Job 15

The Second Dialogue

15Empty words, Job! Empty words!

³No wise person would talk as you do

or defend himself with such meaningless words.

⁴If you had your way,

no one would fear God; no one would pray to him.

⁵Your wickedness is evident by what you say;

you are trying to hide behind clever words.

⁶There is no need for me to condemn you;

you are condemned by every word you speak.

⁷Do you think you were the first person born?

Were you there when God made the mountains?

⁸Did you overhear the plans God made?

Does human wisdom belong to you alone?

⁹There is nothing you know that we don’t know.

¹⁰We learnt our wisdom from grey-haired people—

those born before your father.

¹¹God offers you comfort; why still reject it?

We have spoken for him with calm, even words.

¹²But you are excited and glare at us in anger.

¹³You are angry with God and denounce him.

^14*Can any human being be really pure?

Can anyone be right with God?

^15*Why, God does not trust even his angels;

even they are not pure in his sight.

^16*And people drink evil as if it were water;

yes, they are corrupt; they are worthless.

¹⁷Now listen, Job, to what I know.

¹⁸Those who are wise have taught me truths

which they learnt from their ancestors,

and they kept no secrets hidden.

¹⁹Their land was free from foreigners;

there was no one to lead them away from God.

²⁰The wicked who oppress others

will be in torment as long as they live.

²¹Voices of terror will scream in their ears,

and robbers attack when they think they are safe.

²²They have no hope of escaping from darkness,

for somewhere a sword is waiting to kill them,

²³and vultures^c are waiting^d to eat their corpses.

They know their future is dark;

²⁴disaster, like a powerful king,

is waiting to attack them.

²⁵That is the fate of those

who shake their fists at God

and defy the Almighty.

^26–27They are proud and rebellious;

they stubbornly hold up their shields

and rush to fight against God.

²⁸They are the ones who captured cities

and seized houses whose owners had fled,

but war will destroy those cities and houses.

²⁹They will not remain rich for long;

nothing they own will last.

Even their shadows^e will vanish,

³⁰and they will not escape from darkness.

They will be like trees

whose branches are burnt by fire,

whose blossoms^f are blown away by the wind.

³¹If they are foolish enough to trust in evil,

then evil will be their reward.

³²Before their time is up they will wither,^g

wither like a branch and never be green again.

³³They will be like vines that lose their unripe grapes;

like olive trees that drop their blossoms.

³⁴There will be no descendants for godless people,

and fire will destroy the homes built by bribery.

³⁵These are the ones who plan trouble and do evil;

their hearts are always full of deceit.