

Eliphazs Second Speech65
15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, saying,
15:2 Does a wise man answer with windy knowledge,1
or fill his belly2
with the east wind?3
15:3 Does he argue4
with useless5
talk,
with words that have no value in them?
15:4 But you even break off6
piety,7
and hinder8
meditation9
before God.
15:5 Your sin inspire10
your mouth
you choose the language11
of the crafty;12
15:6 your mouth condemns13
you, not I;
your lips testify against14
you.
15:7 Were you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
15:8 Do you listen in Gods council?15
Do you limit16
wisdom to yourself?
15:9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand
that is not understood by us?17
15:10 The gray-haired18
and the aged are on our side,19
men even older than your father.20
15:11 Are Gods consolations21
too trivial for you;22
or a word spoken23
in gentleness to you?
15:12 Why24
has your heart carried you away,25
and why do your eyes flash,26
15:13 when you turn your rage27
against God
and allow such words to proceed28
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,29
if even the heavens30
are not pure in his eyes,
15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and
corrupt,31
who drinks in evil like water.32
15:17 I will explain to you; listen to me,
and what33
I have seen, I will declare,34
15:18 what wise men declare,
hiding nothing,
from the tradition of35
their fathers,36
15:19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.37
15:20 All his days38
the wicked man suffers torment,39
throughout the number of the years
that40
are stored up for the tyrant.41
15:21 Terrifying sounds fill42
his ears,
in a time of peace marauders43
attack him.
15:22 He does not expect44
to escape from darkness;45
he is marked for the sword;46
15:23 he wanders aboutfood for vultures;47
he knows that the day of darkness is at hand;48
15:24 Distress and anguish49
terrify him,
they prevail against him
like a king ready for attack,50
15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God,51
and vaunts himself52
against the Almighty,
15:26 defiantly charging against him53
with a thick, strong shield!54
15:27 Because he covered his face with fatness,55
and he made56
his hips fat,57
15:28 he dwelt in ruined towns58
and in houses where59
no one lives
where they are ready to crumble into heaps.60
15:29 He will not grow rich,
and his wealth will not endure;
nor will his possessions61
spread over the land.
15:30 He will not escape the darkness,62
a flame will wither his shoots,
and he will depart
by the breath of Gods mouth.63
15:31 Let him not trust in what is worthless,64
deceiving himself;
for worthlessness will be his reward.65
15:32 Before his time66
he will be paid in full,67
and his branches will not flourish.68
15:33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall,69
and like an olive tree
he will cast off his blossoms.70
15:34 For the company of the godless is barren,71
and fire72
consumes the tents of bribery.73
15:35 They conceive74
trouble and bring forth evil;
their belly75
prepares deception.

