Job 15
Authorized (King James) Version
15 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge,
and fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk?
or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
4 Yea, thou castest off fear,
and restrainest prayer before God.
5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity,
and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I:
yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
7 Art thou the first man that was born?
or wast thou made before the hills?
8 Hast thou heard the secret of God?
and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
9 What knowest thou, that we know not?
what understandest thou, which is not in us?
10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men,
much elder than thy father.
11 Are the consolations of God small with thee?
is there any secret thing with thee?
12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away?
and what do thy eyes wink at,
13 that thou turnest thy spirit against God,
and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be clean?
and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints;
yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
16 How much more abominable and filthy is man,
which drinketh iniquity like water?
17 I will shew thee, hear me;
and that which I have seen I will declare;
18 which wise men have told from their fathers,
and have not hid it:
19 unto whom alone the earth was given,
and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days,
and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
21 A dreadful sound is in his ears:
in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness,
and he is waited for of the sword.
23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it?
he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid;
they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God,
and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.
26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck,
upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
27 because he covereth his face with his fatness,
and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities,
and in houses which no man inhabiteth,
which are ready to become heaps.
29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue,
neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
30 He shall not depart out of darkness;
the flame shall dry up his branches,
and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity:
for vanity shall be his recompence.
32 It shall be accomplished before his time,
and his branch shall not be green.
33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine,
and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate,
and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity,
and their belly prepareth deceit.
Job 15
New Living Translation
Eliphaz’s Second Response to Job
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk!
You are nothing but a windbag.
3 The wise don’t engage in empty chatter.
What good are such words?
4 Have you no fear of God,
no reverence for him?
5 Your sins are telling your mouth what to say.
Your words are based on clever deception.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I.
Your own lips testify against you.
7 “Were you the first person ever born?
Were you born before the hills were made?
8 Were you listening at God’s secret council?
Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
9 What do you know that we don’t?
What do you understand that we do not?
10 On our side are aged, gray-haired men
much older than your father!
11 “Is God’s comfort too little for you?
Is his gentle word not enough?
12 What has taken away your reason?
What has weakened your vision,[a]
13 that you turn against God
and say all these evil things?
14 Can any mortal be pure?
Can anyone born of a woman be just?
15 Look, God does not even trust the angels.[b]
Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight.
16 How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person
with a thirst for wickedness!
17 “If you will listen, I will show you.
I will answer you from my own experience.
18 And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men
who have heard the same thing from their fathers—
19 from those to whom the land was given
long before any foreigners arrived.
20 “The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives.
Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.
21 The sound of terror rings in their ears,
and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.
22 They dare not go out into the darkness
for fear they will be murdered.
23 They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’[c]
They know their day of destruction is near.
24 That dark day terrifies them.
They live in distress and anguish,
like a king preparing for battle.
25 For they shake their fists at God,
defying the Almighty.
26 Holding their strong shields,
they defiantly charge against him.
27 “These wicked people are heavy and prosperous;
their waists bulge with fat.
28 But their cities will be ruined.
They will live in abandoned houses
that are ready to tumble down.
29 Their riches will not last,
and their wealth will not endure.
Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.
30 “They will not escape the darkness.
The burning sun will wither their shoots,
and the breath of God will destroy them.
31 Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches,
for emptiness will be their only reward.
32 They will be cut down in the prime of life;
their branches will never again be green.
33 They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early,
like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.
34 For the godless are barren.
Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
Their womb produces deceit.”
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
