Job 15

15TH CHAPTER

Eliphaz Speaks:

You Are Speaking Sinfully, Job

¹Then Eliphaz from Teman replied ⸤to Job⸥, 

²“Should a wise person answer with endless details 

and fill his stomach with the east wind? 

³Should he argue with words that don’t help, 

with speeches that don’t help ⸤anyone⸥? 

⁴Yes, you destroy the fear ⸤of God⸥ 

and diminish devotion to God. 

⁵Your sin teaches you what to say. 

You choose ⸤to talk with⸥ a sly tongue. 

⁶Your ⸤own⸥ mouth condemns you, not I. 

Your lips testify against you. 

You Are Not the Only Wise Person, Job

⁷“Were you the first human to be born? 

Were you delivered before the hills ⸤existed⸥? 

⁸Did you listen in on God’s council meeting 

and receive a monopoly on wisdom? 

⁹What do you know that we don’t know? 

What do you understand that we don’t? 

¹⁰Both the old and the gray-haired are among us. 

They are older than your father. 

¹¹Isn’t God’s comfort enough for you, 

even when gently spoken to you? 

¹²Why have your emotions carried you away? 

Why do your eyes flash 

¹³when you turn against God 

and spit these words out of your mouth? 

¹⁴Why should a mortal be considered faultless 

or someone born of a woman be considered righteous? 

¹⁵If God doesn’t trust his holy ones, 

and the heavens are not pure in his sight, 

¹⁶how much less will he trust the one who is disgusting and corrupt, 

the one who drinks wickedness like water. 

I Want to Tell You What I Know

¹⁷“I’ll tell you; listen to me! 

I’ll relate what I have seen. 

¹⁸I’ll tell you what wise people have declared 

and what was not kept secret from their ancestors. 

¹⁹(The land was given to them alone, 

and no stranger passed through their land.) 

The Tortured Life of the Wicked Person

²⁰“The wicked person is tortured all his days. 

Only a few years are reserved for the ruthless person. 

²¹Terrifying sounds are in his ears. 

While he enjoys peace, the destroyer comes to him. 

²²He doesn’t believe he’ll return from the dark. 

He is destined ⸤to be killed⸥ with a sword. 

²³He wanders around for food and asks, ‘Where is it?’^a

He knows that his ruin is close at hand. 

²⁴“The day of darkness^btroubles him. 

Distress and anguish terrify him 

like a king ready for battle. 

²⁵He stretches out his hand against God 

and attacks the Almighty like a warrior. 

²⁶He stubbornly charges at him with a thick shield. 

²⁷“His face is bloated with fat, 

and he is fat around the waist. 

²⁸He lives in ruined cities 

where no one dwells, 

in houses that are doomed to be piles of rubble. 

²⁹He won’t get rich, 

and his wealth won’t last. 

His possessions won’t spread out over the land. 

³⁰“He won’t escape the darkness. 

A flame will shrivel his branches. 

He will be blown away by his own breath. 

³¹He shouldn’t trust in worthless things and deceive himself 

because he will get worthless things in return. 

³²It will happen before his time has come, 

and his branch will not become green. 

³³He will drop his unripened grapes like a vine 

and throw off his blossoms like an olive tree 

³⁴because a mob of godless people produces nothing, 

and fire burns up the tents of those who offer bribes.^c

³⁵They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. 

Their wombs produce deception.”