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Job 15

Eliphaz speaks to Job again [ a ]

15 Then Eliphaz, the man from Teman, replied to Job. This is what he said:

2 ‘If you were wise,
you would not answer us with such silly ideas.
The words that come out from inside you are only a hot wind!
3 No wise man would argue in such a useless way.
The things that you say do not mean anything.
4 You show that you do not respect God.
You turn other people away from him.
5 It is your sin that causes you to speak like that.
You try to say clever things that will deceive people.
6 I do not need to show that you are guilty.
Your own words show that you are wrong.
7 You were not the first human to be born.
You were not alive when God made the hills.
8 You do not know God's secret plans.
You are not the only wise person in the world.
9 You do not know any more than we know.
We understand as much as you do.
10 The old men agree with us.
They are older and wiser even than your father.
11 You think that God's kind words are not important.
But they should be enough for you.
12 You have allowed your thoughts to confuse you.
We can see in your eyes that you are very angry.
13 Why are you so angry against God?
You should not say such wicked things.
14 No one who is human can be truly pure and righteous.
15 God does not even trust his own angels.
He knows that they make mistakes.
16 So he certainly will not trust people.
People are wicked and cannot think true thoughts.
They like to do evil things,
as if they are drinking water!

17 So listen to me. I will explain something to you.
I will tell you what I have seen.
18 These are things that wise men have taught me.
They did not hide the truth.
They learned these things from their ancestors.
19 They were the people who received the land.
No foreigners were there to deceive them.
20 They knew this:
A wicked person will have trouble all his life.
Anyone who is cruel will suffer every year that he lives.
21 He will hear things that frighten him.
He may think that he is safe,
but robbers will attack him.
22 He is afraid to go out in the dark.
He thinks that someone may kill him.
23 The wicked person walks about to look for food.
He says, “Where is it?”
He knows that he cannot escape from trouble.
24 He is afraid and confused.
Trouble is ready to attack him,
like a king with his army.
25 That happens to the person who turns against God.
He thinks that he is greater than Almighty God.
26 He is proud enough to attack God.
He holds a big shield as he runs to attack God!
27 He eats too much
and his whole body is very fat. [ b ]
28 He lives in a town that is empty.
No one else lives in the houses there.
The buildings will soon fall down
and they will become heaps of stones.
29 He will not be rich.
He will lose his valuable things.
Everything that he has will disappear.
30 When it becomes dark,
he will not be able to escape.
He will be like a tree that fire has burned.
God's breath will blow him away!
31 He may trust in useless things to save him.
But he is deceiving himself.
Any help that he receives will also be useless.
32 Before he is old,
his life will end.
Like a tree that makes no leaves,
he will have no success in life.
33 He will be like a vine that loses its grapes.
They fall off before they are ready to eat.
He will be like an olive tree that loses its flowers,
so that no olives grow on it.
34 People who turn away from God are like that.
They have no family to live after them.
If they use the money from bribes to build their homes,
fire will destroy those homes.
35 They make plans to cause trouble,
so that evil things happen.
Lies are what come out from inside them.’

Footnotes

  1. 15:1 Eliphaz tells Job what will happen to bad people. He thinks that Job must be a bad person. That is why God is punishing him.
  2. 15:27 Because the wicked man eats so much, he is too fat to fight.

Eliphaz Answers Job

15 Then Eliphaz from Teman answered Job:

2 “If you were really wise,
you would not answer with your worthless personal opinions!
A wise man would not be so full of hot air.
3 Do you think a wise man would use empty words
and meaningless speeches to win his arguments?
4 If you had your way,
no one would respect God and pray to him.
5 What you say clearly shows your sin.
Job, you are trying to hide your sin by using clever words.
6 I don’t need to prove to you that you are wrong.
The words from your own mouth show that you are wrong.
Your own lips speak against you.

7 “Do you think you were the first person ever to be born?
Were you born before the hills?
8 Did you listen to God’s secret plans?
Do you think you are the only wise person?
9 We know as much as you do!
We understand as well as you.
10 The old, gray-haired men agree with us.
People older than your father are on our side.
11 God tries to comfort you, but that is not enough for you.
We have spoken his message to you in a gentle way.
12 Why will you not understand?
Why can you not see the truth?
13 You are expressing your anger against God
when you say these things.

14 “People cannot really be pure.
They [ a ] cannot be more right than God!
15 God does not even trust his angels. [ b ]
He does not even think the sky is pure.
16 People are even worse.
They are disgusting and dirty.
They drink up evil like water.

