| Chapter 15 |
1 |
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, |
2 |
"Should a wise man answer with vain knowledge, And fill himself with the east wind? |
3 |
Should he reason with unprofitable talk, Or with speeches with which he can do no good? |
4 |
Yes, you do away with fear, And hinder devotion before God. |
5 |
For your iniquity teaches your mouth, And you choose the language of the crafty. |
6 |
Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; Yes, your own lips testify against you. |
7 |
"Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills? |
8 |
Have you heard the secret counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? |
9 |
What do you know, that we don`t know? What do you understand, which is not in us? |
10 |
With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men, Much elder than your father. |
11 |
Are the consolations of God too small for you, Even the word that is gentle toward you? |
12 |
Why does your heart carry you away? Why do your eyes flash, |
13 |
That you turn your spirit against God, And let such words go out of your mouth? |
14 |
What is man, that he should be clean? He who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? |
15 |
Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones; Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight: |
16 |
How much less one who is abominable and corrupt, A man who drinks iniquity like water! |
17 |
"I will show you, listen to me; That which I have seen I will declare: |
18 |
(Which wise men have told From their fathers, and have not hidden it; |
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To whom alone the land was given, And no stranger passed among them): |
20 |
The wicked man travails with pain all his days, Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor. |
21 |
A sound of terrors is in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer shall come on him. |
22 |
He doesn`t believe that he shall return out of darkness, He is waited for by the sword. |
23 |
He wanders abroad for bread, saying, `Where is it?` He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. |
24 |
Distress and anguish make him afraid; They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. |
25 |
Because he has stretched out his hand against God, And behaves himself proudly against the Almighty; |
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He runs at him with a stiff neck, With the thick shields of his bucklers; |
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Because he has covered his face with his fatness, And gathered fat on his loins. |
28 |
He has lived in desolate cities, In houses which no one inhabited, Which were ready to become heaps. |
29 |
He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, Neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth. |
30 |
He shall not depart out of darkness; The flame shall dry up his branches, By the breath of God`s mouth shall he go away. |
31 |
Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; For emptiness shall be his reward. |
32 |
It shall be accomplished before his time. His branch shall not be green. |
33 |
He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, And shall cast off his flower as the olive-tree. |
34 |
For the company of the godless shall be barren, And fire shall consume the tents of bribery. |
35 |
They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. Their heart prepares deceit." |