Job 15
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
3 Should he reason with useless talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?
4 Yea, you cast off fear, and restrain prayer before God.
But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.
5 For your mouth utters your iniquity, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
6 your own mouth condemns you, and not I: yea, your own lips testify against you.
Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.
7 Are you the first man that was born? or were you made before the hills?
Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Have you heard the secret of God? and do you restrain wisdom to yourself?
Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What know you, that we know not? what understand you, which is not in us?
What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than your father.
Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side— men much older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God small with you? is there any secret thing with you?
Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away? and what do your eyes overlook,
Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,
13 That you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go out of your mouth?
as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Behold, he puts no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinks iniquity like water?
how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
17 I will show you, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;
Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,
18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:
what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,
19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.
20 The wicked man labors with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
22 He believes not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.
23 He wanders abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
25 For he stretches out his hand against God, and strengthens himself against the Almighty.
For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,
26 He runs upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.
27 Because he covers his face with his fatness, and makes fatness on his flanks.
Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
28 And he dwells in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabits, which are ready to become heaps.
he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.
29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.
30 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.
He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.
33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepares deceit.
They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
