Job 15

Eliphaz speaks to Job again ^{▼▼15:0 This time, Eliphaz says that Job should not say such bad things about God. He asks Job why he is so angry with God. Job may be a good man. But he cannot be good enough for God. Eliphaz tells Job what will happen to bad people. He seems to think that Job is a bad person. He believes that Job has done wrong things. And he believes that God is punishing Job because of those things.}

1 Then Eliphaz replied to Job. This is what he said.

2 ‘A wise man would not have such silly ideas.

Nor would he use words that mean so little.

3 No wise man would talk as you do.

The things that you say do not mean anything.

4 You do not seem to be afraid of God.

Nor do you want people to pray to him.

5 The wrong things that you say come from bad thoughts in your mind.

You try to be clever. And you try to make people believe you.

6 I will not say that you are wrong.

Your words themselves show that you are wrong.

7 You were not the first human to be born.

You were not alive when God made the hills.

8 You are not with God so you cannot know his thoughts.

You are not the only wise person in the world.

9 You do not know any more than we know.

We have as much wisdom as you do.

10 There are men who agree with us.

They have grey hair and they are older than your father.

11 God is so good to you. And he is kind when he speaks to you.

That ought to be enough for you.

12 I would like to know why there are wrong thoughts in your mind.

When we look at you, you seem very angry.

13 I would like to know why you are angry with God like this.

You should not say such bad things when you speak to him.

14 No person can say that he is always honest.

Nor can anyone say that he has never done wrong things.

15 God does not even believe that his angels are honest.

When he looks at them, they seem to him to be bad.

16 So people must seem to God to be very bad.

Something inside them causes them to want to do wrong things.

17 Listen to me and I will explain something to you.

Let me tell you what I have seen.

18 Wise men have taught me many things. They have even told me secret things.

They learned such things from people who lived before them.

19 There were no strangers in the country where those people lived.

So they did not learn any foreign ideas.

20 A man who is cruel will not have a happy life.

Instead, he will have pain during all the years that he lives.

21 He will hear things that frighten him.

He may think that he is safe. But bad people will attack him and they will rob him.

22 He will not go out in the dark, because someone may kill him.

23 So that bad man walks about everywhere to look for food.

He is saying, “Where is it?”
He knows that he will soon die.

24 He is afraid and confused.

He is like a king who is frightened before a war.

25 That happens if a man does not obey God.

A man like that thinks that he is more important than the Almighty.

26 He is the kind of man who tries to argue with God.

He even tries to attack God.

27 He may have had plenty of food to eat.

And he may be very fat.

28 But he will live in a town where no one else lives.

And he will not have a home because people will have destroyed his house.

29 He will have lost all his money.

He may have had many valuable things. He will have lost those too.

30 It will be dark and he will not be able to hide. God will find him.

God’s breath will be like a fire. And it will destroy everything that he has.

31 He may think that his money will save him. If he thinks that, he is a fool.

He will not get back anything. His money will have no value.

32 Before he is old, his life will end.

He will not be able to do all the things that he wanted to do.

33 A vine may lose its fruit before it is ready for people to eat. Or an olive-tree may lose its flowers before the olives have grown. He will be like that vine or that olive-tree.

34 If people do not obey God, they will have no children.

Such people may have done wrong things to get homes for themselves.

If they have done that, fire will destroy those homes.

35 Such people have only wrong thoughts in their minds.

Other people have trouble because of the things that they do.

And through all their lives they do things that are bad.’