Job 15

Eliphaz: Job Does Not Fear God

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel

or fill his belly with the hot east wind?

³Should he argue with useless words

or speeches that serve no purpose?

⁴But you even undermine the fear of God

and hinder meditation before Him.

⁵For your iniquity instructs your mouth,

and you choose the language of the crafty.

⁶Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you;

your own lips testify against you.

⁷Were you the first man ever born?

Were you brought forth before the hills?

⁸Do you listen in on the council of God

or limit wisdom to yourself?

⁹What do you know that we do not?

What do you understand that is not clear to us?

¹⁰Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—

men much older than your father.

¹¹Are the consolations of God not enough for you,

even words spoken gently to you?

¹²Why has your heart carried you away,

and why do your eyes flash,

¹³so that you turn your spirit against God

and pour such words from your mouth?

¹⁴What is man, that he should be pure,

or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

¹⁵If God puts no trust in His holy ones,

if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,

¹⁶how much less man, who is vile and corrupt,

who drinks injustice like water?

¹⁷Listen to me and I will inform you.

I will describe what I have seen,

¹⁸what was declared by wise men

and was not concealed from their fathers,

¹⁹to whom alone the land was given

when no foreigner passed among them.

²⁰A wicked man writhes in pain all his days;

only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.

²¹Sounds of terror fill his ears;

in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.

²²He despairs of his return from darkness;

he is marked for the sword.

²³He wanders about as food for vultures;

he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

²⁴Distress and anguish terrify him,

overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.

²⁵For he has stretched out his hand against God

and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,

²⁶rushing headlong at Him

with a thick, studded shield.

²⁷Though his face is covered with fat

and his waistline bulges with flesh,

²⁸he will dwell in ruined cities,

in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.

²⁹He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.

His possessions will not overspread the land.

³⁰He will not escape from the darkness;

the flame will wither his shoots,

and the breath of God’s mouth

will carry him away.

³¹Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness,

for emptiness will be his reward.

³²It will be paid in full before his time,

and his branch will not flourish.

³³He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,

like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.

³⁴For the company of the godless will be barren,

and fire will consume the tents of bribery.

³⁵They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;

their womb is pregnant with deceit.”