Job 15
1 And Eliphaz the Themanite, answered, and said:
And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,
2 Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking in the wind, and fill his stomach with burning heat?
Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?
3 Thou reprovest him by words, who is not equal to thee, and thou speakest that which is not good for thee.
Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?
4 As much as is in thee, thou hast made void fear, and hast taken away prayers from before 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 thy iniquity hath taught thy mouth, and thou imitatest the tongue of blasphemers.
For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself.
6 Thy own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I: and thy own lips shall answer thee.
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 Art thou the first man that was born, or wast thou made before the hills?
Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills?
8 Hast thou heard God’s counsel, and shall his wisdom be inferior to thee?
Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself?
9 What knowest thou that we are ignorant of? what dost thou understand that we know not?
What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?
10 There are with us also aged and ancient men, much elder than thy fathers.
With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father.
11 Is it a great matter that God should comfort thee? but thy wicked words hinder this.
Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?
12 Why doth thy heart elevate thee, and why dost thou stare with thy eyes, as if they were thinking great things?
Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up;
13 Why doth thy spirit swell against God, to utter such words out of thy 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 without spot, and he that is born of a woman that he should appear just?
What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?
15 Behold among his saints none is unchangeable, and 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 is man abominable, and unprofitable, who drinketh iniquity like water?
How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water!
17 I will shew thee, hear me: and I will tell thee what I have seen.
Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:
18 Wise men confess and hide not 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 was given, and no stranger hath passed among them.
For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them: )
20 The wicked man is proud 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 dread is always in his ears: and when there is peace, he always suspecteth treason.
A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:
22 He believeth not that he may return from darkness to light, looking round about for 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 moveth himself to seek bread, he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at 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 shall terrify him, and distress shall surround him, as a king that is prepared for the battle.
He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him:
25 For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and hath 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 hath run against him with his neck raised up, and is 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 Fatness hath covered his face, and the fat hangeth down on his sides.
Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;
28 He hath dwelt in desolate cities, and in desert houses that are reduced into heaps.
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 shall not be enriched, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he push 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 shall not depart out of darkness: the flame shall dry up his branches, and he shall be taken away by the breath of his own month.
He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.
31 He shall not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that he may be redeemed with 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 days be full he shall perish: and his hands shall wither away.
His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green.
33 He shall be blasted as a vine when its grapes are in the first flower, and as an olive tree that casteth 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 hypocrite is barren, and fire shall devour their tabernacles, who love to take bribes.
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 hath conceived sorrow, and hath brought forth iniquity, and his womb prepareth deceits.
Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.
