
11 Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?
God wants to comfort you, and to speak gently/kindly to you; (is that not enough for you/do you need more than that)?
12 Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,
Why do you allow yourself to be (carried away/excited) by your emotions? Why are [you very angry, with the result that] your eyes flash?
13 as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?
You are angry [IDM] with God, and so you [MTY] are criticizing/denouncing him.
14 What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
“(How can any person, [including you, ] be sinless?/No person, [including you], can be sinless.) [RHQ] (How can anyone on the earth be [completely] righteous?/No one on the earth can be [completely] righteous.) [RHQ]
15 If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
Hey, God does not even trust his angels; he does not consider even them to be [completely] pure.
16 how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
So, he certainly does not [trust] abominable/disgusting and depraved/corrupt people who do evil things [as easily] as they drink water [MET].
17 Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,
Job, listen to what I will tell you. I will declare to you what I know,
18 what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,
things that wise men have told me, truths that their ancestors did not keep hidden.
19 to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.
God gave this land to those ancestors, who were truly wise; no one from another country caused them to think wrongly [IDM].
20 A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
It is wicked people who suffer with great pain all the time that they are alive; that is what happens to those who (oppress/act violently toward) others.
21 Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
They constantly hear sounds that terrify them; while they are prospering, bandits attack them.
22 He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.
Wicked people surely know that they will not escape from darkness/death, because [they are sure that someone] is waiting to kill them with a sword.
23 He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
They wander around, searching for food, saying ‘Where can I find some?’ And they know that they will soon experience disasters.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
Because they are afraid of those things happening to them, they are afraid and worry that these things will come to them like [the army of] a king comes to attack [their enemies and cause them to suffer] [SIM].
25 For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,
[Those things happen to them] because they (shook their fists/dared to fight) against Almighty God, and thought that they were strong enough to defeat him.
26 rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.
They stubbornly [IDM] rush to attack God [as though they were carrying] a strong shield [to protect themselves].
27 Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
They are so fat [that they are unable to fight].
28 he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.
They will live in cities that have been abandoned, cities which have become a heap of ruins.
29 He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.
But they will not remain rich very long; Everything that they own will be taken from them; their possessions will all disappear.
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.
They will not escape from the darkness [of death]; they will be like trees whose branches are burned by fire and whose blossoms are blown away by the wind.
31 Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
Since they are very foolish, with the result that they trust in things that are really worthless, then things that are worthless will be all that they get.
32 It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.
Before they are old, they will wither; they will be like [MET] branches that wither and never become green again.
33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
They will be like [SIM] vines whose grapes fall off before they are ripe, like olive trees whose blossoms fall off before they produce any fruit.
34 For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
Wicked/godless people will not have any descendants, and fires will completely burn up the homes of [those who built those homes using] money they received from bribes.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
They plan to cause trouble and to do evil things, and they are always preparing to deceive people.”
