Job 15
1 But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, said:
And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,
2 Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking wind, and will he fill his stomach with fire?
Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?
3 You rebuke with words he who is not equal to you, and you speak what is not expedient for you,
Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?
4 to such an extent that, within yourself, you have expelled reverence and have taken away prayers from the presence of God.
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 has mislead your mouth, and you imitate the tongue of blasphemers.
For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself.
6 Your own mouth will condemn you, not I; and your own lips will answer 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 Are you the first man who was born, or were you formed before the hills?
Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills?
8 Have you heard the intentions of God, and will his wisdom be inferior to you?
Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself?
9 What do you know, about which we are ignorant? What do you understand that we do not know?
What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?
10 There are with us both aged and ancient men, even more senior than your fathers.
With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father.
11 Is it so important that God should console you? But your own depraved words prevent this.
Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?
12 Why does your heart exalt you, and why do you gaze with your eyes, as if thinking great things?
Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up;
13 Why does your spirit stir against God, so as to utter such speeches 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 immaculate, and that he should appear just, having been born of woman?
What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?
15 Behold, among his holy ones not one is immutable, and even the heavens are not pure in his sight.
Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes;
16 How much more abominable and useless is the man who drinks as if from the water of iniquity?
How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water!
17 I will reveal to you, so listen to me; and I will explain to you what I have seen.
Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:
18 The wise acknowledge, and they do not leave behind, their fathers,
(The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us;
19 to whom alone the earth has been given, and no stranger passed among them.
For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them: )
20 The impious is arrogant for all his days, and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain.
The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small.
21 The sound of terror is always in his ears; and when there is peace, he always suspects treason.
A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:
22 He does not believe that it is possible for him to be turned from darkness into the light, for he sees around him the sword on every side.
He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;
23 When he moves himself to seek bread, he knows that the day of darkness has been prepared for his 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 Tribulation will terrify him, and anguish will prevail over him, like a king who is being prepared to go to battle.
He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him:
25 For he has extended his hand against God, and he has strengthened himself against the Almighty.
Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all,
26 He has rushed against him with his throat exposed, and he has been armed with a fat neck.
Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight,
27 Thickness has covered his face, and lard hangs down from his sides.
Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;
28 He has lived in desolate cities and deserted houses, which have been turned into tombs.
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 not be enriched, nor will his basic necessities endure, nor will he establish his root in the earth.
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 withdraw from the darkness; the flame will burn up his branches, and he will be defeated by the breath of his own mouth.
He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.
31 He will not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that he could be redeemed at any price.
Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.
32 Before his time is completed, he will pass into ruin and his hands will wither away.
His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green.
33 He will be wounded like a grapevine, when its cluster is in first flower, and like an olive tree that casts off its flower.
He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers.
34 For the congregation of the hypocrites is fruitless, and fire will devour the tabernacles of those who love to accept money.
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 He has conceived sorrow, and he has brought forth iniquity, and his womb prepares deceit.
Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.
