Job 15
Living Bible
15 The answer of Eliphaz the Temanite:
2 “You are supposed to be a wise man, and yet you give us all this foolish talk. You are nothing but a windbag. 3 It isn’t right to speak so foolishly. What good do such words do? 4-5 Have you no fear of God? No reverence for him? Your sins are telling your mouth what to say! Your words are based on clever deception, 6 but why should I condemn you? Your own mouth does!
7-8 “Are you the wisest man alive? Were you born before the hills were made? Have you heard the secret counsel of God? Are you called into his counsel room? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom? 9 What do you know more than we do? What do you understand that we don’t? 10 On our side are aged men much older than your father! 11 Is God’s comfort too little for you? Is his gentleness too rough?
12 “What is this you are doing, getting carried away by your anger, with flashing eyes? 13 And you turn against God and say all these evil things against him. 14 What man in all the earth can be as pure and righteous as you claim to be? 15 Why, God doesn’t even trust the angels! Even the heavens can’t be absolutely pure compared with him! 16 How much less someone like you, who is corrupt and sinful, drinking in sin as a sponge soaks up water!
17-19 “Listen, and I will answer you from my own experience, confirmed by the experience of wise men who have been told this same thing from their fathers—our ancestors to whom alone the land was given—and they have passed this wisdom to us:
20 “A wicked man is always in trouble throughout his life. 21 He is surrounded by terrors, and if there are good days, they will soon be gone. 22 He dares not go out into the darkness lest he be murdered. 23-24 He wanders around begging for food. He lives in fear, distress, and anguish. His enemies conquer him as a king defeats his foes. 25-26 Armed with his tin shield, he clenches his fist against God, defying the Almighty, stubbornly assaulting him.
27-28 “This wicked man is fat and rich, and has lived in conquered cities after killing off their citizens. 29 But he will not continue to be rich, or to extend his possessions. 30 No, darkness shall overtake him forever; the breath of God shall destroy him; the flames shall burn up all he has.
31 “Let him no longer trust in foolish riches;[a] let him no longer deceive himself, for the money he trusts in will be his only reward. 32 Before he dies, all this futility will become evident to him. For all he counted on will disappear 33 and fall to the ground like a withered grape.[b] How little will come of his hopes! 34 For the godless are barren: they can produce nothing truly good. God’s fire consumes them with all their possessions. 35 The only thing they can ‘conceive’ is sin, and their hearts give birth only to wickedness.”
Job 15
Modern English Version
Eliphaz Speaks: Job Does Not Fear God
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “Should a wise man reply with empty knowledge
and fill his lungs with the east wind?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk
or with speeches with which he can do no good?
4 Yes, you cast off reverence
and hinder prayer before God.
5 For your mouth utters your iniquity,
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 who was born?
Or were you made before the hills?
8 Have you heard the counsel of God?
And do you restrict wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not in us?
10 Both the gray-haired and very aged are among us—
much older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God too small for you?
Or the word spoken gently to you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away?
And what do your eyes wink at,
13 that you turn your spirit against God,
and let such words go out of your mouth?
14 “What is man that he should be pure?
And he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones,
and the heavens are not pure in His sight.
16 How much more abhorred and corrupt is man,
who drinks iniquity like water!
17 “I will tell you; hear me,
and what I have seen I will declare,
18 what wise men have told,
not hiding anything received from their fathers,
19 to whom alone the land was given,
and no foreigner passed among them:
20 The wicked man travails with pain all his days,
and numbered are the years stored up for the oppressor.
21 A dreadful sound is in his ears;
in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will return from darkness,
and a sword awaits him.
23 He wanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Trouble and anguish will make him afraid;
they will prevail against him as a king ready to the battle.
25 For he stretches out his hand against God,
and strengthens himself against the Almighty.
26 He rushes upon Him, even on His neck,
with his thick embossed shield.
27 “He has covered his face with his fatness
and gathered fat upon his waist.
28 He dwells in desolate cities
and in houses which no man inhabits,
which are ready to become heaps.
29 He will not be rich, nor will his wealth continue,
nor will his possessions spread over the earth.
30 He will not depart out of darkness;
the flame will dry out his branches,
and by the breath of His mouth he will go away.
31 Let him who is deceived not trust in futility,
for futility will be his reward.
32 It will be accomplished before his time,
and his branch will not be green.
33 He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,
and will cast off his blossom like the olive.
34 For the company of hypocrites will be desolate,
and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief, and give birth to futility;
their womb prepares deceit.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.