15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

15:2 "Would a wise man answer with empty notions or fill his belly with the hot east wind?

15:3 Would he argue with useless words, with speeches that have no value?

15:4 But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God.

15:5 Your sin prompts your mouth; you adopt the tongue of the crafty.

15:6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine; your own lips testify against you.

15:7 "Are you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

15:8 Do you listen in on God's council? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

15:9 What do you know that we do not know? What insights do you have that we do not have?

15:10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men even older than your father.

15:11 Are God's consolations not enough for you, words spoken gently to you?

15:12 Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,

15:13 so that you vent your rage against God and pour out such words from your mouth?

15:14 "What is man, that he could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could be righteous?

15:15 If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,

15:16 how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water!

15:17 "Listen to me and I will explain to you; let me tell you what I have seen,

15:18 what wise men have declared, hiding nothing received from their fathers

15:19 (to whom alone the land was given when no alien passed among them):

15:20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless through all the years stored up for him.

15:21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears; when all seems well, marauders attack him.

15:22 He despairs of escaping the darkness; he is marked for the sword.

15:23 He wanders about--food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

15:24 Distress and anguish fill him with terror; they overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,

15:25 because he shakes his fist at God and vaunts himself against the Almighty,

15:26 defiantly charging against him with a thick, strong shield.

15:27 "Though his face is covered with fat and his waist bulges with flesh,

15:28 he will inhabit ruined towns and houses where no one lives, houses crumbling to rubble.

15:29 He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the land.

15:30 He will not escape the darkness; a flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God's mouth will carry him away.

15:31 Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless, for he will get nothing in return.

15:32 Before his time he will be paid in full, and his branches will not flourish.

15:33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.

15:34 For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.

15:35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit."