Job 15

Eliphaz Accuses Job of Folly

15Then ^aEliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

²“Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge,

And fill ¹himself with the east wind?

³Should he reason with unprofitable talk,

Or by speeches with which he can do no good?

⁴Yes, you cast off fear,

And restrain ²prayer before God.

⁵For your iniquity teaches your mouth,

And you choose the tongue of the crafty.

^6bYour own mouth condemns you, and not I;

Yes, your own lips testify against you.

⁷“Are you the first man who was born?

^cOr were you made before the hills?

^8dHave you heard the counsel of God?

Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

^9eWhat do you know that we do not know?

What do you understand that is not in us?

^10fBoth the gray-haired and the aged are among us,

Much older than your father.

¹¹Are the consolations of God too small for you,

And the word spoken ³gently with you?

¹²Why does your heart carry you away,

And ⁴what do your eyes wink at,

¹³That you turn your spirit against God,

And let such words go out of your mouth?

¹⁴“What ^gis man, that he could be pure?

And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?

^15hIf God puts no trust in His saints,

And the heavens are not pure in His sight,

¹⁶ⁱHow much less man, who is abominable and filthy,

^jWho drinks iniquity like water!

¹⁷“I will tell you, hear me;

What I have seen I will declare,

¹⁸What wise men have told,

Not hiding anything received ^kfrom their fathers,

¹⁹To whom alone the ⁵land was given,

And ^lno alien passed among them:

²⁰The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,

^mAnd the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.

²¹⁶Dreadful sounds are in his ears;

ⁿIn prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.

²²He does not believe that he will ^oreturn from darkness,

For a sword is waiting for him.

²³He ^pwanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’

He knows ^qthat a day of darkness is ready at his hand.

²⁴Trouble and anguish make him afraid;

They overpower him, like a king ready for ⁷battle.

²⁵For he stretches out his hand against God,

And acts defiantly against the Almighty,

²⁶Running stubbornly against Him

With his strong, embossed shield.

²⁷“Though ^rhe has covered his face with his fatness,

And made his waist heavy with fat,

²⁸He dwells in desolate cities,

In houses which no one inhabits,

Which are destined to become ruins.

²⁹He will not be rich,

Nor will his wealth ^scontinue,

Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.

³⁰He will not depart from darkness;

The flame will dry out his branches,

And ^tby the breath of His mouth he will go away.

³¹Let him not ^utrust in futile things, deceiving himself,

For futility will be his reward.

³²It will be accomplished ^vbefore his time,

And his branch will not be green.

³³He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine,

And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.

³⁴For the company of hypocrites will be barren,

And fire will consume the tents of bribery.

^35wThey conceive trouble and bring forth futility;

Their womb prepares deceit.”