Job 15
EasyEnglish Bible
Eliphaz speaks to Job again[a]
15 Then Eliphaz, the man from Teman, replied to Job. This is what he said:
2 ‘If you were wise,
you would not answer us with such silly ideas.
The words that come out from inside you are only a hot wind!
3 No wise man would argue in such a useless way.
The things that you say do not mean anything.
4 You show that you do not respect God.
You turn other people away from him.
5 It is your sin that causes you to speak like that.
You try to say clever things that will deceive people.
6 I do not need to show that you are guilty.
Your own words show that you are wrong.
7 You were not the first human to be born.
You were not alive when God made the hills.
8 You do not know God's secret plans.
You are not the only wise person in the world.
9 You do not know any more than we know.
We understand as much as you do.
10 The old men agree with us.
They are older and wiser even than your father.
11 You think that God's kind words are not important.
But they should be enough for you.
12 You have allowed your thoughts to confuse you.
We can see in your eyes that you are very angry.
13 Why are you so angry against God?
You should not say such wicked things.
14 No one who is human can be truly pure and righteous.
15 God does not even trust his own angels.
He knows that they make mistakes.
16 So he certainly will not trust people.
People are wicked and cannot think true thoughts.
They like to do evil things,
as if they are drinking water!
17 So listen to me. I will explain something to you.
I will tell you what I have seen.
18 These are things that wise men have taught me.
They did not hide the truth.
They learned these things from their ancestors.
19 They were the people who received the land.
No foreigners were there to deceive them.
20 They knew this:
A wicked person will have trouble all his life.
Anyone who is cruel will suffer every year that he lives.
21 He will hear things that frighten him.
He may think that he is safe,
but robbers will attack him.
22 He is afraid to go out in the dark.
He thinks that someone may kill him.
23 The wicked person walks about to look for food.
He says, “Where is it?”
He knows that he cannot escape from trouble.
24 He is afraid and confused.
Trouble is ready to attack him,
like a king with his army.
25 That happens to the person who turns against God.
He thinks that he is greater than Almighty God.
26 He is proud enough to attack God.
He holds a big shield as he runs to attack God!
27 He eats too much
and his whole body is very fat.[b]
28 He lives in a town that is empty.
No one else lives in the houses there.
The buildings will soon fall down
and they will become heaps of stones.
29 He will not be rich.
He will lose his valuable things.
Everything that he has will disappear.
30 When it becomes dark,
he will not be able to escape.
He will be like a tree that fire has burned.
God's breath will blow him away!
31 He may trust in useless things to save him.
But he is deceiving himself.
Any help that he receives will also be useless.
32 Before he is old,
his life will end.
Like a tree that makes no leaves,
he will have no success in life.
33 He will be like a vine that loses its grapes.
They fall off before they are ready to eat.
He will be like an olive tree that loses its flowers,
so that no olives grow on it.
34 People who turn away from God are like that.
They have no family to live after them.
If they use the money from bribes to build their homes,
fire will destroy those homes.
35 They make plans to cause trouble,
so that evil things happen.
Lies are what come out from inside them.’
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
Christian Standard Bible
Second Series of Speeches
Eliphaz Speaks
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Does a wise man answer with empty[a] counsel(A)
or fill himself[b] with the hot east wind?
3 Should he argue(B) with useless talk
or with words that serve no good purpose?
4 But you even undermine the fear of God
and hinder meditation before him.
5 Your iniquity(C) teaches you what to say,
and you choose the language of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I;
your own lips testify against you.(D)
7 Were you the first human ever born,
or were you brought forth before the hills?(E)
8 Do you listen in on the council of God,
or have a monopoly on wisdom?(F)
9 What do you know that we don’t?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?
10 Both the gray-haired and the elderly are with us—
older than your father.
11 Are God’s consolations not enough for you,
even the words that deal gently with you?
12 Why has your heart misled you,
and why do your eyes flash
13 as you turn your anger[c] against God
and allow such words to leave your mouth?
14 What is a mere human, that he should be pure,(G)
or one born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 If God puts no trust in his holy ones(H)
and the heavens are not pure in his sight,(I)
16 how much less one who is revolting and corrupt,(J)
who drinks injustice(K) like water?
17 Listen to me and I will inform you.
I will describe what I have seen,
18 what the wise have declared and not concealed,
that came from their ancestors,(L)
19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.
20 A wicked person writhes in pain all his days,
throughout the number of years reserved for the ruthless.
21 Dreadful sounds fill his ears;
when he is at peace, a robber attacks him.
22 He doesn’t believe he will return from darkness;
he is destined for the sword.(M)
23 He wanders about for food, asking, “Where is it?”
He knows the day of darkness is at hand.
24 Trouble(N) and distress terrify him,
overwhelming him like a king prepared for battle.
25 For he has stretched out his hand(O) against God
and has arrogantly opposed the Almighty.
26 He rushes headlong at him
with his thick, studded shields.
27 Though his face is covered with fat[d]
and his waistline bulges with it,
28 he will dwell in ruined cities,
in abandoned houses destined to become piles of rubble.(P)
29 He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.
His possessions[e] will not increase in the land.
30 He will not escape from the darkness;
flames will wither his shoots,
and by the breath of God’s mouth, he will depart.(Q)
31 Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray,
for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless.
32 It will be accomplished before his time,
and his branch will not flourish.
33 He will be like a vine that drops its unripe grapes(R)
and like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
34 For the company of the godless(S) will have no children,
and fire will consume the tents of those who offer bribes.
35 They conceive trouble(T) and give birth to evil;
their womb(U) prepares deception.(V)
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