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.”
Job 15
Common English Bible
Job’s intelligence questioned
15 Eliphaz answered:
2 Will the wise respond with windy knowledge
and fill their belly with the east wind?
3 Will they argue with a word that has no benefit
and with unprofitable words?
4 You are truly making religion ineffective
and restraining meditation before God.
5 Your mouth multiplies your sins a thousand times;
you opt for a clever tongue.
6 Your mouth condemns you, not I;
your lips argue against you.
7 Were you born the first Adam,
brought forth before the hills?
8 Did you listen in God’s council;
is wisdom limited to you?
9 What do you know that we don’t know;
what do you understand that isn’t among us?
10 Both the graybeard and the aged are with us;
those much older than your father.
11 Are God’s comforts not enough for you,
a word spoken gently with you?
12 Why has your mind seized you,
why have your eyes flashed,
13 so that you return your breath to God
and utter such words from your mouth?
14 What are humans that they might be pure,
and those born of woman that they might be innocent?
15 If he doesn’t trust his holy ones
and the heavens aren’t pure in his eyes,
16 how much less those who are abominable and corrupt,
for they drink sin like water.
The wicked’s downfall
17 Listen to me; I will argue with you;
what I’ve seen, I will declare to you;
18 what the wise have told and have not concealed from their family,
19 to whom alone the earth was given
and no stranger passed in their midst.
20 All the days of the wicked are painful;
the number of years reserved for the hateful;
21 a sound of terror pierces[a] their ears;
when safe, raiders overtake them.
22 They can’t count on turning away from darkness;
they are destined for a sword.
23 They wander about for bread. “Where is it?”
They know that their day of darkness is fixed.
24 Adversity and stress scare them,
master them like a king ready to strike;
25 for they raise a fist against God
and try to overpower the Almighty.
26 They run toward him aggressively,
with a massive and strong shield.
27 They cover their face with grease
and make their loins gross.
28 They lived in ruined cities,
unoccupied houses that turn to rubble.
29 They won’t get rich; their wealth won’t last;
their property won’t extend over the earth.
30 They can’t turn away from darkness;
a flame will dry out their shoots,
and they will be taken away by the wind from his mouth.
31 They shouldn’t trust in what has no worth,
for their reward will be worthless.
32 Before their branch is formed,
before it is green,
33 like the vine, they will drop early grapes
and cast off their blossoms like the olive.
34 The ruthless gang is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of bribers.
35 They conceive toil and give birth to sorrow;
their belly establishes deceit.
Footnotes
- Job 15:21 Heb lacks pierces.
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.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible