Job 15

¹And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,

²Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?

³Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?

⁴Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry.

⁵For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself.

⁶It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you.

⁷Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills?

⁸Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself?

⁹What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?

¹⁰With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father.

¹¹Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?

¹²Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up;

¹³So that you are turning your spirit against God, and letting such words go out of your mouth?

¹⁴What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?

¹⁵Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes;

¹⁶How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water!

¹⁷Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:

¹⁸(The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us;

¹⁹For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them:)

²⁰The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small.

²¹A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:

²²He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;

²³He is wandering about in search of bread, saying, Where is it? and he is certain that the day of trouble is ready for him:

²⁴He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him:

²⁵Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all,

²⁶Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight,

²⁷Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;

²⁸And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls.

²⁹He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth.

³⁰He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.

³¹Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.

³²His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green.

³³He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers.

³⁴For the band of the evil-doers gives no fruit, and the tents of those who give wrong decisions for reward are burned with fire.

³⁵Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.

Job 15

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

²"Should a wise man answer with vain knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind?

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

⁴Yes, you do away with fear, and hinder devotion before God.

⁵For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the language 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 brought forth before the hills?

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

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

¹⁰With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men, much elder than your father.

¹¹Are the consolations of God too small for you, even the word that is gentle toward you?

¹²Why does your heart carry you away? Why do your eyes flash,

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

¹⁴What is man, that he should be clean? What is he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

¹⁵Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones. Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight;

¹⁶how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water!

¹⁷"I will show you, listen to me; that which I have seen I will declare:

¹⁸(Which wise men have told by their fathers, and have not hidden it;

¹⁹to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them):

²⁰the wicked man writhes in pain all his days, even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.

²¹A sound of terrors is in his ears. In prosperity the destroyer shall come on him.

²²He doesn't believe that he shall return out of darkness. He is waited for by the sword.

²³He wanders abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?' He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

²⁴Distress and anguish make him afraid. They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

²⁵Because he has stretched out his hand against God, and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty;

²⁶he runs at him with a stiff neck, with the thick shields of his bucklers;

²⁷because he has covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat on his thighs.

²⁸He has lived in desolate cities, in houses which no one inhabited, which were ready to become heaps.

²⁹He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth.

³⁰He shall not depart out of darkness. The flame shall dry up his branches. By the breath of God's mouth shall he go away.

³¹Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; for emptiness shall be his reward.

³²It shall be accomplished before his time. His branch shall not be green.

³³He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive tree.

³⁴For the company of the godless shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

³⁵They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. Their heart prepares deceit."