Hiob 15
Hoffnung für Alle
Elifas: Du zerstörst die Ehrfurcht vor Gott!
15 Da antwortete Elifas aus Teman:
2 »Und du willst ein weiser Mann sein, Hiob?
Leere Worte! Du machst nichts als leere Worte![a]
3 Kein Weiser würde so reden wie du!
Wie du dich wehrst und zurückschlägst!
Das ist doch völlig nutzlos!
Was du sagst, hat keinen Wert!
4 Wenn du so weitermachst,
wird niemand mehr Ehrfurcht vor Gott haben,
niemand wird sich noch auf ihn besinnen.
5 Hinter vielen Worten willst du deine Schuld verstecken,
listig lenkst du von ihr ab!
6 Ich muss dich gar nicht schuldig sprechen –
du selbst tust es;
jedes deiner Worte klagt dich an.
7 Bist du als erster Mensch geboren worden,
noch ehe Gott die Berge schuf?
8 Hast du etwa Gottes geheime Beratungen belauscht und kennst seine Pläne?
Du meinst wohl, du hast die Weisheit gepachtet!
9 Was weißt du denn, das wir nicht auch schon wüssten;
was du begriffen hast, begreifen wir schon längst!
10 Hinter uns stehen alte, weise Männer,
die älter wurden als dein Vater.
11 Hiob, Gott will dich trösten!
Ist dir das gar nichts wert?
Durch uns redet er dich freundlich an.
12 Was erlaubst du dir!
Du lässt dich vom Ärger mitreißen,
aus deinen Augen sprüht der Zorn;
13 so ziehst du gegen Gott zu Felde
und klagst ihn erbittert an!
14 Welcher Mensch ist wirklich schuldlos,
wer kann vor Gott bestehen?
15 Selbst seinen Engeln vertraut Gott nicht,
in seinen Augen ist sogar der Himmel unvollkommen.
16 Wie viel mehr die Menschen:
Abscheulich und verdorben sind sie,
am Unrecht trinken sie sich satt,
als wäre es Wasser!
17 Hör mir zu, Hiob!
Ich will dir etwas erklären, was ich aus eigener Erfahrung weiß,
18 es stimmt auch mit den Worten der alten, weisen Männer überein.
Sie wiederum haben es von ihren Vätern gelernt,
19 denen damals das Land ganz allein gehörte,
von jedem fremden Einfluss unberührt[b].
20 Sie sagten: Der Gewalttäter zittert vor Angst,
er, der von Gott nichts wissen wollte,
hat nicht mehr lange zu leben.
21 Schreckensrufe gellen ihm in den Ohren,
mitten im Frieden wird ihn der Attentäter überfallen.
22 Er glaubt nicht mehr,
dass er der Finsternis entkommen wird.
Das Schwert des Mörders wartet schon auf ihn.
23 Auf der Suche nach Nahrung irrt er umher,
aber findet nichts.
Er weiß, dass bald sein letztes Stündlein schlägt.
24 Ihn packt das Grauen,
Verzweiflung überfällt ihn wie ein König,
der zum Angriff bläst.
25 Denn er hat Gott mit der Faust gedroht
und wagte es, den Allmächtigen zu bekämpfen.
26 Starrköpfig, wie er war,
rannte er gegen Gott an
mit seinem runden, dicken Schild.
27 Ja, er fühlte sich stark,
wurde selbstsicher und überheblich,[c]
28 aber er wird an verwüsteten Orten hausen,
in halb zerfallenen Häusern,
in denen es keiner mehr aushält,
die bald nur noch Ruinen sind.
29 Dieser Mensch wird seinen Reichtum nicht behalten,
und sein Besitz ist nur von kurzer Dauer.
30 Der Finsternis wird er nicht entrinnen;
er ist wie ein Baum,
dessen Zweige das Feuer versengt.
Gott spricht nur ein Wort,
und schon ist er nicht mehr da.
31 Wenn er auf Werte vertraut,
die nicht tragen,
betrügt er sich selbst,
nur Enttäuschung wird sein Lohn sein.
32 Früher, als er denkt,
wird Gottes Vergeltung ihn treffen.
Dann verwelkt er und wird nie wieder grünen.
33 Er gleicht einem Weinstock,
der die Trauben verliert,
und einem Ölbaum,
der seine Blüten abwirft.
34 So geht es allen, die Gott missachten:
Über kurz oder lang sterben sie aus.
Mit Bestechungsgeldern bauen sie ihr Haus,
aber ein Feuer wird alles verwüsten.
35 Sie tragen sich mit bösen Plänen,
Gemeinheiten brüten sie aus
und setzen Unheil in die Welt.«
Job 15
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 King James Version
Eliphaz Accuses Job of Folly
15 Then (A)Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 “Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge,
And fill [a]himself with the east wind?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk,
Or by speeches with which he can do no good?