17 “Listen to me, and I will explain it to you.
Let me tell you what I have seen.
18 I will tell you what wise men would say,
things they heard from their fathers and then freely passed on.
They didn’t hide any secrets from me.
19 These are important people in our country!
Everyone knows who they are.
20 And they said that an evil man suffers all his life.
A cruel man suffers all his numbered years.
21 Every noise scares him.
His enemy will attack him when he thinks he is safe.
22 An evil man has no hope of escaping the darkness.
There is a sword somewhere waiting to kill him.
23 He wanders from place to place, looking for food.
But he knows a dark day is coming, which he brought on himself.
24 He lives in fear, with worry and suffering threatening him
like a king ready to attack.
25 That is because that evil man shook his fist at God, refusing to obey.
He dared to attack God All-Powerful,
26 like a soldier with a thick, strong shield
who runs at his enemy to strike him in the neck.
27 He might be rich and fat,
28 but his town will be ruined;
his home will be destroyed;
his house will be empty.
29 He will not be rich for long.
His wealth will not last.
His crops will not grow large.
30 He will not escape the darkness.
He will be like a tree whose leaves die from disease
and are blown away by the wind.
31 That evil man should not fool himself by trusting in worthless things,
because he will keep nothing.
32 He will die before his time,
like a tree whose top branches have already begun to die.
33 He will be like a vine that loses its grapes before they ripen.
He will be like an olive tree that loses its buds.
34 That is because people without God have nothing.
Those who take bribes will have their homes destroyed by fire.
35 They are always thinking of ways to do evil and cause trouble.
They are always planning how they might cheat others.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 15:14 They Literally, “a man born of woman.”
  2. Job 15:15 angels Literally, “holy ones.”

15 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.

5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?

8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?

9 What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?

10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?

12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,

13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?

14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?

17 I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;

18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:

19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.

26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:

27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.

31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.

32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

Eliphaz Says Job Presumes Much

15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,
( A ) And fill [ a ] himself with the east wind?
3 Should he argue with useless talk,
Or with words which do not benefit?
4 Indeed, you do away with [ b ] reverence,
And hinder meditation before God.
5 For ( B ) your wrongdoing teaches your mouth,
And you choose the language of ( C ) the cunning.
6 Your ( D ) own mouth condemns you, and not I;
And your own lips testify against you.

7 “Were you the first person to be born,
Or ( E ) were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you hear the ( F ) secret discussion of God,
And limit wisdom to yourself?
9 ( G ) What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that [ c ] we do not?
10 Both the ( H ) gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Older than your father.
11 Are ( I ) the consolations of God too little for you,
Or the ( J ) word spoken gently to you?
12 Why does your ( K ) heart take you away?
And why do your eyes wink,
13 That you can turn your spirit against God
And produce such words from your mouth?
14 What is man, that ( L ) he would be pure,
Or ( M ) he who is born of a woman, that he would be righteous?
15 Behold, He has no trust in His ( N ) holy ones,
And the ( O ) heavens are not pure in His sight;
16 How much less one who is ( P ) detestable and corrupt:
A person who ( Q ) drinks [ d ] malice like water!

