Job 15
1 And Eliphaz the Temanite answers and says:
And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,
2 “Does a wise man answer [with] vain knowledge? And fill his belly [with] an east wind?
Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?
3 To reason with a word not useful? And speeches—no profit in them?
Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?
4 Indeed, you make reverence void, and diminish meditation before God.
Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry.
5 For your mouth teaches your iniquity, And you choose the tongue of the cunning.
For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself.
6 Your mouth declares you wicked, and not I, And your lips testify against you.
It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you.
7 Are you the first man born? And were you formed before the heights?
Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills?
8 Do you hear of the secret counsel of God? And withdraw wisdom to you?
Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself?
9 What have you known, and we do not know? [What] do you understand, and it is not with us?
What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?
10 Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us—Greater than your father [in] days.
With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father.
11 Are the comforts of God too few for you? And a gentle word [is] with you,
Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?
12 Why does your heart take you away? And why are your eyes high?
Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up;
13 Do you turn your spirit against God? And have brought out words from your mouth:
So that you are turning your spirit against God, and letting such words go out of your mouth?
14 What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?
What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?
15 Behold, He puts no credence in His holy ones, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.
Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes;
16 Also—surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking perverseness as water.
How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water!
17 I show you—listen to me—And this I have seen and declare,
Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:
18 Which the wise declare—And have not hid—from their fathers.
(The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us;
19 To them alone was the land given, And a stranger did not pass over into their midst:
For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them: )
20 All [the] days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one.
The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small.
21 A fearful voice [is] in his ears, In peace a destroyer comes to him.
A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:
22 He does not believe to return from darkness, And he watches for the sword.
He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;
23 He is wandering for bread: Where [is] it? He has known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness.
He is wandering about in search of bread, saying, Where is it? and he is certain that the day of trouble is ready for him:
24 Adversity and distress terrify him, They prevail over him as a king ready for a boaster.
He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him:
25 For he stretched out his hand against God, And against the Mighty he makes himself mighty.
Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all,
26 He runs to Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.
Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight,
27 For he has covered his face with his fat, And makes vigor over [his] confidence.
Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;
28 And he inhabits cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.
And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls.
29 He is not rich, nor does his wealth rise, Nor does he stretch out their continuance on earth.
He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth.
30 He does not turn aside from darkness, A flame dries up his tender branch, And he turns aside at the breath of His mouth!
He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.
31 Do not let him put credence in vanity, He has been deceived, For vanity is his exchange.
Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.
32 It is not completed in his day, And his bending branch is not green.
His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green.
33 He shakes off his unripe fruit as a vine, And casts off his blossom as an olive.
He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers.
34 For the company of the profane [is] barren, And fire has consumed tents of bribery.
For the band of the evil-doers gives no fruit, and the tents of those who give wrong decisions for reward are burned with fire.
35 To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart prepares deceit.”
Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.