4 Yes, you cast off fear,
And restrain [b]prayer before God.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
And you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 (B)Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
Yes, your own lips testify against you.
7 “Are you the first man who was born?
(C)Or were you made before the hills?
8 (D)Have you heard the counsel of God?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 (E)What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not in us?
10 (F)Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Much older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God too small for you,
And the word spoken [c]gently with you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away,
And [d]what do your eyes wink at,
13 That you turn your spirit against God,
And let such words go out of your mouth?
14 “What(G) is man, that he could be pure?
And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?
15 (H)If God puts no trust in His saints,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight,
16 (I)How much less man, who is abominable and filthy,
(J)Who drinks iniquity like water!
17 “I will tell you, hear me;
What I have seen I will declare,
18 What wise men have told,
Not hiding anything received (K)from their fathers,
19 To whom alone the [e]land was given,
And (L)no alien passed among them:
20 The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
(M)And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.
21 [f]Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
(N)In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will (O)return from darkness,
For a sword is waiting for him.
23 He (P)wanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows (Q)that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Trouble and anguish make him afraid;
They overpower him, like a king ready for [g]battle.
25 For he stretches out his hand against God,
And acts defiantly against the Almighty,
26 Running stubbornly against Him
With his strong, embossed shield.
27 “Though(R) he has covered his face with his fatness,
And made his waist heavy with fat,
28 He dwells in desolate cities,
In houses which no one inhabits,
Which are destined to become ruins.
29 He will not be rich,
Nor will his wealth (S)continue,
Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.
30 He will not depart from darkness;
The flame will dry out his branches,
And (T)by the breath of His mouth he will go away.
31 Let him not (U)trust in futile things, deceiving himself,
For futility will be his reward.
32 It will be accomplished (V)before his time,
And his branch will not be green.
33 He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine,
And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.
34 For the company of hypocrites will be barren,
And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35 (W)They conceive trouble and bring forth futility;
Their womb prepares deceit.”
Job 15
English Standard Version
Eliphaz Accuses: Job Does Not Fear God
15 Then (A)Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 “Should (B)a wise man answer with (C)windy knowledge,
and fill his (D)belly with (E)the east wind?
3 Should he argue in unprofitable talk,
or in words with which he can do no good?
4 But you are doing away with the fear of God[a]
and hindering meditation before God.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your (F)own mouth condemns you, and not I;
(G)your own lips testify against you.
7 (H)“Are you the first man who was born?
Or (I)were you brought forth (J)before the hills?
8 Have you listened in (K)the council of God?
And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 (L)What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?
10 (M)Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
older than your father.
11 Are the comforts of God too small for you,
or the word that deals gently with you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
13 that you turn your (N)spirit against God
and bring such words out of your mouth?
14 (O)What is man, (P)that he can be pure?
Or he who is (Q)born of a woman, that he can be righteous?
15 Behold, God[b] (R)puts no trust in his (S)holy ones,
and the heavens are not pure in his sight;
16 (T)how much less one who is abominable and (U)corrupt,
a man who (V)drinks injustice like water!
17 “I will show you; hear me,
and what I have seen I will declare
18 (what wise men have told,
without hiding it (W)from their fathers,
19 to whom alone the land was given,
and no (X)stranger passed among them).
20 The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,
through all the (Y)years that are laid up for (Z)the ruthless.
21 (AA)Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
in (AB)prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,
and he is marked for the sword.
23 He (AC)wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;
24 distress and anguish terrify him;
they (AD)prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God
and defies the Almighty,
26 (AE)running (AF)stubbornly against him
with a thickly bossed shield;
27 because he has (AG)covered his face with his fat
and gathered fat upon his waist
28 and has lived in desolate cities,
in houses that none should inhabit,
which were ready to become heaps of ruins;
29 he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions spread over the earth;[c]
30 he will not depart from darkness;
the flame will dry up his shoots,
and by (AH)the breath of his mouth he will depart.
31 Let him not (AI)trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,
for emptiness will be his payment.
32 It will be paid in full (AJ)before his time,
and his branch will not be green.
33 He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,
and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.
34 For (AK)the company of the godless is barren,
and (AL)fire consumes the tents of bribery.
35 They (AM)conceive trouble and give birth to evil,
and their (AN)womb prepares deceit.”
Job 15
1599 Geneva Bible
15 1 Eliphaz reprehendeth Job, because he ascribeth wisdom and pureness to himself. 16 He describeth the curse that falleth on the wicked, reckoning Job to be one of the number.
