Job 15

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

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

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

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

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

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