Job 15:1–16:22
Eliphaz Says Job Presumes Much
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite 1responded,
2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge
aAnd fill 1himself with the east wind?
3 “Should he argue with useless talk,
Or with words which are not profitable?
4 “Indeed, you do away with 1reverence
And hinder meditation before God.
5 “For ayour guilt teaches your mouth,
And you choose the language of bthe crafty.
6 “Your aown mouth condemns you, and not I;
And your own lips testify against you.
7 “Were you the first man to be born,
Or awere you brought forth before the hills?
8 “Do you hear the asecret counsel of God,
And limit wisdom to yourself?
9 “aWhat do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that 1we do not?
10 “Both the agray-haired and the aged are among us,
Older than your father.
11 “Are athe consolations of God too small for you,
Even the bword spoken gently with you?
12 “Why does your aheart carry you away?
And why do your eyes flash,
13 That you should turn your spirit against God
And allow such words to go out of your mouth?
14 “What is man, that ahe should be pure,
Or bhe who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 “Behold, He puts no trust in His aholy ones,
And the bheavens are not pure in His sight;
16 How much less one who is adetestable and corrupt,
Man, who bdrinks iniquity like water!
17 “I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;
And have not concealed from atheir fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given,
And no alien passed among them.
20 “The wicked man writhes ain pain all his days,
And 1numbered are the years bstored up for the ruthless.
21 “1Sounds of aterror are in his ears;
bWhile at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
22 “He does not believe that he will areturn from darkness,
And he is destined for bthe sword.
23 “He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of adarkness is 1at hand.
24 “Distress and anguish terrify him,
They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God
And conducts himself aarrogantly against 1the Almighty.
26 “He rushes 1headlong at Him
With 2his massive shield.
27 “For he has acovered his face with his fat
And made his thighs heavy with flesh.
28 “He has alived in desolate cities,
In houses no one would inhabit,
Which are destined to become 1ruins.
29 “He awill not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his grain will not bend down to the ground.
30 “He will anot 1escape from darkness;
The bflame will wither his shoots,
And by cthe breath of His mouth he will go away.
31 “Let him not atrust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
For emptiness will be his 1reward.
32 “It will be accomplished abefore his time,
And his palm bbranch will not be green.
33 “He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine,
And will acast off his flower like the olive tree.
34 “For the company of athe godless is barren,
And fire consumes bthe tents of 1the corrupt.
35 “They aconceive 1mischief and bring forth iniquity,
And their 2mind prepares deception.”
Job Says Friends Are Sorry Comforters
1 Then Job 1answered,
2 “I have heard many such things;
1aSorry comforters are you all.
3 “Is there no limit to awindy words?
Or what plagues you that you answer?
4 “I too could speak like you,
If 1I were in your place.
I could compose words against you
And ashake my head at you.
5 “I could strengthen you with my mouth,
And the solace of my lips could lessen your pain.
6 “If I speak, amy pain is not lessened,
And if I hold back, what has left me?
7 “But now He has aexhausted me;
You have laid bwaste all my company.
aIt has become a witness;
And my bleanness rises up against me,
It testifies to my face.
9 “His anger has atorn me and 1hunted me down,
He has bgnashed at me with His teeth;
10 “They have agaped at me with their mouth,
They have 1bslapped me on the cheek with contempt;
They have cmassed themselves against me.
11 “God hands me over to ruffians
And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.
12 “I was at ease, but aHe shattered me,
And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His btarget.
13 “His aarrows surround me.
Without mercy He splits my kidneys open;
He pours out bmy gall on the ground.
14 “He abreaks through me with breach after breach;
He bruns at me like a warrior.
15 “I have sewed asackcloth over my skin
And bthrust my horn in the dust.
16 “My face is flushed from aweeping,
bAnd deep darkness is on my eyelids,
17 Although there is no aviolence in my hands,
And bmy prayer is pure.
18 “O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no resting place for my cry.
19 “Even now, behold, amy witness is in heaven,
20 “My friends are my scoffers;
21 “O that a man might plead with God
As a man with his neighbor!
22 “For when a few years are past,
I shall go the way aof no return.