Job15

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

²“Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, And fill himself with the east wind?

³Should he argue with useless talk, Or with words which do not benefit?

⁴Indeed, you do away with reverence, And hinder meditation before God.

⁵For your wrongdoing teaches your mouth, And you choose the language of the cunning.

⁶Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; And your own lips testify against you.

⁷“Were you the first person to be born, Or were you brought forth before the hills?

⁸Do you hear the secret discussion of God, And limit wisdom to yourself?

⁹What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that we do not?

¹⁰Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, Older than your father.

¹¹Are the consolations of God too little for you, Or the word spoken gently to you?

¹²Why does your heart take you away? And why do your eyes wink,

¹³That you can turn your spirit against God And produce such words from your mouth?

¹⁴What is man, that he would be pure, Or he who is born of a woman, that he would be righteous?

¹⁵Behold, He has no trust in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight;

¹⁶How much less one who is detestable and corrupt: A person who drinks malice like water!

¹⁷“I will tell you, listen to me; And what I have seen I will also declare;

¹⁸What wise people have told, And have not concealed from their fathers,

¹⁹To whom alone the land was given, And no stranger passed among them.

²⁰The wicked person writhes in pain all his days, And the years reserved for the ruthless are numbered.

²¹Sounds of terror are in his ears; While he is at peace the destroyer comes upon him.

²²He does not believe that he will return from darkness, And he is destined for the sword.

²³He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness is at hand.

²⁴Distress and anguish terrify him, They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,

²⁵Because he has reached out with his hand against God, And is arrogant toward the Almighty.

²⁶He rushes headlong at Him With his massive shield.

²⁷For he has covered his face with his fat, And put fat on his waist.

²⁸He has lived in desolate cities, In houses no one would inhabit, Which are destined to become ruins.

²⁹He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure; And his property will not stretch out on the earth.

³⁰He will not escape from darkness; The flame will dry up his shoot, And he will go away by the breath of His mouth.

³¹Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; For his reward will be emptiness.

³²It will be accomplished before his time, And his palm branch will not be green.

³³He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine, And will cast off his flower like the olive tree.

³⁴For the company of the godless is barren, And fire consumes the tents of the corrupt.

³⁵They conceive harm and give birth to wrongdoing, And their mind prepares deception.”