Job 15
1 And Eliphaz the Temanite answers and says:
Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said:
2 “Does a wise man answer [with] vain knowledge? And fill his belly [with] an east wind?
Should a wise man answer with arguments of wind, Or fill his bosom with the east wind?
3 To reason with a word not useful? And speeches—no profit in them?
Should he argue with speech that helpeth him not, And with words which do not profit him?
4 Indeed, you make reverence void, and diminish meditation before God.
Behold, thou makest the fear of God a vain thing, And discouragest prayer before him.
5 For your mouth teaches your iniquity, And you choose the tongue of the cunning.
Yea, thy own mouth proclaimeth thy iniquity, Though thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your mouth declares you wicked, and not I, And your lips testify against you.
Thy own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; Thy own lips testify against thee.
7 Are you the first man born? And were you formed before the heights?
Art thou the first man that was born? Wast thou formed before the hills?
8 Do you hear of the secret counsel of God? And withdraw wisdom to you?
Hast thou listened in the council of God, And drawn all wisdom to thyself?
9 What have you known, and we do not know? [What] do you understand, and it is not with us?
What dost thou know, that we know not also? What dost thou understand, that is a secret to us?
10 Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us—Greater than your father [in] days.
With us are the aged and hoary-headed; Much older than thy father.
11 Are the comforts of God too few for you? And a gentle word [is] with you,
Dost thou despise the consolations of God, And words so full of kindness to thee?
12 Why does your heart take you away? And why are your eyes high?
Why hath thy passion taken possession of thee? And why this winking of thine eyes?
13 Do you turn your spirit against God? And have brought out words from your mouth:
For against God hast thou turned thy spirit, And uttered such words from thy mouth.
14 What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?
What is man, that he should be pure, And he that is born of woman, that he should be innocent?
15 Behold, He puts no credence in His holy ones, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.
Behold, He putteth no trust in his ministering spirits, And the heavens are not pure in his sight;
16 Also—surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking perverseness as water.
Much less, abominable and polluted man, Who drinketh iniquity as water.
17 I show you—listen to me—And this I have seen and declare,
Hear me, and I will show thee, And that which I have seen will I declare;
18 Which the wise declare—And have not hid—from their fathers.
Which the wise men have told, And not kept concealed, as received from their fathers;
19 To them alone was the land given, And a stranger did not pass over into their midst:
To whom alone the land was given, And among whom not a stranger wandered.
20 All [the] days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one.
“All his days the wicked man is in pain; Yea, all the years, that are laid up for the oppressor.
21 A fearful voice [is] in his ears, In peace a destroyer comes to him.
A fearful sound is in his ears; In peace the destroyer cometh upon him.
22 He does not believe to return from darkness, And he watches for the sword.
He hath no hope that he shall escape from darkness; He is set apart for 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 wandereth about, seeking bread; He knoweth that a day of darkness is at hand.
24 Adversity and distress terrify him, They prevail over him as a king ready for a boaster.
Distress and anguish fill him with dread; They prevail against him like a king ready for the battle.
25 For he stretched out his hand against God, And against the Mighty he makes himself mighty.
Because he stretched forth his hand against God, And bade defiance to the Almighty,
26 He runs to Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.
And ran against him with outstretched neck, With the thick bosses of his bucklers;
27 For he has covered his face with his fat, And makes vigor over [his] confidence.
Because he covered his face with fatness, And gathered fat upon his loins,
28 And he inhabits cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.
And dwelt in desolated cities, In houses which no man inhabiteth, That are ready to become heaps.
29 He is not rich, nor does his wealth rise, Nor does he stretch out their continuance on earth.
He shall not be rich; his substance shall not endure, And his possessions shall not be extended upon 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 shall not escape from darkness, And the flame shall dry up his branches; Yea, by the breath of His mouth shall he be taken away.
31 Do not let him put credence in vanity, He has been deceived, For vanity is his exchange.
“Let not man trust in vanity! he will be deceived; For vanity shall be his recompense.
32 It is not completed in his day, And his bending branch is not green.
He shall come to his end before his time, And his branch shall not be green.
33 He shakes off his unripe fruit as a vine, And casts off his blossom as an olive.
He shall shake off his unripe fruit like the vine, And shed his blossoms like the olive-tree.
34 For the company of the profane [is] barren, And fire has consumed tents of bribery.
The house of the unrighteous shall be famished, And fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
35 To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart prepares deceit.”
They conceive mischief, and bring forth misery, And their breast deviseth deceit.”
