Job 15
1 And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: —
Then Eliphaz replied to Job:
2 Doth a wise man answer [with] vain knowledge? And fill [with] an east wind his belly?
“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].
3 To reason with a word not useful? And speeches — no profit in them?
You should not [RHQ] be saying things that do not benefit anyone, using words that do no one any good.
4 Yea, thou dost make reverence void, And dost diminish meditation before God.
[By what you say, ] you show that you do not revere God, and you are hindering people from meditating/thinking about God.
5 For thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity, And thou chooseth the tongue of the subtile.
[It is as though] your sins are telling you what to say; you talk like people who will not admit that they are wicked.
6 Thy mouth declareth thee wicked, and not I, And thy lips testify against thee.
Everything that you say [MTY] shows that you should be punished; so, it is not necessary for me to show that.
7 The first man art thou born? And before the heights wast thou formed?
[“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]?
8 Of the secret counsel of God dost thou hear? And withdrawest thou unto thee wisdom?
Were you listening when God made all his plans? [SAR, RHQ] Or do you think that you are the only person who is wise?
9 What hast thou known, and we know not? Understandest thou — and it is not with us?
(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.
10 Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us — Greater than thy father [in] days.
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.
11 Too few for thee are the comforts of God? And a gentle word [is] with thee,
God wants to comfort you, and to speak gently/kindly to you; (is that not enough for you/do you need more than that)?
12 What — doth thine heart take thee away? And what — are thine eyes high?
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?
13 For thou turnest against God thy spirit? And hast brought out words from thy mouth:
You are angry [IDM] with God, and so you [MTY] are criticizing/denouncing him.
14 What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?
“(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]
15 Lo, in His holy ones He putteth no credence, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.
Hey, God does not even trust his angels; he does not consider even them to be [completely] pure.
16 Also — surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking as water perverseness.
So, he certainly does not [trust] abominable/disgusting and depraved/corrupt people who do evil things [as easily] as they drink water [MET].
17 I shew thee — hearken to me — And this I have seen and declare:
Job, listen to what I will tell you. I will declare to you what I know,
18 Which the wise declare — And have not hid — from their fathers.
things that wise men have told me, truths that their ancestors did not keep hidden.
19 To them alone was the land given, And a stranger passed not over into their midst:
God gave this land to those ancestors, who were truly wise; no one from another country caused them to think wrongly [IDM].
20 'All days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one.
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.
21 A fearful voice [is] in his ears, In peace doth a destroyer come to him.
They constantly hear sounds that terrify them; while they are prospering, bandits attack them.
22 He believeth not to return from darkness, And watched [is] he for the sword.
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.
23 He is wandering for bread — 'Where [is] it?' He hath known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness.
They wander around, searching for food, saying ‘Where can I find some?’ And they know that they will soon experience disasters.
24 Terrify him do adversity and distress, They prevail over him As a king ready for a boaster.
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].
25 For he stretched out against God his hand, And against the Mighty he maketh himself mighty.
[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.
26 He runneth unto Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.
They stubbornly [IDM] rush to attack God [as though they were carrying] a strong shield [to protect themselves].
27 For he hath covered his face with his fat, And maketh vigour over [his] confidence.
They are so fat [that they are unable to fight].
28 And he inhabiteth cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.
They will live in cities that have been abandoned, cities which have become a heap of ruins.
29 He is not rich, nor doth his wealth rise, Nor doth he stretch out on earth their continuance.
But they will not remain rich very long; Everything that they own will be taken from them; their possessions will all disappear.
30 He turneth not aside from darkness, His tender branch doth a flame dry up, And he turneth aside at the breath of His mouth!
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.
31 Let him not put credence in vanity, He hath been deceived, For vanity is his recompence.
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.
32 Not in his day is it completed, And his bending branch is not green.
Before they are old, they will wither; they will be like [MET] branches that wither and never become green again.
33 He shaketh off as a vine his unripe fruit, And casteth off as an olive his blossom.
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.
34 For the company of the profane [is] gloomy, And fire hath consumed tents of bribery.
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.
35 To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart doth prepare deceit.
They plan to cause trouble and to do evil things, and they are always preparing to deceive people.”
