Job 15
Eliphaz’s Second Speech1
15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
15:2 “Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge,2
or fill his belly3 with the east wind?4
15:3 Does he argue5 with useless6 talk,
with words that have no value in them?
15:4 But you even break off7 piety,8
and hinder9 meditation10 before God.
15:5 Your sin inspires11 your mouth;
you choose the language12 of the crafty.13
15:6 Your own mouth condemns14 you, not I;
your own lips testify against15 you.
15:7 “Were you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
15:8 Do you listen in on God’s secret council?16
Do you limit17 wisdom to yourself?
15:9 What do you know that we don’t know?
What do you understand that we don’t understand?18
15:10 The gray-haired19 and the aged are on our side,20
men far older than your father.21
15:11 Are God’s consolations22 too trivial for you;23
or a word spoken24 in gentleness to you?
15:12 Why25 has your heart carried you away,26
and why do your eyes flash,27
15:13 when you turn your rage28 against God
and allow such words to escape29 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,30
if even the heavens31 are not pure in his eyes,
15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt,32
who drinks in evil like water!33
listen to me,
and what34 I have seen, I will declare,35
hiding nothing,
from the tradition of36 their ancestors,37
15:19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.38
15:20 All his days39 the wicked man suffers torment,40
throughout the number of the years
that41 are stored up for the tyrant.42
15:21 Terrifying sounds fill43 his ears;
in a time of peace marauders44 attack him.
15:22 He does not expect45 to escape from darkness;46
he is marked for the sword;47
15:23 he wanders about – food for vultures;48
he knows that the day of darkness is at hand.49
15:24 Distress and anguish50 terrify him;
they prevail against him
like a king ready to launch an attack,51
15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God,52
and vaunts himself53 against the Almighty,
15:26 defiantly charging against him54
with a thick, strong shield!55
15:27 Because he covered his face with fat,56
and made57 his hips bulge with fat,58
15:28 he lived in ruined towns59
and in houses where60 no one lives,
where they are ready to crumble into heaps.61
and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions62 spread over the land.
15:30 He will not escape the darkness;63
a flame will wither his shoots
and he will depart
by the breath of God’s mouth.64
15:31 Let him not trust in what is worthless,65
deceiving himself;
for worthlessness will be his reward.66
15:32 Before his time67 he will be paid in full,68
and his branches will not flourish.69
15:33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall,70
and like an olive tree
he will shed his blossoms.71
15:34 For the company of the godless is barren,72
and fire73 consumes the tents of those who accept bribes.74
15:35 They conceive75 trouble and bring forth evil;
their belly76 prepares deception.”