Job 15

1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?s3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.ss5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.s6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?9 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.s22 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.s33 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.s

Job 15

Eliphaz Attacks Again

1-16 You Trivialize Religion Eliphaz of Teman spoke a second time: "If you were truly wise, would you sound so much like a windbag, belching hot air? Would you talk nonsense in the middle of a serious argument, babbling baloney? Look at you! You trivialize religion, turn spiritual conversation into empty gossip. It's your sin that taught you to talk this way. You chose an education in fraud. Your own words have exposed your guilt. It's nothing I've said—you've incriminated yourself! Do you think you're the first person to have to deal with these things? Have you been around as long as the hills? Were you listening in when God planned all this? Do you think you're the only one who knows anything? What do you know that we don't know? What insights do you have that we've missed? Gray beards and white hair back us up— old folks who've been around a lot longer than you. Are God's promises not enough for you, spoken so gently and tenderly? Why do you let your emotions take over, lashing out and spitting fire, Pitting your whole being against God by letting words like this come out of your mouth? Do you think it's possible for any mere mortal to be sinless in God's sight, for anyone born of a human mother to get it all together? Why, God can't even trust his holy angels. He sees the flaws in the very heavens themselves, So how much less we humans, smelly and foul, who lap up evil like water?

Always at Odds with God

17-26 "I've a thing or two to tell you, so listen up! I'm letting you in on my views; It's what wise men and women have always taught, holding nothing back from what they were taught By their parents, back in the days when they had this land all to themselves: Those who live by their own rules, not God's, can expect nothing but trouble, and the longer they live, the worse it gets. Every little sound terrifies them. Just when they think they have it made, disaster strikes. They despair of things ever getting better— they're on the list of people for whom things always turn out for the worst. They wander here and there, never knowing where the next meal is coming from— every day is doomsday! They live in constant terror, always with their backs up against the wall Because they insist on shaking their fists at God, defying God Almighty to his face, Always and ever at odds with God, always on the defensive.
27-35 "Even if they're the picture of health, trim and fit and youthful, They'll end up living in a ghost town sleeping in a hovel not fit for a dog, a ramshackle shack. They'll never get ahead, never amount to a hill of beans. And then death—don't think they'll escape that! They'll end up shriveled weeds, brought down by a puff of God's breath. There's a lesson here: Whoever invests in lies, gets lies for interest, Paid in full before the due date. Some investment! They'll be like fruit frost-killed before it ripens, like buds sheared off before they bloom. The godless are fruitless—a barren crew; a life built on bribes goes up in smoke. They have sex with sin and give birth to evil. Their lives are wombs for breeding deceit."