Job 15
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered [Job],
2 Should a wise man utter such windy knowledge [as we have just heard] and fill himself with the east wind [of withering, parching, and violent accusations]?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? Or with speeches with which he can do no good?
4 Indeed, you are doing away with [reverential] fear, and you are hindering and diminishing meditation and devotion before God.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; yes, your own lips testify against you.
7 Are you the first man that was born [the original wise man]? Or were you created before the hills?
8 Were you present to hear the secret counsel of God? And do you limit [the possession of] wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we know not? What do you understand that is not equally clear to us?
10 Among us are both the gray-haired and the aged, older than your father by far.
11 Are God’s consolations [as we have interpreted them to you] too trivial for you? Is there any secret thing (any bosom sin) which you have not given up? [Or] were we too gentle [in our first speech] toward you to be effective?
12 Why does your heart carry you away [why allow yourself to be controlled by feeling]? And why do your eyes flash [in anger or contempt],
13 That you turn your spirit against God and let [such] words [as you have spoken] go out of your mouth?
14 What is man, that he could be pure and clean? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be right and just?
15 Behold, [God] puts no trust in His holy ones [the angels]; indeed, the heavens are not clean in His sight—
16 How much less that which is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water?
17 I will show you, hear me; and that which I have seen I will relate,
18 What wise men have not hid but have freely communicated; it was told to them by their fathers,
19 Unto whom alone the land was given, and no stranger intruded or passed among them [corrupting the truth].
20 The wicked man suffers with [self-inflicted] torment all his days, through all the years that are numbered and laid up for him, the oppressor.
21 A [dreadful] sound of terrors is in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him [the dwellings of robbers are not at peace].
22 He believes that he will not return out of darkness, and [because of his guilt] he is waited for by the sword [of God’s vengeance].
23 He wanders abroad for food, saying, Where is it? He knows that the day of darkness and destruction is already close upon him.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him; [he knows] they shall prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God and bids defiance and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty,
26 Running stubbornly against Him with a thickly ornamented shield;
27 Because he has covered his face with his fat, adding layers of fat on his loins [giving himself up to animal pleasures],
28 And has lived in desolate [God-forsaken] cities and in houses which no man should inhabit, which were destined to become heaps [of ruins];
29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his wealth last, neither shall his produce bend to the earth nor his possessions be extended on the earth.
30 He shall not depart out of darkness [and escape from calamity; the wrath of God] shall consume him as flame consumes a dry tree, and by the blast of His mouth he shall be swept away.
31 Let him not deceive himself and trust in vanity (emptiness, falseness, and futility), for these shall be his recompense [for such living].
32 It shall be accomplished and paid in full while he still lives, and his branch shall not be green [but shall wither away].
33 He shall fail to bring his grapes to maturity [leaving them to wither unnourished] on the vine and shall cast off blossoms [and fail to bring forth fruit] like the olive tree.
34 For the company of the godless shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery (wrong and injustice).
35 They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity, and their inmost soul hatches deceit.
Job 15
Easy-to-Read Version
Eliphaz Answers Job
15 Then Eliphaz from Teman answered Job:
2 “If you were really wise,
you would not answer with your worthless personal opinions!
A wise man would not be so full of hot air.
3 Do you think a wise man would use empty words
and meaningless speeches to win his arguments?
4 If you had your way,
no one would respect God and pray to him.
5 What you say clearly shows your sin.
Job, you are trying to hide your sin by using clever words.
6 I don’t need to prove to you that you are wrong.
The words from your own mouth show that you are wrong.
Your own lips speak against you.
7 “Do you think you were the first person ever to be born?
Were you born before the hills?
8 Did you listen to God’s secret plans?
Do you think you are the only wise person?
9 We know as much as you do!
We understand as well as you.
10 The old, gray-haired men agree with us.
People older than your father are on our side.
11 God tries to comfort you, but that is not enough for you.
We have spoken his message to you in a gentle way.
12 Why will you not understand?
Why can you not see the truth?
13 You are expressing your anger against God
when you say these things.
14 “People cannot really be pure.
They[a] cannot be more right than God!
15 God does not even trust his angels.[b]
He does not even think the sky is pure.
16 People are even worse.
They are disgusting and dirty.
They drink up evil like water.
17 “Listen to me, and I will explain it to you.
Let me tell you what I have seen.
18 I will tell you what wise men would say,
things they heard from their fathers and then freely passed on.
They didn’t hide any secrets from me.
19 These are important people in our country!
Everyone knows who they are.
20 And they said that an evil man suffers all his life.
A cruel man suffers all his numbered years.
21 Every noise scares him.
His enemy will attack him when he thinks he is safe.
22 An evil man has no hope of escaping the darkness.
There is a sword somewhere waiting to kill him.
23 He wanders from place to place, looking for food.
But he knows a dark day is coming, which he brought on himself.
24 He lives in fear, with worry and suffering threatening him
like a king ready to attack.
25 That is because that evil man shook his fist at God, refusing to obey.
He dared to attack God All-Powerful,
26 like a soldier with a thick, strong shield
who runs at his enemy to strike him in the neck.
27 He might be rich and fat,
28 but his town will be ruined;
his home will be destroyed;
his house will be empty.
29 He will not be rich for long.
His wealth will not last.
His crops will not grow large.
30 He will not escape the darkness.
He will be like a tree whose leaves die from disease
and are blown away by the wind.
31 That evil man should not fool himself by trusting in worthless things,
because he will keep nothing.
32 He will die before his time,
like a tree whose top branches have already begun to die.
33 He will be like a vine that loses its grapes before they ripen.
He will be like an olive tree that loses its buds.
34 That is because people without God have nothing.
Those who take bribes will have their homes destroyed by fire.
35 They are always thinking of ways to do evil and cause trouble.
They are always planning how they might cheat others.”
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International