Job 15
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
And Eliphaz the Temanite answers and says:
2 Should a wise man make answer with vain knowledge, and fill his belly 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 unprofitable talk, or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
To reason with a word not useful? And speeches—no profit in them?
4 Yea, thou doest away with fear, and restrainest devotion before God.
Indeed, you make reverence void, and diminish meditation before God.
5 For thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
For your mouth teaches your iniquity, And you choose the tongue of the cunning.
6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
Your mouth declares you wicked, and not I, And your lips testify against you.
7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou brought forth before the hills?
Are you the first man born? And were you formed before the heights?
8 Hast thou heard the secret counsel of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
Do you hear of the secret counsel of God? And withdraw wisdom to you?
9 What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?
What have you known, and we do not know? [What] do you understand, and it is not with us?
10 With us are both the grayheaded and the very aged men, much elder than thy father.
Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us—Greater than your father [in] days.
11 Are the consolations of God too small for thee, and the word [that dealeth] gently with thee?
Are the comforts of God too few for you? And a gentle word [is] with you,
12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and why do thine eyes wink?
Why does your heart take you away? And why are your eyes high?
13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest [such] words go 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 clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?
15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
Behold, He puts no credence in His holy ones, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.
16 How much less one that is abominable and corrupt, a man that drinketh iniquity like water!
Also—surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking perverseness as water.
17 I will shew thee, hear thou me; and that which I have seen I will declare:
I show you—listen to me—And this I have seen and declare,
18 (Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it;
Which the wise declare—And have not hid—from their fathers.
19 Unto whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them: )
To them alone was the land given, And a stranger did not pass over into their midst:
20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.
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; in prosperity the spoiler shall come upon 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 waited for of 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 the day of darkness is ready at his hand:
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 make him afraid; they prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle:
Adversity and distress terrify him, They prevail over him as a king ready for a boaster.
25 Because he hath stretched out his hand against God, and behaveth himself proudly against the Almighty;
For he stretched out his hand against God, And against the Mighty he makes himself mighty.
26 He runneth upon him with a [stiff] neck, with the thick bosses of his bucklers:
He runs to Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.
27 Because he hath covered his face with his fatness, and made collops of fat on his flanks;
For he has covered his face with his fat, And makes vigor over [his] confidence.
28 And he hath dwelt in desolate cities, in houses which no man inhabited, which were ready to become heaps.
And he inhabits cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.
29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall their produce bend to the earth.
He is not rich, nor does his wealth rise, Nor does he stretch out their continuance on earth.
30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
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 not trust in vanity, deceiving himself: for vanity shall be his recompence.
Do not let him put credence in vanity, He has been deceived, For vanity is his exchange.
32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
It is not completed in his day, And his bending branch is not green.
33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
He shakes off his unripe fruit as a vine, And casts off his blossom as an olive.
34 For the company of the godless shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
For the company of the profane [is] barren, And fire has consumed tents of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart prepares deceit.”
