< Job 15 >

1 Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite, and said,
ויען אליפז התימני ויאמר׃
2 Should a wise man utter windy knowledge, and fill his inward parts with the east wind?
החכם יענה דעת רוח וימלא קדים בטנו׃
3 Should he reason with a speech which availeth nothing? and with words in which there is no profit?
הוכח בדבר לא יסכון ומלים לא יועיל בם׃
4 Yea, thou truly makest void the fear [of God], and diminishest devotion before God.
אף אתה תפר יראה ותגרע שיחה לפני אל׃
5 For thy iniquity teacheth thy mouth, so that thou choosest the language of the crafty.
כי יאלף עונך פיך ותבחר לשון ערומים׃
6 Thy own mouth must condemn thee, but not I: yea, thy own lips will testify against thee.
ירשיעך פיך ולא אני ושפתיך יענו בך׃
7 Wast thou born as the first man? or wast thou brought forth before the hills?
הראישון אדם תולד ולפני גבעות חוללת׃
8 Hast thou listened to the secret counsel of God? and is wisdom therefore of little esteem with thee?
הבסוד אלוה תשמע ותגרע אליך חכמה׃
9 What knowest thou, that we do not know? what understandest thou, which is not with us?
מה ידעת ולא נדע תבין ולא עמנו הוא׃
10 Both the grayheaded and the very aged are among us, — richer than thy father in days.
גם שב גם ישיש בנו כביר מאביך ימים׃
11 Are the divine consolations too little for thee? and the word that was so mild with thee?
המעט ממך תנחמות אל ודבר לאט עמך׃
12 Whither doth thy heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes gaze at?
מה יקחך לבך ומה ירזמון עיניך׃
13 That thou shouldst turn against God thy spirit, and utter [such] words out of thy mouth?
כי תשיב אל אל רוחך והצאת מפיך מלין׃
14 What is man, that he should be pure? and that he who is born of woman should be declared righteous?
מה אנוש כי יזכה וכי יצדק ילוד אשה׃
15 Behold, in his holy ones he putteth no trust; and the heavens are not pure in his eyes:
הן בקדשו לא יאמין ושמים לא זכו בעיניו׃
16 How much more then the abominable and corrupt, the man who drinketh like water wrong-doing?
אף כי נתעב ונאלח איש שתה כמים עולה׃
17 I will instruct thee, hear me; and what I have seen will I relate;
אחוך שמע לי וזה חזיתי ואספרה׃
18 Which wise men have ever told, and have not concealed, as they obtained it from their fathers;
אשר חכמים יגידו ולא כחדו מאבותם׃
19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and into whose midst no stranger ever entered.
להם לבדם נתנה הארץ ולא עבר זר בתוכם׃
20 All his days is the wicked plagued with pain, and the number of years which are laid by for the tyrant.
כל ימי רשע הוא מתחולל ומספר שנים נצפנו לעריץ׃
21 A sound of terrors is in his ears: during peace will the waster come over him.
קול פחדים באזניו בשלום שודד יבואנו׃
22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is looked for by the sword.
לא יאמין שוב מני חשך וצפו הוא אלי חרב׃
23 He wandereth abroad for bread, [saying, ] Where is it? he knoweth that there is ready at his hand the day of darkness.
נדד הוא ללחם איה ידע כי נכון בידו יום חשך׃
24 Distress and anguish terrify him: they assail him with might, as a king prepared for the battle.
יבעתהו צר ומצוקה תתקפהו כמלך עתיד לכידור׃
25 Because he had stretched out against God his hand, and strengthened himself against the Almighty;
כי נטה אל אל ידו ואל שדי יתגבר׃
26 [And] he had run against him, with an [extended] neck, with the thick roundings of his bucklers;
ירוץ אליו בצואר בעבי גבי מגניו׃
27 Because he had covered his face with his fat, and had made thick folds of fat on his flanks;
כי כסה פניו בחלבו ויעש פימה עלי כסל׃
28 And he dwelt in abandoned cities, in houses which none inhabited, which were destined to be ruinous heaps.
וישכון ערים נכחדות בתים לא ישבו למו אשר התעתדו לגלים׃
29 [Yet] will he not remain rich, neither will his wealth endure, nor will he attain their perfection on earth.
לא יעשר ולא יקום חילו ולא יטה לארץ מנלם׃
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.
לא יסור מני חשך ינקתו תיבש שלהבת ויסור ברוח פיו׃
31 Let him that goeth astray not trust in vanity; for vanity will be what he obtaineth thereby.
אל יאמן בשו נתעה כי שוא תהיה תמורתו׃
32 Even before his time will it be overfull, and his branches will not be green.
בלא יומו תמלא וכפתו לא רעננה׃
33 He will shake off like the vine his unripe grapes, and cast off like the olive his blossoms.
יחמס כגפן בסרו וישלך כזית נצתו׃
34 For the assembly of hypocrites will remain desolate, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
כי עדת חנף גלמוד ואש אכלה אהלי שחד׃
35 They conceive trouble, and bring forth wrong-doing, and their body prepareth deceit.
הרה עמל וילד און ובטנם תכין מרמה׃

< Job 15 >