Job 15
1 And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: —
Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,
2 Doth a wise man answer [with] vain knowledge? And fill [with] an east wind his belly?
Will a wise man give for answer a [mere] breath of wisdom? and does he fill up the pain of his belly,
3 To reason with a word not useful? And speeches — no profit in them?
reasoning with improper sayings, and with words wherein is no profit?
4 Yea, thou dost make reverence void, And dost diminish meditation before God.
Hast not thou moreover cast off fear, and accomplished such words before the Lord?
5 For thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity, And thou chooseth the tongue of the subtile.
Thou art guilty by the words of thy mouth, neither hast thou discerned the words of the mighty.
6 Thy mouth declareth thee wicked, and not I, And thy lips testify against thee.
Let thine own mouth, and not me, reprove thee: and thy lips shall testify against thee.
7 The first man art thou born? And before the heights wast thou formed?
What! art thou the first man that was born? or wert thou established before the hills?
8 Of the secret counsel of God dost thou hear? And withdrawest thou unto thee wisdom?
Or hast thou heard the ordinance of the Lord? or has God used thee as [his] counsellor? and has wisdom come [only] to thee?
9 What hast thou known, and we know not? Understandest thou — and it is not with us?
For what knowest thou, that, we know not? or what understandest thou, which we do not also?
10 Both the gray-headed And the very aged [are] among us — Greater than thy father [in] days.
Truly among us [are] both the old and very aged man, more advanced in days than thy father.
11 Too few for thee are the comforts of God? And a gentle word [is] with thee,
Thou hast been scourged for [but] few of thy sins: thou hast spoken haughtily [and] extravagantly.
12 What — doth thine heart take thee away? And what — are thine eyes high?
What has thine heart dared? or what have thine eyes [aimed at],
13 For thou turnest against God thy spirit? And hast brought out words from thy mouth:
that thou hast vented [thy] rage before the Lord, and delivered such words from [thy] mouth?
14 What [is] man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?
For who, being a mortal, [is such] that he shall be blameless? or, [who that is] born of a woman, that he should be just?
15 Lo, in His holy ones He putteth no credence, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.
Forasmuch as he trusts not his saints; and the heaven is not pure before him.
16 Also — surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking as water perverseness.
Alas then, abominable and unclean is man, drinking unrighteousness as a draught.
17 I shew thee — hearken to me — And this I have seen and declare:
But I will tell thee, hearken to me; I will tell thee now what I have seen;
18 Which the wise declare — And have not hid — from their fathers.
things wise men say, and their fathers have not hidden.
19 To them alone was the land given, And a stranger passed not over into their midst:
To them alone the earth was given, and no stranger came upon them.
20 'All days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one.
All the life of the ungodly [is spent] in care, and the years granted to the oppressor are numbered.
21 A fearful voice [is] in his ears, In peace doth a destroyer come to him.
And his terror is in his ears: just when he seems to be at peace, his overthrow will come.
22 He believeth not to return from darkness, And watched [is] he for the sword.
Let him not trust that he shall return from darkness, for he has been already made over to the power of the sword.
23 He is wandering for bread — 'Where [is] it?' He hath known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness.
And he has been appointed to be food for vultures; and he knows within himself that he is doomed to be a carcass: and a dark day shall carry him away as with a whirlwind.
24 Terrify him do adversity and distress, They prevail over him As a king ready for a boaster.
Distress also and anguish shall come upon him: he shall fall as a captain in the first rank.
25 For he stretched out against God his hand, And against the Mighty he maketh himself mighty.
For he has lifted his hands against the Lord, and he has hardened his neck against the Almighty Lord.
26 He runneth unto Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.
And he has run against him with insolence, on the thickness of the back of his shield.
27 For he hath covered his face with his fat, And maketh vigour over [his] confidence.
For he has covered his face with his fat, and made layers of fat upon his thighs.
28 And he inhabiteth cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.
And let him lodge in desolate cities, and enter into houses without inhabitant: and what they have prepared, others shall carry away.
29 He is not rich, nor doth his wealth rise, Nor doth he stretch out on earth their continuance.
Neither shall he at all grow rich, nor shall his substance remain: he shall not cast a shadow upon the earth.
30 He turneth not aside from darkness, His tender branch doth a flame dry up, And he turneth aside at the breath of His mouth!
Neither shall he in any wise escape the darkness: let the wind blast his blossom, and let his flower fall off.
31 Let him not put credence in vanity, He hath been deceived, For vanity is his recompence.
Let him not think that he shall endure; for his end shall be vanity.
32 Not in his day is it completed, And his bending branch is not green.
His harvest shall perish before the time, and his branch shall not flourish.
33 He shaketh off as a vine his unripe fruit, And casteth off as an olive his blossom.
And let him be gathered as the unripe grape before the time, and let him fall as the blossom of the olive.
34 For the company of the profane [is] gloomy, And fire hath consumed tents of bribery.
For death is the witness of an ungodly man, and fire shall burn the houses of them that receive gifts.
35 To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart doth prepare deceit.
And he shall conceive sorrows, and his end shall be vanity, and his belly shall bear deceit.
