Eliphaz’s Second Speech66

15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

15:2 “Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge,1

or fill his belly2 with the east wind?3

15:3 Does he argue4 with useless5 talk,

with words that have no value in them?

15:4 But you even break off6 piety,7

and hinder8 meditation9 before God.

15:5 Your sin inspires10 your mouth;

you choose the language11 of the crafty.12

15:6 Your own mouth condemns13 you, not I;

your own lips testify against14 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?15

Do you limit16 wisdom to yourself?

15:9 What do you know that we don’t know?

What do you understand that we don’t understand?17

15:10 The gray-haired18 and the aged are on our side,19

men far older than your father.20

15:11 Are God’s consolations21 too trivial for you;22

or a word spoken23 in gentleness to you?

15:12 Why24 has your heart carried you away,25

and why do your eyes flash,26

15:13 when you turn your rage27 against God

and allow such words to escape28 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,29

if even the heavens30 are not pure in his eyes,

15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt,31

who drinks in evil like water!32

15:17 “I will explain to you;

listen to me,

and what33 I have seen, I will declare,34

15:18 what wise men declare,

hiding nothing,

from the tradition of35 their ancestors,36

15:19 to whom alone the land was given

when no foreigner passed among them.37

15:20 All his days38 the wicked man suffers torment,39

throughout the number of the years

that40 are stored up for the tyrant.41

15:21 Terrifying sounds fill42 his ears;

in a time of peace marauders43 attack him.

15:22 He does not expect44 to escape from darkness;45

he is marked for the sword;46

15:23 he wanders about—food for vultures;47

he knows that the day of darkness is at hand.48

15:24 Distress and anguish49 terrify him;

they prevail against him

like a king ready to launch an attack,50

15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God,51

and vaunts himself52 against the Almighty,

15:26 defiantly charging against him53

with a thick, strong shield!54

15:27 Because he covered his face with fat,55

and made56 his hips bulge with fat,57

15:28 he lived in ruined towns58

and in houses where59 no one lives,

where they are ready to crumble into heaps.60

15:29 He will not grow rich,

and his wealth will not endure,

nor will his possessions61 spread over the land.

15:30 He will not escape the darkness;62

a flame will wither his shoots

and he will depart

by the breath of God’s mouth.63

15:31 Let him not trust in what is worthless,64

deceiving himself;

for worthlessness will be his reward.65

15:32 Before his time66 he will be paid in full,67

and his branches will not flourish.68

15:33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall,69

and like an olive tree

he will shed his blossoms.70

15:34 For the company of the godless is barren,71

and fire72 consumes the tents of those who accept bribes.73

15:35 They conceive74 trouble and bring forth evil;

their belly75 prepares deception.”