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Job 15

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2“Should a wise man answer with vain knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind?
2“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
3Should he reason with unprofitable talk, or with speeches with which he can do no good?
3Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?
4Yes, you do away with fear, and hinder devotion before God.
4But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.
5For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
5For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
6Your own mouth condemns you, and not I. Yes, your own lips testify against you.
6Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.
7“Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought out before the hills?
7Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
8Have you heard the secret counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
8Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?
9What do you know that we don’t know? What do you understand which is not in us?
9What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
10With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men, much older than your father.
10Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side—men much older than your father.
11Are the consolations of God too small for you, even the word that is gentle toward you?
11Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?
12Why does your heart carry you away? Why do your eyes flash,
12Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,
13that you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go out of your mouth?
13so that you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?
14What is man, that he should be clean? What is he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
14What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
15Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones. Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight;
15If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
16how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water!
16how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
17“I will show you, listen to me; that which I have seen I will declare
17Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,
18(which wise men have told by their fathers, and have not hidden it;
18what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,
19to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them):
19to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.
20the wicked man writhes in pain all his days, even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.
20A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
21A sound of terrors is in his ears. In prosperity the destroyer will come on him.
21Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
22He doesn’t believe that he will return out of darkness. He is waited for by the sword.
22He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.
23He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
23He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
24Distress and anguish make him afraid. They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
24Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
25Because he has stretched out his hand against God, and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty,
25For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,
26he runs at him with a stiff neck, with the thick shields of his bucklers,
26rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.
27because he has covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat on his thighs.
27Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
28He has lived in desolate cities, in houses which no one inhabited, which were ready to become heaps.
28he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.
29He will not be rich, neither will his substance continue, neither will their possessions be extended on the earth.
29He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.
30He will not depart out of darkness. The flame will dry up his branches. He will go away by the breath of God’s mouth.
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 trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his reward.
31Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
32It will be accomplished before his time. His branch will not be green.
32It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.
33He will shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and will cast off his flower as the olive tree.
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.
34For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35They conceive mischief and produce iniquity. Their heart prepares deceit.”
35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”