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Job’s intelligence questioned

15 Eliphaz answered:

Will the wise respond with windy knowledge
    and fill their belly with the east wind?
Will they argue with a word that has no benefit
    and with unprofitable words?
You are truly making religion ineffective
    and restraining meditation before God.
Your mouth multiplies your sins a thousand times;
    you opt for a clever tongue.
Your mouth condemns you, not I;
    your lips argue against you.
Were you born the first Adam,
    brought forth before the hills?
Did you listen in God’s council;
    is wisdom limited to you?
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

  1. Job 15:21 Heb lacks pierces.

15 Then answered Eliphaz the Temani, and said,

Should a chacham (wise man) utter vain knowledge, and fill his inner being with the east wind?

Should he reason with unprofitable davar (talk)? Or with speeches wherewith no good is done?

Yea, thou makest void yireh [Elohim], and doth diminish si’akh (meditation) before El.

For thy mouth uttereth thine avon, and thou choosest the leshon arumim (tongue of the crafty).

Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and loh Ani (not I); yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

Art thou harishon adam (the first man) that was born? Or wast thou made before the hills?

Hast thou attended to the sod Eloah (counsel of G-d)? And dost thou limit chochmah to thyself?

Of what dost thou have da’as, that we know not? What understandest thou, which is not in us?

10 Both the grayheaded and very aged men are among us, much elder than avicha.

11 Are the tanechumot El (consolations of G-d) not enough for thee? Or the davar that deals gently with thee?

12 Why doth thine lev carry thee away? And why do thy eyes flash,

13 That thou ventest thy ruach against El (G-d), and lettest such words pour out of thy mouth?

14 What is enosh, that he should be pure [in the sight of Hashem]? And he which is born of an isha, that yitzdak (he should be in the right)?

15 If He trusteth not His Kadoshim; yea, Shomayim is not pure in His eyes.

16 How much more vile and corrupt is ish, which drinketh iniquity like mayim?

17 I will show thee, shema to me; and that which I have seen I will declare;

18 Things which chachamim declare from their avot without concealment;

19 Unto whom alone ha’aretz was given, and no zar passed among them.

20 The reshah travaileth with pain all his yamim, and numbered shanim are reserved for the oppressor.

21 A dreadful sound is in his oznayim; during shalom the shoded (destroyer) shall come upon him.

22 He believeth not in a return from choshech, and he is marked for the cherev.

23 He wandereth about after lechem, saying, Where is it? He has da’as the Yom Choshech is near at hand for him.

24 Distress and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall seize him as a melech poised for battle.

25 For he stretcheth out his yad against El (G-d), and with insolence vaunts himself against Shaddai.

26 He charges against Him, with a stiff neck, with the thick bosses of his mogen (shield);

27 Though he covereth his panim with his fatness, and addeth fat on his flanks;

28 And he dwelleth in desolate towns, and in batim (houses) which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to crumble to rubble.

29 He shall not be osher, neither shall his substance continue; neither shall their possessions spread over ha’aretz.

30 He shall not escape from choshech; the flame shall wither his branches, and in the ruach of his mouth shall he perish.

31 Let not him that is deceived trust in shav (vanity); for shav shall be his recompense.

32 His Yom is not yet; then it is accomplished, and his branch shall not flourish.

33 He shall shake off his unripe grape like the gefen, and shall cast off his blossom like the zayit (olive tree).

34 For the Adat Chanef (congregation of hypocrites) shall be barren, and eish shall consume the ohalim of bribery.

35 They conceive amal (trouble), and give birth to evil, and their belly worketh mirmar (deceit).

15 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.

For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?

Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?

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.