15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
15:2 “Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge,1
or fill his belly2 with the east wind?3
15:3 Does he argue4 with useless5 talk,
with words that have no value in them?
15:4 But you even break off6 piety,7
and hinder8 meditation9 before God.
15:5 Your sin inspires10 your mouth;
you choose the language11 of the crafty.12
15:6 Your own mouth condemns13 you, not I;
your lips testify against14 you.
15:7 “Were you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
15:8 Do you listen in God’s council?15
Do you limit16 wisdom to yourself?
15:9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not understood by us?17
15:10 The gray-haired18 and the aged are on our side,19
men far older than your father.20
15:11 Are God’s consolations21 too trivial for you;22
or a word spoken23 in gentleness to you?
15:12 Why24 has your heart carried you away,25
and why do your eyes flash,26
15:13 when you turn your rage27 against God
and allow such words to proceed28 from your mouth?
15:14 What is man that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
15:15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,29
if even the heavens30 are not pure in his eyes,
15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt,31
who drinks in evil like water!32
15:17 “I will explain to you; listen to me,
and what33 I have seen, I will declare,34
15:18 what wise men declare,
hiding nothing,
from the tradition of35 their ancestors,36
15:19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.37
15:20 All his days38 the wicked man suffers torment,39
throughout the number of the years
that40 are stored up for the tyrant.41
15:21 Terrifying sounds fill42 his ears;
in a time of peace marauders43 attack him.
15:22 He does not expect44 to escape from darkness;45
he is marked for the sword;46
15:23 he wanders about—food for vultures;47
he knows that the day of darkness is at hand.48
15:24 Distress and anguish49 terrify him;
they prevail against him
like a king ready for attack,50
15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God,51
and vaunts himself52 against the Almighty,
15:26 defiantly charging against him53
with a thick, strong shield!54
15:27 Because he covered his face with fat,55
15:28 he lived in ruined towns58
and in houses where59 no one lives,
where they are ready to crumble into heaps.60
15:29 He will not grow rich,
and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions61 spread over the land.
15:30 He will not escape the darkness;62
a flame will wither his shoots
and he will depart
by the breath of God’s mouth.63
15:31 Let him not trust in what is worthless,64
deceiving himself;
for worthlessness will be his reward.65
15:32 Before his time66 he will be paid in full,67
and his branches will not flourish.68
15:33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall,69
and like an olive tree
he will shed his blossoms.70
15:34 For the company of the godless is barren,71
and fire72 consumes the tents of those who accept bribes.73
15:35 They conceive74 trouble and bring forth evil;
their belly75 prepares deception.”
Job’s Reply to Eliphaz76