Job 15
1 And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
And Eliphaz the Temanite answers and says:
2 Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind,
“Does a wise man answer [with] vain knowledge? And fill his belly [with] an east wind?
3 Reasoning with unprofitable talk, and with speeches which do no good?
To reason with a word not useful? And speeches—no profit in them?
4 Yea, thou makest piety of none effect, and restrainest meditation before God.
Indeed, you make reverence void, and diminish meditation before God.
5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou hast chosen the tongue of the crafty.
For your mouth teaches your iniquity, And you choose the tongue of the cunning.
6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; and thy lips testify against thee.
Your mouth declares you wicked, and not I, And your lips testify against you.
7 Art thou the first man that was born? and wast thou brought forth before the hills?
Are you the first man born? And were you formed before the heights?
8 Hast thou listened in the secret council of God? And hast thou absorbed wisdom for thyself?
Do you hear of the secret counsel of God? And withdraw wisdom to you?
9 What knowest thou that we know not? [what] understandest thou which is not in us?
What have you known, and we do not know? [What] do you understand, and it is not with us?
10 Both the greyheaded and the aged are with us, older than thy father.
Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us—Greater than your father [in] days.
11 Are the consolations of God too small for thee? and the word gently spoken to thee?
Are the comforts of God too few for you? And a gentle word [is] with you,
12 Why doth thy heart carry thee away? and why do thine eyes wink?
Why does your heart take you away? And why are your eyes high?
13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest words go out of thy mouth?
Do you turn your spirit against God? And have brought out words from your mouth:
14 What is man, that he should be pure? and he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?
15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight:
Behold, He puts no credence in His holy ones, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.
16 How much less the abominable and corrupt, — man, that drinketh unrighteousness like water!
Also—surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking perverseness as water.
17 I will shew thee, listen to me; and what I have seen I will declare;
I show you—listen to me—And this I have seen and declare,
18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hidden;
Which the wise declare—And have not hid—from their fathers.
19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
To them alone was the land given, And a stranger did not pass over into their midst:
20 All his days the wicked man is tormented, and numbered years are allotted to the violent.
All [the] days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one.
21 The sound of terrors is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer cometh upon him.
A fearful voice [is] in his ears, In peace a destroyer comes to him.
22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is singled out for the sword.
He does not believe to return from darkness, And he watches for the sword.
23 He wandereth abroad for bread, — where may it be? He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
He is wandering for bread: Where [is] it? He has known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness.
24 Distress and anguish make him afraid; they prevail against him, as a king ready for the battle.
Adversity and distress terrify him, They prevail over him as a king ready for a boaster.
25 For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and strengthened himself against the Almighty:
For he stretched out his hand against God, And against the Mighty he makes himself mighty.
26 He runneth against him, with [outstretched] neck, with the thick bosses of his bucklers;
He runs to Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.
27 For he hath covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat upon [his] flanks.
For he has covered his face with his fat, And makes vigor over [his] confidence.
28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, in houses that no man inhabiteth, which are destined to become heaps.
And he inhabits cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.
29 He shall not become rich, neither shall his substance continue, and their possessions shall not extend upon the earth.
He is not rich, nor does his wealth rise, Nor does he stretch out their continuance on earth.
30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches; and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
He does not turn aside from darkness, A flame dries up his tender branch, And he turns aside at the breath of His mouth!
31 Let him not trust in vanity: he is deceived, for vanity shall be his recompense;
Do not let him put credence in vanity, He has been deceived, For vanity is his exchange.
32 It shall be complete before his day, and his branch shall not be green.
It is not completed in his day, And his bending branch is not green.
33 He shall shake off his unripe grapes as a vine, and shall cast his flower as an olive.
He shakes off his unripe fruit as a vine, And casts off his blossom as an olive.
34 For the family of the ungodly shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
For the company of the profane [is] barren, And fire has consumed tents of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart prepares deceit.”
