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15 The answer of Eliphaz the Temanite:

“You are supposed to be a wise man, and yet you give us all this foolish talk. You are nothing but a windbag. 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, 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? 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.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 15:31 trust in foolish riches, literally, “trust in vanity.”
  2. Job 15:33 fall to the ground like a withered grape, literally, “shall cast off his flower as the olive tree.”

Eliphaz

15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite(A) replied:

“Would a wise person answer with empty notions
    or fill their belly with the hot east wind?(B)
Would they argue with useless words,
    with speeches that have no value?(C)
But you even undermine piety
    and hinder devotion to God.(D)
Your sin(E) prompts your mouth;(F)
    you adopt the tongue of the crafty.(G)
Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
    your own lips testify against you.(H)

“Are you the first man ever born?(I)
    Were you brought forth before the hills?(J)
Do you listen in on God’s council?(K)
    Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?(L)
What do you know that we do not know?
    What insights do you have that we do not have?(M)
10 The gray-haired and the aged(N) are on our side,
    men even older than your father.(O)
11 Are God’s consolations(P) not enough for you,
    words(Q) spoken gently to you?(R)
12 Why has your heart(S) carried you away,
    and why do your eyes flash,
13 so that you vent your rage(T) against God
    and pour out such words(U) from your mouth?(V)

14 “What are mortals, that they could be pure,
    or those born of woman,(W) that they could be righteous?(X)
15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,(Y)
    if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,(Z)
16 how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,(AA)
    who drink up evil(AB) like water!(AC)

17 “Listen to me and I will explain to you;
    let me tell you what I have seen,(AD)
18 what the wise have declared,
    hiding nothing received from their ancestors(AE)
19 (to whom alone the land(AF) was given
    when no foreigners moved among them):
20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment,(AG)
    the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.(AH)
21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears;(AI)
    when all seems well, marauders attack him.(AJ)
22 He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;(AK)
    he is marked for the sword.(AL)
23 He wanders about(AM) for food like a vulture;(AN)
    he knows the day of darkness(AO) is at hand.(AP)
24 Distress and anguish(AQ) fill him with terror;(AR)
    troubles overwhelm him, like a king(AS) poised to attack,
25 because he shakes his fist(AT) at God
    and vaunts himself against the Almighty,(AU)
26 defiantly charging against him
    with a thick, strong shield.(AV)

27 “Though his face is covered with fat
    and his waist bulges with flesh,(AW)
28 he will inhabit ruined towns
    and houses where no one lives,(AX)
    houses crumbling to rubble.(AY)
29 He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,(AZ)
    nor will his possessions spread over the land.(BA)
30 He will not escape the darkness;(BB)
    a flame(BC) will wither his shoots,(BD)
    and the breath of God’s mouth(BE) will carry him away.(BF)
31 Let him not deceive(BG) himself by trusting what is worthless,(BH)
    for he will get nothing in return.(BI)
32 Before his time(BJ) he will wither,(BK)
    and his branches will not flourish.(BL)
33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,(BM)
    like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.(BN)
34 For the company of the godless(BO) will be barren,
    and fire will consume(BP) the tents of those who love bribes.(BQ)
35 They conceive trouble(BR) and give birth to evil;(BS)
    their womb fashions deceit.”