Job 15
1 Then Eliphaz replied to Job:
But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, said:
2 “If you were truly wise [RHQ], you would not have replied to us by claiming that you know a lot; what you are saying is just a lot of hot air [MET].
Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking wind, and will he fill his stomach with fire?
3 You should not [RHQ] be saying things that do not benefit anyone, using words that do no one any good.
You rebuke with words he who is not equal to you, and you speak what is not expedient for you,
4 [By what you say, ] you show that you do not revere God, and you are hindering people from meditating/thinking about God.
to such an extent that, within yourself, you have expelled reverence and have taken away prayers from the presence of God.
5 [It is as though] your sins are telling you what to say; you talk like people who will not admit that they are wicked.
For your iniquity has mislead your mouth, and you imitate the tongue of blasphemers.
6 Everything that you say [MTY] shows that you should be punished; so, it is not necessary for me to show that.
Your own mouth will condemn you, not I; and your own lips will answer you.
7 [“Tell me do you know more than everyone else because you think that] you are the first person who was ever born? [SAR, RHQ] Were you born before the hills [were created]?
Are you the first man who was born, or were you formed before the hills?
8 Were you listening when God made all his plans? [SAR, RHQ] Or do you think that you are the only person who is wise?
Have you heard the intentions of God, and will his wisdom be inferior to you?
9 (What do you know that we do not know?/You do not know anything that we do not know.) [RHQ] You do not understand [RHQ] anything that is not also clear to us.
What do you know, about which we are ignorant? What do you understand that we do not know?
10 My friends and I are also wise; we acquired [wisdom] from old gray-haired people, from people who were born before your father was born.
There are with us both aged and ancient men, even more senior than your fathers.
11 God wants to comfort you, and to speak gently/kindly to you; (is that not enough for you/do you need more than that)?
Is it so important that God should console you? But your own depraved words prevent this.
12 Why do you allow yourself to be (carried away/excited) by your emotions? Why are [you very angry, with the result that] your eyes flash?
Why does your heart exalt you, and why do you gaze with your eyes, as if thinking great things?
13 You are angry [IDM] with God, and so you [MTY] are criticizing/denouncing him.
Why does your spirit stir against God, so as to utter such speeches from your mouth?
14 “(How can any person, [including you, ] be sinless?/No person, [including you], can be sinless.) [RHQ] (How can anyone on the earth be [completely] righteous?/No one on the earth can be [completely] righteous.) [RHQ]
What is man that he should be immaculate, and that he should appear just, having been born of woman?
15 Hey, God does not even trust his angels; he does not consider even them to be [completely] pure.
Behold, among his holy ones not one is immutable, and even the heavens are not pure in his sight.
16 So, he certainly does not [trust] abominable/disgusting and depraved/corrupt people who do evil things [as easily] as they drink water [MET].
How much more abominable and useless is the man who drinks as if from the water of iniquity?
17 Job, listen to what I will tell you. I will declare to you what I know,
I will reveal to you, so listen to me; and I will explain to you what I have seen.
18 things that wise men have told me, truths that their ancestors did not keep hidden.
The wise acknowledge, and they do not leave behind, their fathers,
19 God gave this land to those ancestors, who were truly wise; no one from another country caused them to think wrongly [IDM].
to whom alone the earth has been given, and no stranger passed among them.
20 It is wicked people who suffer with great pain all the time that they are alive; that is what happens to those who (oppress/act violently toward) others.
The impious is arrogant for all his days, and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain.
21 They constantly hear sounds that terrify them; while they are prospering, bandits attack them.
The sound of terror is always in his ears; and when there is peace, he always suspects treason.
22 Wicked people surely know that they will not escape from darkness/death, because [they are sure that someone] is waiting to kill them with a sword.
He does not believe that it is possible for him to be turned from darkness into the light, for he sees around him the sword on every side.
23 They wander around, searching for food, saying ‘Where can I find some?’ And they know that they will soon experience disasters.
When he moves himself to seek bread, he knows that the day of darkness has been prepared for his hand.
24 Because they are afraid of those things happening to them, they are afraid and worry that these things will come to them like [the army of] a king comes to attack [their enemies and cause them to suffer] [SIM].
Tribulation will terrify him, and anguish will prevail over him, like a king who is being prepared to go to battle.
25 [Those things happen to them] because they (shook their fists/dared to fight) against Almighty God, and thought that they were strong enough to defeat him.
For he has extended his hand against God, and he has strengthened himself against the Almighty.
26 They stubbornly [IDM] rush to attack God [as though they were carrying] a strong shield [to protect themselves].
He has rushed against him with his throat exposed, and he has been armed with a fat neck.
27 They are so fat [that they are unable to fight].
Thickness has covered his face, and lard hangs down from his sides.
28 They will live in cities that have been abandoned, cities which have become a heap of ruins.
He has lived in desolate cities and deserted houses, which have been turned into tombs.
29 But they will not remain rich very long; Everything that they own will be taken from them; their possessions will all disappear.
He will not be enriched, nor will his basic necessities endure, nor will he establish his root in the earth.
30 They will not escape from the darkness [of death]; they will be like trees whose branches are burned by fire and whose blossoms are blown away by the wind.
He will not withdraw from the darkness; the flame will burn up his branches, and he will be defeated by the breath of his own mouth.
31 Since they are very foolish, with the result that they trust in things that are really worthless, then things that are worthless will be all that they get.
He will not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that he could be redeemed at any price.
32 Before they are old, they will wither; they will be like [MET] branches that wither and never become green again.
Before his time is completed, he will pass into ruin and his hands will wither away.
33 They will be like [SIM] vines whose grapes fall off before they are ripe, like olive trees whose blossoms fall off before they produce any fruit.
He will be wounded like a grapevine, when its cluster is in first flower, and like an olive tree that casts off its flower.
34 Wicked/godless people will not have any descendants, and fires will completely burn up the homes of [those who built those homes using] money they received from bribes.
For the congregation of the hypocrites is fruitless, and fire will devour the tabernacles of those who love to accept money.
35 They plan to cause trouble and to do evil things, and they are always preparing to deceive people.”
He has conceived sorrow, and he has brought forth iniquity, and his womb prepares deceit.
