Job 15:1
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
Job 15:2
“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
Job 15:3
Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?
Job 15:4
But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.
Job 15:5
For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
Job 15:6
Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.
Job 15:7
Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
Job 15:8
Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?
Job 15:9
What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
Job 15:10
Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father.
Job 15:11
Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?
Job 15:12
Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,
Job 15:13
so that you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?
Job 15:14
What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
Job 15:15
If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
Job 15:16
how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
Job 15:17
Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,
Job 15:18
what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,
Job 15:19
to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.
Job 15:20
A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
Job 15:21
Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
Job 15:22
He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.
Job 15:23
He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
Job 15:24
Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
Job 15:25
For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,
Job 15:26
rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.
Job 15:27
Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
Job 15:28
he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.
Job 15:29
He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.
Job 15:30
He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
Job 15:31
Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
Job 15:32
It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.
Job 15:33
He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
Job 15:34
For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
Job 15:35
They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”