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
- Job 15:2 Lit his belly
- Job 15:4 Lit fear
- Job 15:9 Lit is not within us?
- Job 15:16 Or injustice
- Job 15:20 Lit number of years are reserved for
- Job 15:21 Lit A sound of terrors is
- Job 15:23 Lit ready at his hand
- Job 15:25 Heb Shaddai
- Job 15:26 Lit with a stiff neck
- Job 15:26 Lit thick-bossed shields
- Job 15:27 Lit made
- Job 15:28 Or heaps
- Job 15:30 Lit turn aside
- Job 15:31 Lit exchange
- Job 15:34 Lit a bribe
- Job 15:35 Or pain
- Job 15:35 Lit belly
Cross references
- Job 15:2 : Job 6:26
- Job 15:5 : Job 22:5
- Job 15:5 : Job 5:12, 13
- Job 15:6 : Job 18:7
- Job 15:7 : Job 38:4, 21; Prov 8:25
- Job 15:8 : Job 29:4; Rom 11:34; 1 Cor 2:11
- Job 15:9 : Job 12:3; 13:2
- Job 15:10 : Job 12:12; 32:6, 7
- Job 15:11 : Job 5:17-19; 36:15, 16
- Job 15:11 : Job 6:10; 23:12
- Job 15:12 : Job 11:13; 36:13
- Job 15:14 : Job 14:4; Prov 20:9; Eccl 7:20
- Job 15:14 : Job 25:4
- Job 15:15 : Job 5:1
- Job 15:15 : Job 25:5
- Job 15:16 : Ps 14:1
- Job 15:16 : Job 34:7; Prov 19:28
- Job 15:18 : Job 8:8; 20:4
- Job 15:20 : Job 15:24
- Job 15:20 : Job 24:1; 27:13
- Job 15:21 : Job 15:24; 18:11; 20:25; 24:17; 27:20
- Job 15:21 : Job 20:21; 1 Thess 5:3
- Job 15:22 : Job 15:30
- Job 15:22 : Job 19:29; 27:14; 33:18; 36:12
- Job 15:23 : Job 15:22, 30
- Job 15:25 : Job 36:9
- Job 15:27 : Ps 73:7; 119:70
- Job 15:28 : Job 3:14; Is 5:8, 9
- Job 15:29 : Job 27:16, 17
- Job 15:30 : Job 5:14; 15:22
- Job 15:30 : Job 15:34; 20:26; 22:20; 31:12
- Job 15:30 : Job 4:9
- Job 15:31 : Job 35:13; Is 59:4
- Job 15:32 : Job 22:16; Eccl 7:17
- Job 15:32 : Job 18:16
- Job 15:33 : Job 14:2
- Job 15:34 : Job 8:13
- Job 15:34 : Job 8:22
- Job 15:35 : Ps 7:14; Is 59:4