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15 Eliphaz reiterated his points.

Eliphaz: Does a wise man reply with windy knowledge
        and fill up his belly with the hot east wind?
    Does a wise man reason with impotent chatter,
        with bankrupt words of no account?
    Indeed, Job, you have ignored your responsibility to revere God
        and depreciated your own thoughts toward God;
    For your faults inform your speech,
        and your language is tricky.
    Your own mouth condemns you, not I;
        your own lips volunteer as witnesses against you.

    Were you the firstborn among men?
        Were you introduced to the earth before the hills were conceived?
    Were you allowed to listen in on the deliberations in God’s assembly?
        Do you imagine all knowledge to be confined to you and you only?
    What do you know that we don’t know?
        Do you have an understanding that has somehow eluded us?
10     We have gray hairs and elders among us
        weighed down with years,
        heavier than your father.
11     Do you find God’s many comforts too meager
        and His gentle speech to you too mild?
12     What has stripped you of your reason, carried away your heart?
        Why do your eyes flash with anger—
13     So much so that you unleash your spirit
        and spray out such speeches against God?

14     What is humankind, that people would be considered pure?
        And among those born of women,
        who could possibly be innocent?
15     Look, if God refuses to trust even His holy attendants,
        if even the heavens above are impure in His eyes,
16     Then how much less regard must He show for humankind, who is base and corrupt,
        or for Adam’s children who drink sin like water.

Genesis 6:1–4 tells the strange story of God’s own heavenly messengers procreating with beautiful human women. Such a union was obviously forbidden, possibly because it endowed the children with eternal life, based on God’s response to the situation—limiting the lifespan of humans to 120 years. As Job has revealed, these heavenly messengers are with God all the time. They do His bidding. No one could possibly know His rules better than they do or have more motivation to follow them, yet they still chose to disobey God. Eliphaz’s point is clear: no human could possibly claim to be above the temptation to sin when God’s heavenly envoys are not.

17 Eliphaz: I will tell it like it is, so listen.
        I’ll recount what I have seen:
18     The very things that knowledgeable men have declared
        and which they do not hide that they heard from their fathers
19     To whom the land was granted long ago
        when no foreigners were among them.
20     The wicked man endures misery his whole life long;
        and many years of sorrow are stored up for the ruthless.
21     His ears are assailed by the sounds of terror;
        but when he is finally at peace, the destroyer seizes him.
22     Unsure that he will ever escape darkness,
        he lives ever-conscious of the sword.
23     He wanders aimlessly in search of food.
        “Where is it?” he asks.[a]
    He knows all the while that the great day of darkness is imminent.
24     He is addled by strain and anxiety, terrified;
        he will be overwhelmed as if by a king about to descend upon his enemy in war.
25     For he raises his fist to God
        and acts arrogantly like a hero against the Highest One.[b]
26     He runs at Him, headlong, headstrong,
        and leads his charge behind the thick protection of a massive shield.
27     Strong and healthy, he has nourished himself well and prospered
        until his face and his thighs are pleasantly fat.
28     He lodges in evacuated towns in empty houses unfit for habitation,
        in buildings condemned to rubble and ruin.
29     He will never be rich; his wealth will not last,
        nor will he have possessions enough for any to put down roots.
30     He will not manage to escape from darkness,
        as it scorches like tender branches that wilt in the flame;
    He will blow away like the breath of his mouth.
31     Don’t let him fool himself;
        if he trusts in the emptiness of his vanity,
        emptiness will be his reward.
32     Before his time is up, it will all be finished
        and the branches of his trees will never leaf out.
33     He will be like the vine that drops its immature grapes,
        the olive tree that sheds its own blossoms.
34     O the gathering of the godless is unfruitful,
        and fire consumes the tents of those who pervert justice by giving bribes.
35     Their intercourse yields only the conception of misconduct,
        the birth of sinfulness,
        and their wombs carry only lies to term.

Footnotes

  1. 15:23 Greek manuscripts read, “He is thrown out like food for vultures.”
  2. 15:25 Hebrew, Shaddai

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.”