Job 15

1 And Eliphaz the Themanite, answered, and said:

Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered 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 give for answer a [mere] breath of wisdom? and does he fill up the pain of his belly,

3 Thou reprovest him by words, who is not equal to thee, and thou speakest that which is not good for thee.

reasoning with improper sayings, and with words wherein is no profit?

4 As much as is in thee, thou hast made void fear, and hast taken away prayers from before God.

Hast not thou moreover cast off fear, and accomplished such words before the Lord?

5 For thy iniquity hath taught thy mouth, and thou imitatest the tongue of blasphemers.

Thou art guilty by the words of thy mouth, neither hast thou discerned the words of the mighty.

6 Thy own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I: and thy own lips shall answer thee.

Let thine own mouth, and not me, reprove thee: and thy lips shall testify against thee.

7 Art thou the first man that was born, or wast thou made before the hills?

What! art thou the first man that was born? or wert thou established before the hills?

8 Hast thou heard God’s counsel, and shall his wisdom be inferior to thee?

Or hast thou heard the ordinance of the Lord? or has God used thee as [his] counsellor? and has wisdom come [only] to thee?

9 What knowest thou that we are ignorant of? what dost thou understand that we know not?

For what knowest thou, that, we know not? or what understandest thou, which we do not also?

10 There are with us also aged and ancient men, much elder than thy fathers.

Truly among us [are] both the old and very aged man, more advanced in days than thy father.

11 Is it a great matter that God should comfort thee? but thy wicked words hinder this.

Thou hast been scourged for [but] few of thy sins: thou hast spoken haughtily [and] extravagantly.

12 Why doth thy heart elevate thee, and why dost thou stare with thy eyes, as if they were thinking great things?

What has thine heart dared? or what have thine eyes [aimed at],

13 Why doth thy spirit swell against God, to utter such words out of thy mouth?

that thou hast vented [thy] rage before the Lord, and delivered such words from [thy] mouth?

14 What is man that he should be without spot, and he that is born of a woman that he should appear just?

For who, being a mortal, [is such] that he shall be blameless? or, [who that is] born of a woman, that he should be just?

15 Behold among his saints none is unchangeable, and the heavens are not pure in his sight.

Forasmuch as he trusts not his saints; and the heaven is not pure before him.

16 How much more is man abominable, and unprofitable, who drinketh iniquity like water?

Alas then, abominable and unclean is man, drinking unrighteousness as a draught.

17 I will shew thee, hear me: and I will tell thee what I have seen.

But I will tell thee, hearken to me; I will tell thee now what I have seen;

18 Wise men confess and hide not their fathers.

things wise men say, and their fathers have not hidden.

19 To whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger hath passed among them.

To them alone the earth was given, and no stranger came upon them.

20 The wicked man is proud all his days, and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain.

All the life of the ungodly [is spent] in care, and the years granted to the oppressor are numbered.

21 The sound of dread is always in his ears: and when there is peace, he always suspecteth treason.

And his terror is in his ears: just when he seems to be at peace, his overthrow will come.

22 He believeth not that he may return from darkness to light, looking round about for the sword on every side.

Let him not trust that he shall return from darkness, for he has been already made over to the power of the sword.

23 When he moveth himself to seek bread, he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

And he has been appointed to be food for vultures; and he knows within himself that he is doomed to be a carcass: and a dark day shall carry him away as with a whirlwind.

24 Tribulation shall terrify him, and distress shall surround him, as a king that is prepared for the battle.

Distress also and anguish shall come upon him: he shall fall as a captain in the first rank.

25 For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and hath strengthened himself against the Almighty.

For he has lifted his hands against the Lord, and he has hardened his neck against the Almighty Lord.

26 He hath run against him with his neck raised up, and is armed with a fat neck.

And he has run against him with insolence, on the thickness of the back of his shield.

27 Fatness hath covered his face, and the fat hangeth down on his sides.

For he has covered his face with his fat, and made layers of fat upon his thighs.

28 He hath dwelt in desolate cities, and in desert houses that are reduced into heaps.

And let him lodge in desolate cities, and enter into houses without inhabitant: and what they have prepared, others shall carry away.

29 He shall not be enriched, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he push his root in the earth.

Neither shall he at all grow rich, nor shall his substance remain: he shall not cast a shadow upon 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.

Neither shall he in any wise escape the darkness: let the wind blast his blossom, and let his flower fall off.

31 He shall not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that he may be redeemed with any price.

Let him not think that he shall endure; for his end shall be vanity.

32 Before his days be full he shall perish: and his hands shall wither away.

His harvest shall perish before the time, and his branch shall not flourish.

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.

And let him be gathered as the unripe grape before the time, and let him fall as the blossom of the olive.

34 For the congregation of the hypocrite is barren, and fire shall devour their tabernacles, who love to take bribes.

For death is the witness of an ungodly man, and fire shall burn the houses of them that receive gifts.

35 He hath conceived sorrow, and hath brought forth iniquity, and his womb prepareth deceits.

And he shall conceive sorrows, and his end shall be vanity, and his belly shall bear deceit.