15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,
15:2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,
And fill ①himself with the east wind?
▷ ①Lit his belly
15:3 Should he argue with useless talk,
Or with words which do not benefit?
15:4 Indeed, you do away with ①reverence,
And hinder meditation before God.
▷ ①Lit fear
15:5 For your wrongdoing teaches your mouth,
And you choose the language of the cunning.
15:6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
And your own lips testify against you.
15:7 “Were you the first person to be born,
Or were you brought forth before the hills?
15:8 Do you hear the secret discussion of God,
And limit wisdom to yourself?
15:9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that ①we do not?
▷ ①Lit is not within us?
15:10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Older than your father.
15:11 Are the consolations of God too little for you,
Or the word spoken gently to you?
15:12 Why does your heart take you away?
And why do your eyes wink,
15:13 That you can turn your spirit against God
And produce such words from your mouth?
15:14 What is man, that he would be pure,
Or he who is born of a woman, that he would be righteous?
15:15 Behold, He has no trust in His holy ones,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight;
15:16 How much less one who is detestable and corrupt:
A person who drinks ①malice like water!
▷ ①Or injustice
15:17 “I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;
15:18 What wise people have told,
And have not concealed from their fathers,
15:19 To whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them.
15:20 The wicked person writhes in pain all his days,
And the ①years reserved for the ruthless are numbered.
▷ ①Lit number of years are reserved for
15:21 ①Sounds of terror are in his ears;
While he is at peace the destroyer comes upon him.
▷ ①Lit A sound of terrors is
15:22 He does not believe that he will return from darkness,
And he is destined for the sword.
15:23 He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of darkness is ①at hand.
▷ ①Lit ready at his hand
15:24 Distress and anguish terrify him,
They overpower him like a king ready for the attack,
15:25 Because he has reached out with his hand against God,
And is arrogant toward ①the Almighty.
▷ ①Heb Shaddai
15:26 He rushes ①headlong at Him
With his ②massive shield.
▷ ①Lit with a stiff neck ②Lit thick-bossed shields
15:27 For he has covered his face with his fat,
And ①put fat on his waist.
▷ ①Lit made
15:28 He has lived in desolate cities,
In houses no one would inhabit,
Which are destined to become ①ruins.
▷ ①Or heaps
15:29 He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his property will not stretch out on the earth.
15:30 He will not ①escape from darkness;
The flame will dry up his shoot,
And he will go away by the breath of His mouth.
▷ ①Lit turn aside
15:31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
For his ①reward will be emptiness.
▷ ①Lit exchange
15:32 It will be accomplished before his time,
And his palm branch will not be green.
15:33 He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine,
And will cast off his flower like the olive tree.
15:34 For the company of the godless is barren,
And fire consumes the tents of ①the corrupt.
▷ ①Lit a bribe
15:35 They conceive ①harm and give birth to wrongdoing,
And their ②mind prepares deception.”
▷ ①Or pain ②Lit belly