Job 15

Eliphaz Says Job Presumes Much

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,
^aAnd fill ▼

▼Lit his belly

himself with the east wind?
3 “Should he argue with useless talk,
Or with words which do not benefit?
4 “Indeed, you do away with ▼

▼Lit fear

reverence,
And hinder meditation before God.
5 “For ^dyour wrongdoing teaches your mouth,
And you choose the language of ^ethe cunning.
6 “Your ^fown mouth condemns you, and not I;
And your own lips testify against you.

7 “Were you the first person to be born,
Or ^gwere you brought forth before the hills?
8 “Do you hear the ^hsecret discussion of God,
And limit wisdom to yourself?
9 “ ⁱWhat do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that ▼

▼Lit is not within us?

we do not?
10 “Both the ^kgray-haired and the aged are among us,
Older than your father.
11 “Are ^lthe consolations of God too little for you,
Or the ^mword spoken gently to you?
12 “Why does your ⁿheart take you away?
And why do your eyes wink,
13 That you can turn your spirit against God
And produce such words from your mouth?
14 “What is man, that ^ohe would be pure,
Or ^phe who is born of a woman, that he would be righteous?
15 “Behold, He has no trust in His ^qholy ones,
And the ^rheavens are not pure in His sight;
16 How much less one who is ^sdetestable and corrupt:
A person who ^tdrinks ▼

▼Or injustice

malice like water!

What Eliphaz Has Seen of Life

17 “I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;
18 What wise people have told,
And have not concealed from ^vtheir fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them.
20 “The wicked person writhes ^win pain all his days,
And the ▼

▼Lit number of years are reserved for

years ^yreserved for the ruthless are numbered.
21 “ ▼

▼Lit A sound of terrors is

Sounds of ^aaterror are in his ears;
^abWhile he is at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
22 “He does not believe that he will ^acreturn from darkness,
And he is destined for ^adthe sword.
23 “He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of ^aedarkness is ▼

▼Lit ready at his hand

at hand.
24 “Distress and anguish terrify him,
They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,
25 Because he has reached out with his hand against God,
And is ^agarrogant toward ▼

▼Heb Shaddai

the Almighty.
26 “He rushes ▼

▼Lit with a stiff neck

headlong at Him
With his ▼

▼Lit thick-bossed shields

massive shield.
27 “For he has ^akcovered his face with his fat,
And ▼

▼Lit made

put fat on his waist.
28 “He has ^amlived in desolate cities,
In houses no one would inhabit,
Which are destined to become ▼

▼Or heaps

ruins.
29 “He ^aowill not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his property will not stretch out on the earth.
30 “He will ^apnot ▼

▼Lit turn aside

escape from darkness;
The ^arflame will dry up his shoot,
And he will go away by ^asthe breath of His mouth.
31 “Let him not ^attrust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
For his ▼

▼Lit exchange

reward will be emptiness.
32 “It will be accomplished ^avbefore his time,
And his palm ^awbranch will not be green.
33 “He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine,
And will ^axcast off his flower like the olive tree.
34 “For the company of ^aythe godless is barren,
And fire consumes ^azthe tents of ▼

▼Lit a bribe

the corrupt.
35 “They ^bbconceive ▼

▼Or pain

harm and give birth to wrongdoing,
And their ▼

▼Lit belly

mind prepares deception.”