< Job 15 >
1 And Eliphaz the Themanite, answered, and said:
And Eliphaz the Temanite answers and says:
2 Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking in the wind, and fill his stomach with burning heat?
“Does a wise man answer [with] vain knowledge? And fill his belly [with] an east wind?
3 Thou reprovest him by words, who is not equal to thee, and thou speakest that which is not good for thee.
To reason with a word not useful? And speeches—no profit in them?
4 As much as is in thee, thou hast made void fear, and hast taken away prayers from before God.
Indeed, you make reverence void, and diminish meditation before God.
5 For thy iniquity hath taught thy mouth, and thou imitatest the tongue of blasphemers.
For your mouth teaches your iniquity, And you choose the tongue of the cunning.
6 Thy own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I: and thy own lips shall answer thee.
Your mouth declares you wicked, and not I, And your lips testify against you.
7 Art thou the first man that was born, or wast thou made before the hills?
Are you the first man born? And were you formed before the heights?
8 Hast thou heard God’s counsel, and shall his wisdom be inferior to thee?
Do you hear of the secret counsel of God? And withdraw wisdom to you?
9 What knowest thou that we are ignorant of? what dost thou understand that we know not?
What have you known, and we do not know? [What] do you understand, and it is not with us?
10 There are with us also aged and ancient men, much elder than thy fathers.
Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us—Greater than your father [in] days.
11 Is it a great matter that God should comfort thee? but thy wicked words hinder this.
Are the comforts of God too few for you? And a gentle word [is] with you,
12 Why doth thy heart elevate thee, and why dost thou stare with thy eyes, as if they were thinking great things?
Why does your heart take you away? And why are your eyes high?
13 Why doth thy spirit swell against God, to utter such words 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 without spot, and he that is born of a woman that he should appear just?
What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?
15 Behold among his saints none is unchangeable, 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 more is man abominable, and unprofitable, who drinketh iniquity like water?
Also—surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking perverseness as water.
17 I will shew thee, hear me: and I will tell thee what I have seen.
I show you—listen to me—And this I have seen and declare,
18 Wise men confess and hide not their fathers.
Which the wise declare—And have not hid—from their fathers.
19 To whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger hath passed among them.
To them alone was the land given, And a stranger did not pass over into their midst:
20 The wicked man is proud all his days, and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain.
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 dread is always in his ears: and when there is peace, he always suspecteth treason.
A fearful voice [is] in his ears, In peace a destroyer comes to him.
22 He believeth not that he may return from darkness to light, looking round about for the sword on every side.
He does not believe to return from darkness, And he watches for 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 for bread: Where [is] it? He has known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness.
24 Tribulation shall terrify him, and distress shall surround him, as a king that is prepared 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 hath strengthened himself against the Almighty.
For he stretched out his hand against God, And against the Mighty he makes himself mighty.
26 He hath run against him with his neck raised up, and is armed with a fat neck.
He runs to Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.
27 Fatness hath covered his face, and the fat hangeth down on his sides.
For he has covered his face with his fat, And makes vigor over [his] confidence.
28 He hath dwelt in desolate cities, and in desert houses that are reduced into heaps.
And he inhabits cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.
29 He shall not be enriched, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he push his root in 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 he shall be taken away by the breath of his own month.
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 He shall not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that he may be redeemed with any price.
Do not let him put credence in vanity, He has been deceived, For vanity is his exchange.
32 Before his days be full he shall perish: and his hands shall wither away.
It is not completed in his day, And his bending branch is not 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 shakes off his unripe fruit as a vine, And casts off his blossom as an olive.
34 For the congregation of the hypocrite is barren, and fire shall devour their tabernacles, who love to take bribes.
For the company of the profane [is] barren, And fire has consumed tents of bribery.
35 He hath conceived sorrow, and hath brought forth iniquity, and his womb prepareth deceits.
To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart prepares deceit.”