Job 15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Eliphaz Speaks: Job Undermines Religion
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “Should the wise answer with windy knowledge
and fill themselves with the east wind?(A)
3 Should they argue in unprofitable talk
or in words that can do no good?
4 But you are doing away with the fear of God
and hindering meditation before God.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
and you choose the tongue of the crafty.(B)
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I;
your own lips testify against you.(C)
7 “Are you the firstborn of the human race?
Were you brought forth before the hills?(D)
8 Have you listened in the council of God?
And do you limit wisdom to yourself?(E)
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?(F)
10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
those older than your father.(G)
11 Are the consolations of God too small for you
or the word that deals gently with you?(H)
12 Why does your heart carry you away,
and why do your eyes flash,[a]
13 so that you turn your spirit against God,
and let such words go out of your mouth?(I)
14 What are mortals, that they can be clean?
Or those born of woman, that they can be righteous?(J)
15 God puts no trust even in his holy ones,
and the heavens are not clean in his sight;(K)
16 how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,
one who drinks iniquity like water!(L)
17 “I will show you; listen to me;
what I have seen I will declare—
18 what sages have told
and their ancestors have not hidden,(M)
19 to whom alone the land was given,
and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked writhe in pain all their days,
through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.(N)
21 Terrifying sounds are in their ears;
in prosperity the destroyer will come upon them.(O)
22 They despair of returning from darkness,
and they are destined for the sword.(P)
23 They wander abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
They know that a day of darkness is ready at hand;(Q)
24 distress and anguish terrify them;
they prevail against them like a king prepared for battle.
25 Because they stretched out their hands against God
and bid defiance to the Almighty,[b](R)
26 running stubbornly against him
with a thickly bossed shield;
27 because they have covered their faces with their fat
and gathered fat upon their loins,(S)
28 they will live in desolate cities,
in houses that no one should inhabit,
houses destined to become heaps of ruins;
29 they will not be rich, and their wealth will not endure,
nor will they strike root in the earth;[c](T)
30 they will not escape from darkness;
the flame will dry up their shoots,
and their blossom[d] will be swept away by the wind.(U)
31 Let them not trust in emptiness, deceiving themselves,
for emptiness will be their recompense.(V)
32 It will be paid in full before their time,
and their branch will not be green.(W)
33 They will shake off their unripe grape, like the vine,
and cast off their blossoms, like the olive tree.(X)
34 For the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of bribery.(Y)
35 They conceive mischief and bring forth evil,
and their belly prepares deceit.”(Z)
Job 15
Evangelical Heritage Version
Round Two: Eliphaz’s Speech
15 Eliphaz the Temanite responded:
2 Does a wise man answer with windy bluster?
Does he fill his belly with the hot east wind?
3 Does he support his arguments with useless talk,
with words that provide no benefit?
4 But you even tear down reverence.
You hinder thoughtful reflection in the presence of God.
5 Your guilt instructs your mouth.
You choose deceptive language.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine.
Your own lips testify against you.
7 Were you the first man to be born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you listen in on the council meetings of God?
Do you lay claim to all wisdom for yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know as well?
What do you understand that we do not?
10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
men older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God too small for you?
Do you think nothing of the gentle words spoken to you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away?
Why do your eyes flash with such anger?
13 Why do you turn your spirit against God?
Why do you allow such words to pour out of your mouth?
14 What is man, that he could be pure,
or one born of woman, that he could be declared righteous?
15 If God does not trust in his holy ones,
and even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,
16 how much less man who is repulsive and corrupt,
who drinks down injustice like water!
17 Let me instruct you! Listen to me!
This is what I have seen. Let me tell you about it.
18 This is what wise men have declared,
wise men who hid nothing of what they had received from their fathers,
19 to whom alone the land was given,
at a time when no foreigners were present in their midst.
20 Through all his days, a wicked man writhes in pain,
throughout the whole number of years stored up for a tyrant.
21 Terrifying sounds echo in his ears.
In peacetime the plunderer arrives.
22 The wicked man does not believe that he will return from darkness.
He is sentenced to the sword.
23 He wanders around looking for food and asks, “Where is it?”[a]
He knows that a day of darkness is at hand.
24 Pressure and distress terrify him.
They overpower him, like a king ready to attack,
25 because he has stretched out his hand against God,
and he has been arrogant toward the Almighty.
26 He charges at him defiantly[b] with a thick shield.
27 Though now his face is covered with its fat,
and his hips bulge with lard,
28 he will live in ruined cities,
in abandoned houses, reduced to rubble.
29 He will no longer be rich.
His wealth will not last.
His possessions will no longer cover the ground.
30 He will not escape from darkness.
Flames will dry up his shoots.
With a breath from God’s mouth, he will depart.
31 He should not trust in useless things.
He should not fool himself.
His only reward will be useless things.
32 Before his time, he will be paid in full.
His palm branches will not be green.
33 His grapes will be shaken from the vine before they are ripe.
He will be like an olive tree that loses its blossoms.
34 In the end, the community of the godless produces nothing,
and fire consumes the tents of those who take bribes.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to disaster.
Their womb produces treachery.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.