Job 15
1 Then Eliphaz replied to Job:
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 “If you were truly wise [RHQ], you would not have replied to us by claiming that you know a lot; what you are saying is just a lot of hot air [MET].
“Would a wise man answer with such empty ‘knowledge’ that is just a lot of hot air?
3 You should not [RHQ] be saying things that do not benefit anyone, using words that do no one any good.
He wouldn't argue with unprofitable speeches using words that do no good.
4 [By what you say, ] you show that you do not revere God, and you are hindering people from meditating/thinking about God.
But you are doing away with the fear of God, and destroying communion with him.
5 [It is as though] your sins are telling you what to say; you talk like people who will not admit that they are wicked.
It's your sins that are doing the talking, and you are choosing deceptive words.
6 Everything that you say [MTY] shows that you should be punished; so, it is not necessary for me to show that.
Your own mouth is condemning you, not me; your own lips are testifying against you.
7 [“Tell me do you know more than everyone else because you think that] you are the first person who was ever born? [SAR, RHQ] Were you born before the hills [were created]?
Were you the very first person to be born? Were you born before the hills were created?
8 Were you listening when God made all his plans? [SAR, RHQ] Or do you think that you are the only person who is wise?
Were you there listening in God's council? Does wisdom only belong to you?
9 (What do you know that we do not know?/You do not know anything that we do not know.) [RHQ] You do not understand [RHQ] anything that is not also clear to us.
What do you know that we don't? What do you understand that we don't?
10 My friends and I are also wise; we acquired [wisdom] from old gray-haired people, from people who were born before your father was born.
We have among us old, gray-haired people much older than your father!
11 God wants to comfort you, and to speak gently/kindly to you; (is that not enough for you/do you need more than that)?
Are the comforts God provides too little for you? Are God's gentle words not enough for you?
12 Why do you allow yourself to be (carried away/excited) by your emotions? Why are [you very angry, with the result that] your eyes flash?
Why do you let yourself be carried away by your emotions?
13 You are angry [IDM] with God, and so you [MTY] are criticizing/denouncing him.
Why do your eyes flash in anger that you turn against God and let yourself speak this way?
14 “(How can any person, [including you, ] be sinless?/No person, [including you], can be sinless.) [RHQ] (How can anyone on the earth be [completely] righteous?/No one on the earth can be [completely] righteous.) [RHQ]
Who can say they are clean? Which human being can say that they do what is right?
15 Hey, God does not even trust his angels; he does not consider even them to be [completely] pure.
Look, God doesn't even trust his angels—even the heavenly beings are not pure in his sight!
16 So, he certainly does not [trust] abominable/disgusting and depraved/corrupt people who do evil things [as easily] as they drink water [MET].
How much less pure are those who are unclean and corrupt, drinking in sin like water!
17 Job, listen to what I will tell you. I will declare to you what I know,
If you are ready to listen to me, I will show you. I will explain my insights.
18 things that wise men have told me, truths that their ancestors did not keep hidden.
This is what wise men have said, confirmed by their ancestors,
19 God gave this land to those ancestors, who were truly wise; no one from another country caused them to think wrongly [IDM].
those who to whom alone the land was given before foreigners ever were there.
20 It is wicked people who suffer with great pain all the time that they are alive; that is what happens to those who (oppress/act violently toward) others.
The wicked writhe in pain all their lives, through all the years these oppressors survive.
21 They constantly hear sounds that terrify them; while they are prospering, bandits attack them.
Terrifying sounds fill their ears; even when they think they're safe, the destroyer will attack them.
22 Wicked people surely know that they will not escape from darkness/death, because [they are sure that someone] is waiting to kill them with a sword.
They don't believe they will escape the darkness—they know a sword is waiting for them.
23 They wander around, searching for food, saying ‘Where can I find some?’ And they know that they will soon experience disasters.
They wander around looking for food, asking ‘Where is it?’ They know that their day of darkness is close at hand.
24 Because they are afraid of those things happening to them, they are afraid and worry that these things will come to them like [the army of] a king comes to attack [their enemies and cause them to suffer] [SIM].
Misery and torment overwhelm them like a king preparing for battle.
25 [Those things happen to them] because they (shook their fists/dared to fight) against Almighty God, and thought that they were strong enough to defeat him.
They shake their fists in God's face, defiantly challenging the Almighty,
26 They stubbornly [IDM] rush to attack God [as though they were carrying] a strong shield [to protect themselves].
insolently attacking him with their shields.
27 They are so fat [that they are unable to fight].
They have become fat in their rebellion, their bellies bloated with fat.
28 They will live in cities that have been abandoned, cities which have become a heap of ruins.
But their cities will become desolate; they will live in abandoned houses that are crumbling into ruins.
29 But they will not remain rich very long; Everything that they own will be taken from them; their possessions will all disappear.
They will lose their riches, their wealth will not endure, their possessions will not spread over the earth.
30 They will not escape from the darkness [of death]; they will be like trees whose branches are burned by fire and whose blossoms are blown away by the wind.
They will not escape from the darkness. Like a tree whose shoots are burned up in a forest fire, the breath of God will blow him away.
31 Since they are very foolish, with the result that they trust in things that are really worthless, then things that are worthless will be all that they get.
They should not trust in things that are worthless, for their reward will be worthless.
32 Before they are old, they will wither; they will be like [MET] branches that wither and never become green again.
This will be paid in full before their time has come. They are like tree branches that wither,
33 They will be like [SIM] vines whose grapes fall off before they are ripe, like olive trees whose blossoms fall off before they produce any fruit.
like vines that lose their unripe grapes, or olive trees that lose their flowers.
34 Wicked/godless people will not have any descendants, and fires will completely burn up the homes of [those who built those homes using] money they received from bribes.
For those who reject God are barren, and fire will burn up the homes of those who love bribes.
35 They plan to cause trouble and to do evil things, and they are always preparing to deceive people.”
They plan trouble and produce evil, giving birth to deception.”
