Job 15
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite, and said,
And Eliphaz the Temanite answers and says:
2 Should a wise man utter windy knowledge, and fill his inward parts with the east wind?
“Does a wise man answer [with] vain knowledge? And fill his belly [with] an east wind?
3 Should he reason with a speech which availeth nothing? and with words in which there is no profit?
To reason with a word not useful? And speeches—no profit in them?
4 Yea, thou truly makest void the fear [of God], and diminishest devotion before God.
Indeed, you make reverence void, and diminish meditation before God.
5 For thy iniquity teacheth thy mouth, so that thou choosest the language of the crafty.
For your mouth teaches your iniquity, And you choose the tongue of the cunning.
6 Thy own mouth must condemn thee, but not I: yea, thy own lips will testify against thee.
Your mouth declares you wicked, and not I, And your lips testify against you.
7 Wast thou born as the first man? or wast thou brought forth before the hills?
Are you the first man born? And were you formed before the heights?
8 Hast thou listened to the secret counsel of God? and is wisdom therefore of little esteem with thee?
Do you hear of the secret counsel of God? And withdraw wisdom to you?
9 What knowest thou, that we do not know? what understandest thou, which is not with us?
What have you known, and we do not know? [What] do you understand, and it is not with us?
10 Both the grayheaded and the very aged are among us, — richer than thy father in days.
Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us—Greater than your father [in] days.
11 Are the divine consolations too little for thee? and the word that was so mild with thee?
Are the comforts of God too few for you? And a gentle word [is] with you,
12 Whither doth thy heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes gaze at?
Why does your heart take you away? And why are your eyes high?
13 That thou shouldst turn against God thy spirit, and 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 pure? and that he who is born of woman should be declared righteous?
What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?
15 Behold, in his holy ones he putteth no trust; and the heavens are not pure in his eyes:
Behold, He puts no credence in His holy ones, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.
16 How much more then the abominable and corrupt, the man who drinketh like water wrong-doing?
Also—surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking perverseness as water.
17 I will instruct thee, hear me; and what I have seen will I relate;
I show you—listen to me—And this I have seen and declare,
18 Which wise men have ever told, and have not concealed, as they obtained it from their fathers;
Which the wise declare—And have not hid—from their fathers.
19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and into whose midst no stranger ever entered.
To them alone was the land given, And a stranger did not pass over into their midst:
20 All his days is the wicked plagued with pain, and the number of years which are laid by for the tyrant.
All [the] days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one.
21 A sound of terrors is in his ears: during peace will the waster come over him.
A fearful voice [is] in his ears, In peace a destroyer comes to him.
22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is looked for by the sword.
He does not believe to return from darkness, And he watches for the sword.
23 He wandereth abroad for bread, [saying, ] Where is it? he knoweth that there is ready at his hand the day of darkness.
He is wandering for bread: Where [is] it? He has known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him: they assail him with might, as a king prepared for the battle.
Adversity and distress terrify him, They prevail over him as a king ready for a boaster.
25 Because he had stretched out against God his hand, and strengthened himself against the Almighty;
For he stretched out his hand against God, And against the Mighty he makes himself mighty.
26 [And] he had run against him, with an [extended] neck, with the thick roundings of his bucklers;
He runs to Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.
27 Because he had covered his face with his fat, and had made thick folds of fat on his flanks;
For he has covered his face with his fat, And makes vigor over [his] confidence.
28 And he dwelt in abandoned cities, in houses which none inhabited, which were destined to be ruinous heaps.
And he inhabits cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.
29 [Yet] will he not remain rich, neither will his wealth endure, nor will he attain their perfection on earth.
He is not rich, nor does his wealth rise, Nor does he stretch out their continuance on earth.
30 He will never depart out of darkness: the flame shall dry up his shoots, and he will depart by the breath of God's mouth.
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 Let him that goeth astray not trust in vanity; for vanity will be what he obtaineth thereby.
Do not let him put credence in vanity, He has been deceived, For vanity is his exchange.
32 Even before his time will it be overfull, and his branches will not be green.
It is not completed in his day, And his bending branch is not green.
33 He will shake off like the vine his unripe grapes, and cast off like the olive his blossoms.
He shakes off his unripe fruit as a vine, And casts off his blossom as an olive.
34 For the assembly of hypocrites will remain desolate, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
For the company of the profane [is] barren, And fire has consumed tents of bribery.
35 They conceive trouble, and bring forth wrong-doing, and their body prepareth deceit.
To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart prepares deceit.”
