Job 15
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 “Would a wise man answer with such empty ‘knowledge’ that is just a lot of hot air?
Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind,
3 He wouldn't argue with unprofitable speeches using words that do no good.
Reasoning with unprofitable talk, and with speeches which do no good?
4 But you are doing away with the fear of God, and destroying communion with him.
Yea, thou makest piety of none effect, and restrainest meditation before God.
5 It's your sins that are doing the talking, and you are choosing deceptive words.
For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou hast chosen the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth is condemning you, not me; your own lips are testifying against you.
Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; and thy lips testify against thee.
7 Were you the very first person to be born? Were you born before the hills were created?
Art thou the first man that was born? and wast thou brought forth before the hills?
8 Were you there listening in God's council? Does wisdom only belong to you?
Hast thou listened in the secret council of God? And hast thou absorbed wisdom for thyself?
9 What do you know that we don't? What do you understand that we don't?
What knowest thou that we know not? [what] understandest thou which is not in us?
10 We have among us old, gray-haired people much older than your father!
Both the greyheaded and the aged are with us, older than thy father.
11 Are the comforts God provides too little for you? Are God's gentle words not enough for you?
Are the consolations of God too small for thee? and the word gently spoken to thee?
12 Why do you let yourself be carried away by your emotions?
Why doth thy heart carry thee away? and why do thine eyes wink?
13 Why do your eyes flash in anger that you turn against God and let yourself speak this way?
That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest words go out of thy mouth?
14 Who can say they are clean? Which human being can say that they do what is right?
What is man, that he should be pure? and he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Look, God doesn't even trust his angels—even the heavenly beings are not pure in his sight!
Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight:
16 How much less pure are those who are unclean and corrupt, drinking in sin like water!
How much less the abominable and corrupt, — man, that drinketh unrighteousness like water!
17 If you are ready to listen to me, I will show you. I will explain my insights.
I will shew thee, listen to me; and what I have seen I will declare;
18 This is what wise men have said, confirmed by their ancestors,
Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hidden;
19 those who to whom alone the land was given before foreigners ever were there.
Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked writhe in pain all their lives, through all the years these oppressors survive.
All his days the wicked man is tormented, and numbered years are allotted to the violent.
21 Terrifying sounds fill their ears; even when they think they're safe, the destroyer will attack them.
The sound of terrors is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer cometh upon him.
22 They don't believe they will escape the darkness—they know a sword is waiting for them.
He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is singled out for the sword.
23 They wander around looking for food, asking ‘Where is it?’ They know that their day of darkness is close at hand.
He wandereth abroad for bread, — where may it be? He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Misery and torment overwhelm them like a king preparing for battle.
Distress and anguish make him afraid; they prevail against him, as a king ready for the battle.
25 They shake their fists in God's face, defiantly challenging the Almighty,
For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and strengthened himself against the Almighty:
26 insolently attacking him with their shields.
He runneth against him, with [outstretched] neck, with the thick bosses of his bucklers;
27 They have become fat in their rebellion, their bellies bloated with fat.
For he hath covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat upon [his] flanks.
28 But their cities will become desolate; they will live in abandoned houses that are crumbling into ruins.
And he dwelleth in desolate cities, in houses that no man inhabiteth, which are destined to become heaps.
29 They will lose their riches, their wealth will not endure, their possessions will not spread over the earth.
He shall not become rich, neither shall his substance continue, and their possessions shall not extend upon the earth.
30 They will not escape from the darkness. Like a tree whose shoots are burned up in a forest fire, the breath of God will blow him away.
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.
31 They should not trust in things that are worthless, for their reward will be worthless.
Let him not trust in vanity: he is deceived, for vanity shall be his recompense;
32 This will be paid in full before their time has come. They are like tree branches that wither,
It shall be complete before his day, and his branch shall not be green.
33 like vines that lose their unripe grapes, or olive trees that lose their flowers.
He shall shake off his unripe grapes as a vine, and shall cast his flower as an olive.
34 For those who reject God are barren, and fire will burn up the homes of those who love bribes.
For the family of the ungodly shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
35 They plan trouble and produce evil, giving birth to deception.”
They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
