Job 15

Eliphaz Says Job’s Lips Answer Against Him

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge
And fill his belly with the east wind?
3 “Should he argue with a word that cannot be used,
Or with speech which is not profitable?
4 “Indeed, you annul reverent fear
And cut off musing before God.
5 “For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
And you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 “Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
And your own lips answer against you.
7 “Were you the first man to be born,
Or were you brought forth before the hills?
8 “Do you hear the secret counsel of God,
And cut down wisdom only unto yourself?
9 “What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not with us?
10 “Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Older than your father.
11 “Are the consolations of God too small for you,
Even the word spoken gently with you?
12 “Why does your heart take you away?
And why do your eyes flash,
13 That you should turn your spirit against God
And allow such words to go out of your mouth?
14 “What is man, that he should be pure,
Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 “Behold, He puts no faith in His holy ones,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight;
16 How much less one who is abominable and corrupt,
Man, who drinks ^{▼▼Or injustice}unrighteousness like water!
17 “I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have beheld I will also recount;
18 What wise men have told,
And have not concealed from their fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them.
20 “The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,
And ^{▼▼Lit the number of years are}numbered are the years stored up for the ruthless.
21 “ ^{▼▼Lit A sound of dreads}Sounds of dread are in his ears;
While at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
22 “He does not believe that he will return from darkness,
And he is destined for the sword.
23 “He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 “Distress and anguish terrify him;
They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God
And magnifies himself against ^{▼▼Heb Shaddai}the Almighty.
26 “He rushes ^{▼▼Lit with a stiff neck}headlong at Him
With ^{▼▼Lit the thick-bossed shields}his massive shield.
27 “For he has covered his face with his fat
And made his thighs heavy with flesh.
28 “He has dwelt in desolate cities,
In houses no one would inhabit,
Which are destined to become ^{▼▼Or heaps}ruins.
29 “He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his grain will not stretch out over the land.
30 “He will not be able to ^{▼▼Lit turn aside}depart from darkness;
The flame will wither his shoots,
And by the breath of His mouth he will depart.
31 “Let him not believe in emptiness, deceiving himself;
For emptiness will be his ^{▼▼Lit exchange}reward,
32 When his days are not yet fulfilled,
And his palm branch is not green.
33 “He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine,
And will cast off his flower like the olive tree.
34 “For the company of the godless is barren,
And fire consumes the tents of ^{▼▼Lit a bribe}the corrupt.
35 “They conceive ^{▼▼Or pain, mischief}trouble and give birth to wickedness,
And their ^{▼▼Or mind}belly prepares deception.”