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
2 Shall a wise man speak words of the [a]wind? and fill his belly [b]with the East wind?
3 Shall he dispute with words not comely? or with talk that is not profitable?
4 Surely thou hast cast off [c]fear, and restrainest prayer before God:
5 For thy mouth declareth thine iniquity, seeing thou hast chosen the [d]tongue of the crafty.
6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I, and thy lips testify against thee.
7 Art thou the [e]first man that was born? and wast thou made before the hills?
8 Hast thou heard the secret counsel of God, and dost thou restrain wisdom [f]to thee?
9 What knowest thou that we know not? and understandest that is not in us?
10 With us are both ancient and very aged men, far older than thy father.
11 Seem the consolations of God [g]small unto thee? is this thing strange unto thee?
12 Why doth thine heart [h]take thee away, and what do thine eyes mean,
13 That thou answerest to God [i]at thy pleasure, and bringest such words out of thy mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he that is born of woman, that he should [j]be just?
15 Behold, he found no steadfastness in his Saints: yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
16 How much more is man abominable, and filthy, which [k]drinketh iniquity like water?
17 I will tell thee: hear me, and I will declare that which I have seen:
18 Which wise men have told, as they have heard of their fathers, and have not kept it secret:
19 To whom alone the land was [l]given, and no stranger passed through them.
20 The wicked man is continually as one that travaileth of child, and the number [m]of years is hid from the tyrant.
21 A sound of fear is in his ears, and in his prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
22 He believeth not to return out of [n]darkness: for he seeth the sword before him.
23 He wandereth [o]to and fro for bread where he may: he knoweth that the day of darkness is prepared at hand.
24 Affliction and [p]anguish shall make him afraid: they shall prevail against him as a king ready to the battle.
25 For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and made himself strong against the Almighty.
26 Therefore God shall run upon him, even upon his neck, and against the most thick part of his shield.
27 Because he hath covered his face with [q]his fatness, and hath collops in his flank.
28 Though he dwell [r]in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, but are become heaps,
29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the [s]perfection thereof in the earth.
30 He shall never depart out of darkness: the flame shall dry up his branches, and he shall go away with the breath of his mouth.
31 He [t]believeth not that he erreth in vanity: therefore vanity shall be his change.
32 His branch shall not be green, but shall be cut off before his day.
33 God shall destroy him as the vine her sour [u]grape, and shall cast him off, as the olive doth her flower.
34 For the congregation of the hypocrite shall be desolate, and fire shall devour the houses of [v]bribes.
35 For they [w]conceive mischief and bring forth vanity, and their belly hath prepared deceit.
Footnotes
- Job 15:2 That is, vain words, and without consolation?
- Job 15:2 Meaning, with matters that are of none importance, which are forgotten as soon as they are uttered, as the East wind drieth up the moisture as soon as it falleth.
- Job 15:4 He chargeth Job as though his talk caused men to cast off the fear of God, and prayer.
- Job 15:5 Thou speakest as do the mockers and contemners of God.
- Job 15:7 That is, the most ancient, and so by reason the most wise?
- Job 15:8 Art thou only wise?
- Job 15:11 He accuseth Job’s pride and ingratitude, that will not be comforted by God, nor by their counsel.
- Job 15:12 Why dost thou stand in thine own conceit?
- Job 15:13 Hebrew, in thy spirit.
- Job 15:14 His purpose is to prove that Job as an unjust man, and an hypocrite is punished for his sins, like as he did before, Job 4:8.
- Job 15:16 Which hath a desire to sin, as he that is thirsty to drink.
- Job 15:19 Who by their wisdom so governed, that no stranger invaded them, and so the land seemed to be given to them alone.
- Job 15:20 The cruel man is ever in danger of death, and is never quiet in conscience.
- Job 15:22 Out of that misery whereunto he once falleth.
- Job 15:23 God doth not only impoverish the wicked oft times, but even in their prosperity he punisheth them with a greediness evermore to gather: which is as a beggary.
- Job 15:24 He showeth what weapons God useth against the wicked, which lift up themselves against him, to wit, terror of conscience, and outward afflictions.
- Job 15:27 That is, he was so puffed up with great prosperity and abundance of all things, that he forgat God: noting, that Job in his felicity had not the true fear of God.
- Job 15:28 Though he build and repair ruinous places to get him fame, yet God shall bring all to naught, and turn his great prosperity into extreme misery.
- Job 15:29 Meaning, that his sumptuous buildings should never come to perfection.
- Job 15:31 He standeth so in his own conceit, that he will give no place to good counsel, therefore his own pride shall bring him to destruction.
- Job 15:33 As one that gathereth grapes before they be ripe.
- Job 15:34 Which were built or maintained by powling and bribery.
- Job 15:35 And therefore all their vain devises shall turn to their own destruction.
Hoffnung für Alle® (Hope for All) Copyright © 1983, 1996, 2002 by Biblica, Inc.®
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
