15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
15:2 “Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge, 2
or fill his belly 3 with the east wind? 4
15:3 Does he argue 5 with useless 6 talk,
with words that have no value in them?
15:4 But you even break off 7 piety, 8
and hinder 9 meditation 10 before God.
15:5 Your sin inspires 11 your mouth;
you choose the language 12 of the crafty. 13
15:6 Your own mouth condemns 14 you, not I;
your own lips testify against 15 you.
15:7 “Were you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
15:8 Do you listen in on God’s secret council? 16
Do you limit 17 wisdom to yourself?
15:9 What do you know that we don’t know?
What do you understand that we don’t understand? 18
15:10 The gray-haired 19 and the aged are on our side, 20
men far older than your father. 21
15:11 Are God’s consolations 22 too trivial for you; 23
or a word spoken 24 in gentleness to you?
15:12 Why 25 has your heart carried you away, 26
and why do your eyes flash, 27
15:13 when you turn your rage 28 against God
and allow such words to escape 29 from your mouth?
15:14 What is man that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
15:15 If God places no trust in his holy ones, 30
if even the heavens 31 are not pure in his eyes,
15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt, 32
who drinks in evil like water! 33
15:17 “I will explain to you;
listen to me,
and what 34 I have seen, I will declare, 35
15:18 what wise men declare,
hiding nothing,
from the tradition of 36 their ancestors, 37
15:19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them. 38
15:20 All his days 39 the wicked man suffers torment, 40
throughout the number of the years
that 41 are stored up for the tyrant. 42
15:21 Terrifying sounds fill 43 his ears;
in a time of peace marauders 44 attack him.
15:22 He does not expect 45 to escape from darkness; 46
he is marked for the sword; 47
15:23 he wanders about – food for vultures; 48
he knows that the day of darkness is at hand. 49
15:24 Distress and anguish 50 terrify him;
they prevail against him
like a king ready to launch an attack, 51
15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God, 52
and vaunts himself 53 against the Almighty,
15:26 defiantly charging against him 54
with a thick, strong shield! 55
15:27 Because he covered his face with fat, 56
and made 57 his hips bulge with fat, 58
15:28 he lived in ruined towns 59
and in houses where 60 no one lives,
where they are ready to crumble into heaps. 61
15:29 He will not grow rich,
and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions 62 spread over the land.
15:30 He will not escape the darkness; 63
a flame will wither his shoots
and he will depart
by the breath of God’s mouth. 64
15:31 Let him not trust in what is worthless, 65
deceiving himself;
for worthlessness will be his reward. 66
15:32 Before his time 67 he will be paid in full, 68
and his branches will not flourish. 69
15:33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall, 70
and like an olive tree
he will shed his blossoms. 71
15:34 For the company of the godless is barren, 72
and fire 73 consumes the tents of those who accept bribes. 74
15:35 They conceive 75 trouble and bring forth evil;
their belly 76 prepares deception.”
16:1 Then Job replied:
16:2 “I have heard many things like these before.
What miserable comforters 78 are you all!
16:3 Will 79 there be an end to your 80 windy words? 81
Or what provokes 82 you that you answer? 83
16:4 I also could speak 84 like you,
if 85 you were in my place;
I could pile up 86 words against you
and I could shake my head at you. 87
16:5 But 88 I would strengthen 89 you with my words; 90
comfort from my lips would bring 91 you relief.
16:6 “But 92 if I speak, my pain is not relieved, 93
and if I refrain from speaking
– how 94 much of it goes away?
16:7 Surely now he 95 has worn me out,
you have devastated my entire household.
16:8 You have seized me, 96
and it 97 has become a witness;
my leanness 98 has risen up against me
and testifies against me.
16:9 His 99 anger has torn me 100 and persecuted 101 me;
he has gnashed at me with his teeth;
my adversary locks 102 his eyes on me.
16:10 People 103 have opened their mouths against me,
they have struck my cheek in scorn; 104
they unite 105 together against me.
16:11 God abandons me to evil 106 men, 107
and throws 108 me into the hands of wicked men.
16:12 I was in peace, and he has shattered me. 109
He has seized me by the neck and crushed me. 110
He has made me his target;
16:13 his archers 111 surround me.
Without pity 112 he pierces 113 my kidneys
and pours out my gall 114 on the ground.
16:14 He breaks through against me, time and time again; 115
he rushes 116 against me like a warrior.
16:15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, 117
and buried 118 my horn 119 in the dust;
16:16 my face is reddened 120 because of weeping, 121
and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness, 122
16:17 although 123 there is no violence in my hands
and my prayer is pure.
16:18 “O earth, do not cover my blood, 124
nor let there be a secret 125 place for my cry.
16:19 Even now my witness 126 is in heaven;
my advocate 127 is on high.
16:20 My intercessor is my friend 128
as my eyes pour out 129 tears to God;
16:21 and 130 he contends with God on behalf of man
as a man 131 pleads 132 for his friend.
16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few, 133
and then I will go on the way of no return. 134
17:1 My spirit is broken, 135
my days have faded out, 136
the grave 137 awaits me.
17:2 Surely mockery 138 is with me; 139
my eyes must dwell on their hostility. 140
17:3 Make then my pledge 141 with you.
Who else will put up security for me? 142
17:4 Because 143 you have closed their 144 minds to understanding,
therefore you will not exalt them. 145
17:5 If a man denounces his friends for personal gain, 146
the eyes of his children will fail.
17:6 He has made me 147 a byword 148 to people,
I am the one in whose face they spit. 149
17:7 My eyes have grown dim 150 with grief;
my whole frame 151 is but a shadow.
17:8 Upright men are appalled 152 at this;
the innocent man is troubled 153 with the godless.
17:9 But the righteous man holds to his way,
and the one with clean hands grows stronger. 154
17:10 “But turn, all of you, 155 and come 156 now! 157
I will not find a wise man among you.
17:11 My days have passed, my plans 158 are shattered,
even 159 the desires 160 of my heart.
17:12 These men 161 change 162 night into day;
they say, 163 ‘The light is near
in the face of darkness.’ 164
17:13 If 165 I hope for the grave to be my home,
if I spread out my bed in darkness,
17:14 If I cry 166 to corruption, 167 ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My Mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
17:15 where then 168 is my hope?
And my hope, 169 who sees it?
17:16 Will 170 it 171 go down to the barred gates 172 of death?
Will 173 we descend 174 together into the dust?”