Eliphaz Speaks Again
15 Then Eliphaz from Teman responded:
2 “Should a wise person respond with knowledge based on wind?
Should he fill his stomach with a wind storm from the east?
3 Should he engage in unprofitable argument,
or give a speech that benefits no one?
4 Yet you dispense with fear of God
and hinder meditations before God.
5 Because your sin dictates your speech,[a]
you have chosen the language[b] of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth is condemning you, not I;
your own lips will testify against you.”
Eliphaz Claims that Job is Guilty
7 “Were you the first person[c]to be born?
Were you brought forth before the hills were made?
8 Have you listened in on God’s secret council?
Have you limited wisdom only to yourself?
9 What do you know that we don’t know,
or that you understand and that isn’t clear to us?
10 “We have both the gray-haired and the aged with us,
and they are far older[d] than your father.
11 Are God’s encouragements inconsequential to you,
even a word that has been spoken[e] gently to you?
12 Why have your emotions[f] carried you away?
And why do your eyes flash
13 that you turn your anger[g] against God
and speak words like this?
14 “What is mankind, that he can be blameless?
Or does being born of a woman mean he’ll be in the right?
15 Look, if God[h] doesn’t trust his holy ones,[i]
if even the heavens aren’t pure as he looks at them,
16 then how much less is one who is abhorred and corrupted,
such as a man who drinks injustice like water?”
Eliphaz Describes the Plight of the Wicked
17 “I’ll tell you what, listen to me!
Let me relate what I’ve seen,
18 which is what wise men have explained,
who didn’t withhold anything from their ancestors.
19 To them alone was the land given,
when no invader[j] passed through their midst.
20 “The wicked person writhes in pain throughout his life,
a number of years has been reserved for the ruthless.
21 Terrifying sounds ring[k] in his ears;
when times are prosperous, the Destroyer will attack[l] him.
22 He does not believe he will escape[m] darkness;
he is destined for the sword.
23 He wanders around for food—where is it?
He knows that a time of darkness is near.[n]
24 Distress and pressure terrify him;
they overwhelm him, like a king poised for attack.
25 “For he has raised his fist against God,
defying the Almighty.
26 He defiantly ran against him
carrying his thick, reinforced shield.
27 Though he covered his face with fat,
and is grossly overweight at the waist,
28 He will live in devastated towns,
in abandoned houses
that are about to become heaps of rubble.
29 “He won’t become rich and his wealth won’t last;
he won’t expand his holdings to cover the land.
30 He won’t escape darkness;
a flame will wither his shoots;
and he’ll depart by the breath of God’s[o] mouth.
31 Let him not trust in a worthless speech.
He leads only himself astray,
for emptiness will be his reward.
32 This will be accomplished before his time;[p]
his branches won’t grow luxuriant.
33 “He is like a vine that drops its unripe grapes;
like an olive tree that loses its blossoms.
34 For the company of the godless is desolation,
and fire consumes the tents of those who[q] bribe.
35 For they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity;
their womb is pregnant[r] with deception.”
Footnotes
- Job 15:5 Lit. mouth
- Job 15:5 Lit. tongue
- Job 15:7 Lit. man
- Job 15:10 Lit. are older by many days
- Job 15:11 The Heb. lacks spoken
- Job 15:12 Lit. heart
- Job 15:13 Lit. spirit
- Job 15:15 Lit. he
- Job 15:15 Cf. Job 4:18
- Job 15:19 Or foreigner
- Job 15:21 The Heb. lacks ring
- Job 15:21 Or come upon him
- Job 15:22 Or turn aside
- Job 15:23 Lit. is at hand
- Job 15:30 Lit. his
- Job 15:32 Lit. day
- Job 15:34 The Heb. lacks those who
- Job 15:35 Lit. womb fashions; i.e., as a womb fashions a child