Job 15
1599 Geneva Bible
15 1 Eliphaz reprehendeth Job, because he ascribeth wisdom and pureness to himself. 16 He describeth the curse that falleth on the wicked, reckoning Job to be one of the number.
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
2 Shall a wise man speak words of the [a]wind? and fill his belly [b]with the East wind?
3 Shall he dispute with words not comely? or with talk that is not profitable?
4 Surely thou hast cast off [c]fear, and restrainest prayer before God:
5 For thy mouth declareth thine iniquity, seeing thou hast chosen the [d]tongue of the crafty.
6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I, and thy lips testify against thee.
7 Art thou the [e]first man that was born? and wast thou made before the hills?
8 Hast thou heard the secret counsel of God, and dost thou restrain wisdom [f]to thee?
9 What knowest thou that we know not? and understandest that is not in us?
10 With us are both ancient and very aged men, far older than thy father.
11 Seem the consolations of God [g]small unto thee? is this thing strange unto thee?
12 Why doth thine heart [h]take thee away, and what do thine eyes mean,
13 That thou answerest to God [i]at thy pleasure, and bringest such words out of thy mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he that is born of woman, that he should [j]be just?
15 Behold, he found no steadfastness in his Saints: yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
16 How much more is man abominable, and filthy, which [k]drinketh iniquity like water?
17 I will tell thee: hear me, and I will declare that which I have seen:
18 Which wise men have told, as they have heard of their fathers, and have not kept it secret:
19 To whom alone the land was [l]given, and no stranger passed through them.
20 The wicked man is continually as one that travaileth of child, and the number [m]of years is hid from the tyrant.
21 A sound of fear is in his ears, and in his prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
22 He believeth not to return out of [n]darkness: for he seeth the sword before him.
23 He wandereth [o]to and fro for bread where he may: he knoweth that the day of darkness is prepared at hand.
24 Affliction and [p]anguish shall make him afraid: they shall prevail against him as a king ready to the battle.
25 For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and made himself strong against the Almighty.
26 Therefore God shall run upon him, even upon his neck, and against the most thick part of his shield.
27 Because he hath covered his face with [q]his fatness, and hath collops in his flank.
28 Though he dwell [r]in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, but are become heaps,
29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the [s]perfection thereof in the earth.
30 He shall never depart out of darkness: the flame shall dry up his branches, and he shall go away with the breath of his mouth.
31 He [t]believeth not that he erreth in vanity: therefore vanity shall be his change.
32 His branch shall not be green, but shall be cut off before his day.
33 God shall destroy him as the vine her sour [u]grape, and shall cast him off, as the olive doth her flower.
34 For the congregation of the hypocrite shall be desolate, and fire shall devour the houses of [v]bribes.
35 For they [w]conceive mischief and bring forth vanity, and their belly hath prepared deceit.
Footnotes
- Job 15:2 That is, vain words, and without consolation?
- Job 15:2 Meaning, with matters that are of none importance, which are forgotten as soon as they are uttered, as the East wind drieth up the moisture as soon as it falleth.
- Job 15:4 He chargeth Job as though his talk caused men to cast off the fear of God, and prayer.
- Job 15:5 Thou speakest as do the mockers and contemners of God.
- Job 15:7 That is, the most ancient, and so by reason the most wise?
- Job 15:8 Art thou only wise?
- Job 15:11 He accuseth Job’s pride and ingratitude, that will not be comforted by God, nor by their counsel.
- Job 15:12 Why dost thou stand in thine own conceit?
- Job 15:13 Hebrew, in thy spirit.
- Job 15:14 His purpose is to prove that Job as an unjust man, and an hypocrite is punished for his sins, like as he did before, Job 4:8.
- Job 15:16 Which hath a desire to sin, as he that is thirsty to drink.
- Job 15:19 Who by their wisdom so governed, that no stranger invaded them, and so the land seemed to be given to them alone.
- Job 15:20 The cruel man is ever in danger of death, and is never quiet in conscience.
- Job 15:22 Out of that misery whereunto he once falleth.
- Job 15:23 God doth not only impoverish the wicked oft times, but even in their prosperity he punisheth them with a greediness evermore to gather: which is as a beggary.
- Job 15:24 He showeth what weapons God useth against the wicked, which lift up themselves against him, to wit, terror of conscience, and outward afflictions.
- Job 15:27 That is, he was so puffed up with great prosperity and abundance of all things, that he forgat God: noting, that Job in his felicity had not the true fear of God.
- Job 15:28 Though he build and repair ruinous places to get him fame, yet God shall bring all to naught, and turn his great prosperity into extreme misery.
- Job 15:29 Meaning, that his sumptuous buildings should never come to perfection.
- Job 15:31 He standeth so in his own conceit, that he will give no place to good counsel, therefore his own pride shall bring him to destruction.
- Job 15:33 As one that gathereth grapes before they be ripe.
- Job 15:34 Which were built or maintained by powling and bribery.
- Job 15:35 And therefore all their vain devises shall turn to their own destruction.
Job 15
Tree of Life Version
Eliphaz Rebukes Job
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded and said:
2 “Does a wise man answer with empty knowledge,
or fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Does he argue with useless talk
and words that have no value in them?
4 You even do away with reverence
and hinder devotion before God.
5 For your iniquity prompts your mouth
and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you—not I;
your own lips testify against you.
7 “Are you the first man to be born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you listen in on God’s counsel?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that we do not understand?
10 Both gray-haired and aged are with us,
men even older than your father.
11 Are the comforts of God too small for you,
or a gentle word toward you?
12 Why has your heart carried you away
and why do your eyes flash,
13 so that you turn your spirit against God
and bring such words out of your mouth?
14 “What is man, that he could be pure,
or one born of woman, that he could be righteous?
15 If He puts no trust in His holy ones,
if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
16 how much less man, who is vile and corrupt,
who drinks evil like water!
17 I will tell you; listen to me,
and what I have seen I will declare,
18 what wise men have declared
and did not hide from their ancestors,
19 to whom alone the land was given,
when no foreigner passed among them:
20 All his days the wicked suffers torment,
and numbered are the years stored up for the tyrant.
21 Terrifying sounds are in his ears;
in a time of peace, marauders attack him.
22 He does not expect to escape from darkness;
he is destined for the sword.
23 He wanders about for bread—‘Where is it?’
He knows that the day of darkness is at hand.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him;
they overpower him like a king poised to attack,
25 for he raises his hand against God
and flaunts himself against Shaddai,
26 defiantly rushing at Him
with a thick, strong shield.
27 Because He covered his face with his fat
and made his hips bulge with blubber,
28 he lived in ruined cities,
in houses which no one inhabits,
which are ready to crumble into heaps.
29 He will not become rich, and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions spread over the land.
30 He will not escape from the darkness;
a flame will wither his shoots,
and he will depart by the breath of His mouth.
31 “Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
for emptiness will be his reward.
32 Before his day it will be paid in full
and his branch will not be green.
33 He will shake off his unripe grapes like a vine,
and cast off his blossoms like an olive tree.
34 For the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief and bring forth evil
and their belly prepares deception.”
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.