Job 15 (New American Standard Bible)

Job 15

Eliphaz Says Job Presumes Much

 ¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,
    ²"Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge
         ^(A)And fill himself with the east wind?
    ³"Should he argue with useless talk,
         Or with words which are not profitable?
    ⁴"Indeed, you do away with reverence
         And hinder meditation before God.
    ⁵"For ^(B)your guilt teaches your mouth,
         And you choose the language of ^(C)the crafty.
    ⁶"Your ^(D)own mouth condemns you, and not I;
         And your own lips testify against you.
    ⁷"Were you the first man to be born,
         Or ^(E)were you brought forth before the hills?
    ⁸"Do you hear the ^(F)secret counsel of God,
         And limit wisdom to yourself?
    ⁹"^(G)What do you know that we do not know?
         What do you understand that 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 small for you,
         Even the ^(J)word spoken gently with you?
    ¹²"Why does your ^(K)heart carry you away?
         And why do your eyes flash,
    ¹³That you should turn your spirit against God
         And allow such words to go out of your mouth?
    ¹⁴"What is man, that ^(L)he should be pure,
         Or ^(M)he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
    ¹⁵"Behold, He puts no trust in His ^(N)holy ones,
         And the ^(O)heavens are not pure in His sight;
    ¹⁶How much less one who is ^(P)detestable and corrupt,
         Man, who ^(Q)drinks iniquity 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;
    ¹⁸What wise men have told,
         And have not concealed from ^(R)their fathers,
    ¹⁹To whom alone the land was given,
         And no alien passed among them.
    ²⁰"The wicked man writhes ^(S)in pain all his days,
         And numbered are the years ^(T)stored up for the ruthless.
    ²¹"Sounds of ^(U)terror are in his ears;
         ^(V)While 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 at hand.
    ²⁴"Distress and anguish terrify him,
         They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,
    ²⁵Because he has stretched out his hand against God
         And conducts himself ^(Z)arrogantly against the Almighty.
    ²⁶"He rushes headlong at Him
         With his massive shield.
    ²⁷"For he has ^(AA)covered his face with his fat
         And made his thighs heavy with flesh.
    ²⁸"He has ^(AB)lived in desolate cities,
         In houses no one would inhabit,
         Which are destined to become ruins.
    ²⁹"He ^(AC)will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
         And his grain will not bend down to the ground.
    ³⁰"He will ^(AD)not escape from darkness;
         The ^(AE)flame will wither his shoots,
         And by ^(AF)the breath of His mouth he will go away.
    ³¹"Let him not ^(AG)trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
         For emptiness will be his reward.
    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 the corrupt.
    ³⁵"They ^(AM)conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity,
         And their mind prepares deception."