Job 15

1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and saide,

Then Eliphaz replied to Job:

2 Shal a wise man speake words of ye winde, and fill his bellie with the East winde?

“If you were truly wise [RHQ], you would not have replied to us by claiming that you know a lot; what you are saying is just a lot of hot air [MET].

3 Shall he dispute with wordes not comely? or with talke that is not profitable?

You should not [RHQ] be saying things that do not benefit anyone, using words that do no one any good.

4 Surely thou hast cast off feare, and restrainest prayer before God.

[By what you say, ] you show that you do not revere God, and you are hindering people from meditating/thinking about God.

5 For thy mouth declareth thine iniquitie, seeing thou hast chosen ye tongue of the crafty.

[It is as though] your sins are telling you what to say; you talk like people who will not admit that they are wicked.

6 Thine owne mouth condemneth thee, and not I, and thy lippes testifie against thee.

Everything that you say [MTY] shows that you should be punished; so, it is not necessary for me to show that.

7 Art thou the first man, that was borne? and wast thou made before the hils?

[“Tell me do you know more than everyone else because you think that] you are the first person who was ever born? [SAR, RHQ] Were you born before the hills [were created]?

8 Hast thou heard the secret counsell of God, and doest thou restraine wisedome to thee?

Were you listening when God made all his plans? [SAR, RHQ] Or do you think that you are the only person who is wise?

9 What knowest thou that we knowe not? and vnderstandest that is not in vs?

(What do you know that we do not know?/You do not know anything that we do not know.) [RHQ] You do not understand [RHQ] anything that is not also clear to us.

10 With vs are both auncient and very aged men, farre older then thy father.

My friends and I are also wise; we acquired [wisdom] from old gray-haired people, from people who were born before your father was born.

11 Seeme the consolations of God small vnto thee? is this thing strange vnto thee?

God wants to comfort you, and to speak gently/kindly to you; (is that not enough for you/do you need more than that)?

12 Why doeth thine heart take thee away, and what doe thine eyes meane,

Why do you allow yourself to be (carried away/excited) by your emotions? Why are [you very angry, with the result that] your eyes flash?

13 That thou answerest to God at thy pleasure, and bringest such wordes out of thy mouth?

You are angry [IDM] with God, and so you [MTY] are criticizing/denouncing him.

14 What is man, that he should be cleane? and he that is borne of woman, that he shoulde be iust?

“(How can any person, [including you, ] be sinless?/No person, [including you], can be sinless.) [RHQ] (How can anyone on the earth be [completely] righteous?/No one on the earth can be [completely] righteous.) [RHQ]

15 Beholde, he founde no stedfastnesse in his Saintes: yea, the heauens are not cleane in his sight.

Hey, God does not even trust his angels; he does not consider even them to be [completely] pure.

16 How much more is man abominable, and filthie, which drinketh iniquitie like water?

So, he certainly does not [trust] abominable/disgusting and depraved/corrupt people who do evil things [as easily] as they drink water [MET].

17 I will tell thee: heare me, and I will declare that which I haue seene:

Job, listen to what I will tell you. I will declare to you what I know,

18 Which wise men haue tolde, as they haue heard of their fathers, and haue not kept it secret:

things that wise men have told me, truths that their ancestors did not keep hidden.

19 To whome alone the land was giuen and no stranger passed through them.

God gave this land to those ancestors, who were truly wise; no one from another country caused them to think wrongly [IDM].

20 The wicked man is continually as one that traueileth of childe, and the nomber of yeeres is hid from the tyrant.

It is wicked people who suffer with great pain all the time that they are alive; that is what happens to those who (oppress/act violently toward) others.

21 A sounde of feare is in his eares, and in his prosperitie the destroyer shall come vpon him.

They constantly hear sounds that terrify them; while they are prospering, bandits attack them.

22 He beleeueth not to returne out of darknesse: for he seeth the sworde before him.

Wicked people surely know that they will not escape from darkness/death, because [they are sure that someone] is waiting to kill them with a sword.

23 He wandreth to and from for bread where he may: he knoweth that the day of darkenesse is prepared at hande.

They wander around, searching for food, saying ‘Where can I find some?’ And they know that they will soon experience disasters.

24 Affliction and anguish shall make him afraide: they shall preuaile against him as a King readie to the battell.

Because they are afraid of those things happening to them, they are afraid and worry that these things will come to them like [the army of] a king comes to attack [their enemies and cause them to suffer] [SIM].

25 For he hath stretched out his hand against GOD, and made him selfe strong against the Almightie.

[Those things happen to them] because they (shook their fists/dared to fight) against Almighty God, and thought that they were strong enough to defeat him.

26 Therefore God shall runne vpon him, euen vpon his necke, and against the most thicke part of his shielde.

They stubbornly [IDM] rush to attack God [as though they were carrying] a strong shield [to protect themselves].

27 Because he hath couered his face with his fatnesse, and hath colloppes in his flancke.

They are so fat [that they are unable to fight].

28 Though he dwell in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, but are become heapes,

They will live in cities that have been abandoned, cities which have become a heap of ruins.

29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof in the earth.

But they will not remain rich very long; Everything that they own will be taken from them; their possessions will all disappear.

30 He shall neuer depart out of darkenesse: the flame shall drie vp his branches, and he shall goe away with the breath of his mouth.

They will not escape from the darkness [of death]; they will be like trees whose branches are burned by fire and whose blossoms are blown away by the wind.

31 He beleeueth not that he erreth in vanitie: therefore vanitie shalbe his change.

Since they are very foolish, with the result that they trust in things that are really worthless, then things that are worthless will be all that they get.

32 His branch shall not be greene, but shall be cut off before his day.

Before they are old, they will wither; they will be like [MET] branches that wither and never become green again.

33 God shall destroy him as the vine her sower grape, and shall cast him off, as the oliue doeth her flowre.

They will be like [SIM] vines whose grapes fall off before they are ripe, like olive trees whose blossoms fall off before they produce any fruit.

34 For the congregation of the hypocrite shalbe desolate, and fire shall deuoure the houses of bribes.

Wicked/godless people will not have any descendants, and fires will completely burn up the homes of [those who built those homes using] money they received from bribes.

35 For they conceiue mischiefe and bring foorth vanitie, and their bellie hath prepared deceite.

They plan to cause trouble and to do evil things, and they are always preparing to deceive people.”