Job 15
1 Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,
And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: —
2 Will a wise man give for answer a [mere] breath of wisdom? and does he fill up the pain of his belly,
Doth a wise man answer [with] vain knowledge? And fill [with] an east wind his belly?
3 reasoning with improper sayings, and with words wherein is no profit?
To reason with a word not useful? And speeches — no profit in them?
4 Hast not you moreover cast off fear, and accomplished such words before the Lord?
Yea, thou dost make reverence void, And dost diminish meditation before God.
5 You are guilty by the words of your mouth, neither have you discerned the words of the mighty.
For thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity, And thou chooseth the tongue of the subtile.
6 Let your own mouth, and not me, reprove you: and your lips shall testify against you.
Thy mouth declareth thee wicked, and not I, And thy lips testify against thee.
7 What! are you the first man that was born? or were you established before the hills?
The first man art thou born? And before the heights wast thou formed?
8 Or have you heard the ordinance of the Lord? or has God used you as [his] counsellor? and has wisdom come [only] to you?
Of the secret counsel of God dost thou hear? And withdrawest thou unto thee wisdom?
9 For what know you, that, we know not? or what understand you, which we do not also?
What hast thou known, and we know not? Understandest thou — and it is not with us?
10 Truly among us [are] both the old and very aged man, more advanced in days than your father.
Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us — Greater than thy father [in] days.
11 You have been scourged for [but] few of your sins: you have spoken haughtily [and] extravagantly.
Too few for thee are the comforts of God? And a gentle word [is] with thee,
12 What has your heart dared? or what have your eyes [aimed at],
What — doth thine heart take thee away? And what — are thine eyes high?
13 that you have vented [your] rage before the Lord, and delivered such words from [your] mouth?
For thou turnest against God thy spirit? And hast brought out words from thy mouth:
14 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?
What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?
15 Forasmuch as he trusts not his saints; and the heaven is not pure before him.
Lo, in His holy ones He putteth no credence, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.
16 Alas then, abominable and unclean is man, drinking unrighteousness as a draught.
Also — surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking as water perverseness.
17 But I will tell you, listen to me; I will tell you now what I have seen;
I shew thee — hearken to me — And this I have seen and declare:
18 things wise men say, and their fathers have not hidden.
Which the wise declare — And have not hid — from their fathers.
19 To them alone the earth was given, and no stranger came upon them.
To them alone was the land given, And a stranger passed not over into their midst:
20 All the life of the ungodly [is spent] in care, and the years granted to the oppressor are numbered.
'All days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one.
21 And his terror is in his ears: just when he seems to be at peace, his overthrow will come.
A fearful voice [is] in his ears, In peace doth a destroyer come to him.
22 Let him not trust that he shall return from darkness, for he has been already made over to the power of the sword.
He believeth not to return from darkness, And watched [is] he for the sword.
23 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.
He is wandering for bread — 'Where [is] it?' He hath known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness.
24 Distress also and anguish shall come upon him: he shall fall as a captain in the first rank.
Terrify him do adversity and distress, They prevail over him As a king ready for a boaster.
25 For he has lifted his hands against the Lord, and he has hardened his neck against the Almighty Lord.
For he stretched out against God his hand, And against the Mighty he maketh himself mighty.
26 And he has run against him with insolence, on the thickness of the back of his shield.
He runneth unto Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.
27 For he has covered his face with his fat, and made layers of fat upon his thighs.
For he hath covered his face with his fat, And maketh vigour over [his] confidence.
28 And let him lodge in desolate cities, and enter into houses without inhabitant: and what they have prepared, others shall carry away.
And he inhabiteth cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.
29 Neither shall he at all grow rich, nor shall his substance remain: he shall not cast a shadow upon the earth.
He is not rich, nor doth his wealth rise, Nor doth he stretch out on earth their continuance.
30 Neither shall he in any wise escape the darkness: let the wind blast his blossom, and let his flower fall off.
He turneth not aside from darkness, His tender branch doth a flame dry up, And he turneth aside at the breath of His mouth!
31 Let him not think that he shall endure; for his end shall be vanity.
Let him not put credence in vanity, He hath been deceived, For vanity is his recompence.
32 His harvest shall perish before the time, and his branch shall not flourish.
Not in his day is it completed, And his bending branch is not green.
33 And let him be gathered as the unripe grape before the time, and let him fall as the blossom of the olive.
He shaketh off as a vine his unripe fruit, And casteth off as an olive his blossom.
34 For death is the witness of an ungodly man, and fire shall burn the houses of them that receive gifts.
For the company of the profane [is] gloomy, And fire hath consumed tents of bribery.
35 And he shall conceive sorrows, and his end shall be vanity, and his belly shall bear deceit.
To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart doth prepare deceit.
