Job 15

1 And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,

Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said:

2 Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?

Should a wise man answer with arguments of wind, Or fill his bosom with the east wind?

3 Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?

Should he argue with speech that helpeth him not, And with words which do not profit him?

4 Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry.

Behold, thou makest the fear of God a vain thing, And discouragest prayer before him.

5 For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself.

Yea, thy own mouth proclaimeth thy iniquity, Though thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

6 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.

Thy own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; Thy own lips testify against thee.

7 Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills?

Art thou the first man that was born? Wast thou formed before the hills?

8 Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself?

Hast thou listened in the council of God, And drawn all wisdom to thyself?

9 What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?

What dost thou know, that we know not also? What dost thou understand, that is a secret to us?

10 With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father.

With us are the aged and hoary-headed; Much older than thy father.

11 Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?

Dost thou despise the consolations of God, And words so full of kindness to thee?

12 Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up;

Why hath thy passion taken possession of thee? And why this winking of thine eyes?

13 So that you are turning your spirit against God, and letting such words go out of your mouth?

For against God hast thou turned thy spirit, And uttered such words from thy mouth.

14 What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?

What is man, that he should be pure, And he that is born of woman, that he should be innocent?

15 Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes;

Behold, He putteth no trust in his ministering spirits, And the heavens are not pure in his sight;

16 How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water!

Much less, abominable and polluted man, Who drinketh iniquity as water.

17 Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:

Hear me, and I will show thee, And that which I have seen will I declare;

18 (The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us;

Which the wise men have told, And not kept concealed, as received from their fathers;

19 For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them: )

To whom alone the land was given, And among whom not a stranger wandered.

20 The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small.

“All his days the wicked man is in pain; Yea, all the years, that are laid up for the oppressor.

21 A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:

A fearful sound is in his ears; In peace the destroyer cometh upon him.

22 He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;

He hath no hope that he shall escape from darkness; He is set apart for the sword.

23 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:

He wandereth about, seeking bread; He knoweth that a day of darkness is at hand.

24 He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him:

Distress and anguish fill him with dread; They prevail against him like a king ready for the battle.

25 Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all,

Because he stretched forth his hand against God, And bade defiance to the Almighty,

26 Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight,

And ran against him with outstretched neck, With the thick bosses of his bucklers;

27 Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;

Because he covered his face with fatness, And gathered fat upon his loins,

28 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.

And dwelt in desolated cities, In houses which no man inhabiteth, That are ready to become heaps.

29 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.

He shall not be rich; his substance shall not endure, And his possessions shall not be extended upon the earth.

30 He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.

He shall not escape from darkness, And the flame shall dry up his branches; Yea, by the breath of His mouth shall he be taken away.

31 Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.

“Let not man trust in vanity! he will be deceived; For vanity shall be his recompense.

32 His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green.

He shall come to his end before his time, And his branch shall not be green.

33 He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers.

He shall shake off his unripe fruit like the vine, And shed his blossoms like the olive-tree.

34 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.

The house of the unrighteous shall be famished, And fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

35 Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.

They conceive mischief, and bring forth misery, And their breast deviseth deceit.”