Job 15

1 Then responded Eliphaz the Temanite, and said:

Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,

2 Should, a wise man, answer unreal knowledge? or fill, with the east wind, his inner man?

Will a wise man give for answer a [mere] breath of wisdom? and does he fill up the pain of his belly,

3 Disputing with discourse that doth no good, or with speech, wherein is no profit?

reasoning with improper sayings, and with words wherein is no profit?

4 But, thou, wouldst take away reverence, and wouldst attain unto meditation before GOD.

Hast not you moreover cast off fear, and accomplished such words before the Lord?

5 For thine own mouth would teach thine iniquity, and thou wouldst choose the tongue of the crafty.

You are guilty by the words of your mouth, neither have you discerned the words of the mighty.

6 Thine own mouth shall condemn thee, and, not I, And, thine own lips, shall testify against thee.

Let your own mouth, and not me, reprove you: and your lips shall testify against you.

7 The first of mankind, wast thou born? Or, before the hills, wast thou brought forth?

What! are you the first man that was born? or were you established before the hills?

8 In the secret council of GOD, hast thou been wont to hearken? Or canst thou attain for thyself unto wisdom?

Or have you heard the ordinance of the Lord? or has God used you as [his] counsellor? and has wisdom come [only] to you?

9 What knowest thou, that we know not? [What] understandest thou, and the same, is not with us?

For what know you, that, we know not? or what understand you, which we do not also?

10 Both hoary and venerable, are among us, one mightier than thy father in days!

Truly among us [are] both the old and very aged man, more advanced in days than your father.

11 Too small for thee, are the consolations of GOD? or a word spoken gently with thee?

You have been scourged for [but] few of your sins: you have spoken haughtily [and] extravagantly.

12 How doth thine own heart carry thee away, and how thine eyes do roll!

What has your heart dared? or what have your eyes [aimed at],

13 For thy spirit, replieth against GOD, and thou bringest forth—out of thy mouth—words!

that you have vented [your] rage before the Lord, and delivered such words from [your] mouth?

14 What is a mortal, that he should be pure? or that righteous should be one born of a woman?

For who, being a mortal, [is such] that he shall be blameless? or, [who that is] born of a woman, that he should be just?

15 Lo! in his holy ones, he putteth not confidence, and, the heavens, are not pure in his eyes:

Forasmuch as he trusts not his saints; and the heaven is not pure before him.

16 How much less when one is detested and corrupt, a man who drinketh in—like water—perversity.

Alas then, abominable and unclean is man, drinking unrighteousness as a draught.

17 I will tell thee—hear me, Since this I have seen, I must needs declare it.

But I will tell you, listen to me; I will tell you now what I have seen;

18 Which, wise men, tell, and deny not [that which is] from their fathers.

things wise men say, and their fathers have not hidden.

19 To them alone, was the earth given, and no alien passed through their midst:

To them alone the earth was given, and no stranger came upon them.

20 All the days of the lawless man, he, doth writhe with pain, and, the number of years, is hidden from the tyrant;

All the life of the ungodly [is spent] in care, and the years granted to the oppressor are numbered.

21 A noise of dreadful things, is in his ears, In prosperity, the destroyer cometh upon him;

And his terror is in his ears: just when he seems to be at peace, his overthrow will come.

22 He hath no confidence to come back out of darkness, he, being destined to the power oft the sword;

Let him not trust that he shall return from darkness, for he has been already made over to the power of the sword.

23 A wanderer, he, for bread, [saying] Where [is it]? He knoweth that, prepared by his own hand, is the day of darkness;

And he has been appointed to be food for vultures; and he knows within himself that he is doomed to be a carcass: and a dark day shall carry him away as with a whirlwind.

24 Distress and anguish shall startle him, It shall overpower him, like a king ready for the onset:

Distress also and anguish shall come upon him: he shall fall as a captain in the first rank.

25 Because he had stretched out—against GOD—his hand, and, against the Almighty, had been wont to behave himself proudly;

For he has lifted his hands against the Lord, and he has hardened his neck against the Almighty Lord.

26 He used to run against him with uplifted neck, with the stout bosses of his bucklers;

And he has run against him with insolence, on the thickness of the back of his shield.

27 For he had covered his face with his fatness, and had gathered a superabundance on his loins;

For he has covered his face with his fat, and made layers of fat upon his thighs.

28 And had inhabited demolished cities, houses, wherein men would not dwell, that were destined to become heaps.

And let him lodge in desolate cities, and enter into houses without inhabitant: and what they have prepared, others shall carry away.

29 He shall not be rich, nor shall his substance continue, neither shall their shadow stretch along on the earth;

Neither shall he at all grow rich, nor shall his substance remain: he shall not cast a shadow upon the earth.

30 He shall not depart out of darkness, his young branch, shall the flame dry up, and he shall depart, by the breath of his own mouth!

Neither shall he in any wise escape the darkness: let the wind blast his blossom, and let his flower fall off.

31 Let no one trust in him that—by vanity—is deceived, for, vanity, shall be his recompense;

Let him not think that he shall endure; for his end shall be vanity.

32 Before his day, shall it be accomplished, with, his palm-top, not covered with leaves;

His harvest shall perish before the time, and his branch shall not flourish.

33 He shall wrong—like a vine—his sour grapes, and shall cast off—as an olive-tree—his blossom.

And let him be gathered as the unripe grape before the time, and let him fall as the blossom of the olive.

34 For, the family of the impious, is unfruitful, and, a fire, hath devoured the tents of bribery;

For death is the witness of an ungodly man, and fire shall burn the houses of them that receive gifts.

35 Conceiving mischief, and bringing forth iniquity, yea, their inmost soul, prepareth deceit.

And he shall conceive sorrows, and his end shall be vanity, and his belly shall bear deceit.