What Eliphaz Has Seen of Life

17 “I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;
18 What wise people have told,
And have not concealed from ( R ) their fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked person writhes ( S ) in pain all his days,
And the [ e ] years ( T ) reserved for the ruthless are numbered.
21 [ f ] Sounds of ( U ) terror are in his ears;
( V ) While he is at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will ( W ) return from darkness,
And he is destined for ( X ) the sword.
23 He wanders about for food, saying , ‘Where is it ?’
He knows that a day of ( Y ) darkness is [ g ] at hand.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him,
They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,
25 Because he has reached out with his hand against God,
And is ( Z ) arrogant toward [ h ] the Almighty.
26 He rushes [ i ] headlong at Him
With his [ j ] massive shield.
27 For he has ( AA ) covered his face with his fat,
And [ k ] put fat on his waist.
28 He has ( AB ) lived in desolate cities,
In houses no one would inhabit,
Which are destined to become [ l ] ruins.
29 He ( AC ) will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his property will not stretch out on the earth.
30 He will ( AD ) not [ m ] escape from darkness;
The ( AE ) flame will dry up his shoot,
And he will go away by ( AF ) the breath of His mouth.
31 Let him not ( AG ) trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
For his [ n ] reward will be emptiness.
32 It will be accomplished ( AH ) before his time,
And his palm ( AI ) branch will not be green.
33 He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine,
And will ( AJ ) cast off his flower like the olive tree.
34 For the company of ( AK ) the godless is barren,
And fire consumes ( AL ) the tents of [ o ] the corrupt.
35 They ( AM ) conceive [ p ] harm and give birth to wrongdoing,
And their [ q ] mind prepares deception.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 15:2 Lit his belly
  2. Job 15:4 Lit fear
  3. Job 15:9 Lit is not within us ?
  4. Job 15:16 Or injustice
  5. Job 15:20 Lit number of years are reserved for
  6. Job 15:21 Lit A sound of terrors is
  7. Job 15:23 Lit ready at his hand
  8. Job 15:25 Heb Shaddai
  9. Job 15:26 Lit with a stiff neck
  10. Job 15:26 Lit thick-bossed shields
  11. Job 15:27 Lit made
  12. Job 15:28 Or heaps
  13. Job 15:30 Lit turn aside
  14. Job 15:31 Lit exchange
  15. Job 15:34 Lit a bribe
  16. Job 15:35 Or pain
  17. Job 15:35 Lit belly

Eliphaz

15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite ( A ) replied:

2 “Would a wise person answer with empty notions
or fill their belly with the hot east wind? ( B )
3 Would they argue with useless words,
with speeches that have no value? ( C )
4 But you even undermine piety
and hinder devotion to God. ( D )
5 Your sin ( E ) prompts your mouth; ( F )
you adopt the tongue of the crafty. ( G )
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
your own lips testify against you. ( H )

7 “Are you the first man ever born? ( I )
Were you brought forth before the hills? ( J )
8 Do you listen in on God’s council? ( K )
Do you have a monopoly on wisdom? ( L )
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What insights do you have that we do not have? ( M )
10 The gray-haired and the aged ( N ) are on our side,
men even older than your father. ( O )
11 Are God’s consolations ( P ) not enough for you,
words ( Q ) spoken gently to you? ( R )
12 Why has your heart ( S ) carried you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
13 so that you vent your rage ( T ) against God
and pour out such words ( U ) from your mouth? ( V )

14 “What are mortals, that they could be pure,
or those born of woman, ( W ) that they could be righteous? ( X )
15 If God places no trust in his holy ones, ( Y )
if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes, ( Z )
16 how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt, ( AA )
who drink up evil ( AB ) like water! ( AC )

17 “Listen to me and I will explain to you;
let me tell you what I have seen, ( AD )
18 what the wise have declared,
hiding nothing received from their ancestors ( AE )
19 (to whom alone the land ( AF ) was given
when no foreigners moved among them):
20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment, ( AG )
the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him. ( AH )
21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears; ( AI )
when all seems well, marauders attack him. ( AJ )
22 He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness; ( AK )
he is marked for the sword. ( AL )
23 He wanders about ( AM ) for food like a vulture; ( AN )
he knows the day of darkness ( AO ) is at hand. ( AP )
24 Distress and anguish ( AQ ) fill him with terror; ( AR )
troubles overwhelm him, like a king ( AS ) poised to attack,
25 because he shakes his fist ( AT ) at God
and vaunts himself against the Almighty, ( AU )
26 defiantly charging against him
with a thick, strong shield. ( AV )

27 “Though his face is covered with fat
and his waist bulges with flesh, ( AW )
28 he will inhabit ruined towns
and houses where no one lives, ( AX )
houses crumbling to rubble. ( AY )
29 He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure, ( AZ )
nor will his possessions spread over the land. ( BA )
30 He will not escape the darkness; ( BB )
a flame ( BC ) will wither his shoots, ( BD )
and the breath of God’s mouth ( BE ) will carry him away. ( BF )
31 Let him not deceive ( BG ) himself by trusting what is worthless, ( BH )
for he will get nothing in return. ( BI )
32 Before his time ( BJ ) he will wither, ( BK )
and his branches will not flourish. ( BL )
33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, ( BM )
like an olive tree shedding its blossoms. ( BN )
34 For the company of the godless ( BO ) will be barren,
and fire will consume ( BP ) the tents of those who love bribes. ( BQ )
35 They conceive trouble ( BR ) and give birth to evil; ( BS )
their womb fashions deceit.”

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