Job15

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

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

³Should he reason with unprofitable talk, Or by speeches with which he can do no good?

⁴Yes, you cast off fear, And restrain prayer before God.

⁵For your iniquity teaches your mouth, And you choose the tongue of the crafty.

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

⁷“Are you the first man who was born? Or were you made before the hills?

⁸Have you heard the counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

⁹What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not in us?

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

¹¹Are the consolations of God too small for you, And the word spoken gently with you?

¹²Why does your heart carry you away, And what do your eyes wink at,

¹³That you turn your spirit against God, And let such words go out of your mouth?

¹⁴“What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?

¹⁵If God puts no trust in His saints, And the heavens are not pure in His sight,

¹⁶How much less man, who is abominable and filthy, Who drinks iniquity like water!

¹⁷“I will tell you, hear me; What I have seen I will declare,

¹⁸What wise men have told, Not hiding anything received from their fathers,

¹⁹To whom alone the land was given, And no alien passed among them:

²⁰The wicked man writhes with pain all his days, And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.

²¹Dreadful sounds are in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.

²²He does not believe that he will return from darkness, For a sword is waiting for him.

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

²⁴Trouble and anguish make him afraid; They overpower him, like a king ready for battle.

²⁵For he stretches out his hand against God, And acts defiantly against the Almighty,

²⁶Running stubbornly against Him With his strong, embossed shield.

²⁷“Though he has covered his face with his fatness, And made his waist heavy with fat,

²⁸He dwells in desolate cities, In houses which no one inhabits, Which are destined to become ruins.

²⁹He will not be rich, Nor will his wealth continue, Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.

³⁰He will not depart from darkness; The flame will dry out his branches, And by the breath of His mouth he will go away.

³¹Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself, For futility will be his reward.

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

³³He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine, And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.

³⁴For the company of hypocrites will be barren, And fire will consume the tents of bribery.

³⁵They conceive trouble and bring forth futility; Their womb prepares deceit.”