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NIV

Job 15

  1. 1<pb/>Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
  2. 2<pb/><t>“Would a wise person answer with empty notions</t> <t>or fill their belly with the hot east wind?</t>
  3. 3<t>Would they argue with useless words,</t> <t>with speeches that have no value?</t>
  4. 4<t>But you even undermine piety</t> <t>and hinder devotion to God.</t>
  5. 5<t>Your sin prompts your mouth;</t> <t>you adopt the tongue of the crafty.</t>
  6. 6<t>Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;</t> <t>your own lips testify against you. <pb/></t>
  7. 7<t>“Are you the first man ever born?</t> <t>Were you brought forth before the hills?</t>
  8. 8<t>Do you listen in on God’s council?</t> <t>Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?</t>
  9. 9<t>What do you know that we do not know?</t> <t>What insights do you have that we do not have?</t>
  10. 10<t>The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,</t> <t>men even older than your father.</t>
  11. 11<t>Are God’s consolations not enough for you,</t> <t>words spoken gently to you?</t>
  12. 12<t>Why has your heart carried you away,</t> <t>and why do your eyes flash,</t>
  13. 13<t>so that you vent your rage against God</t> <t>and pour out such words from your mouth? <pb/></t>
  14. 14<t>“What are mortals, that they could be pure,</t> <t>or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?</t>
  15. 15<t>If God places no trust in his holy ones,</t> <t>if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,</t>
  16. 16<t>how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,</t> <t>who drink up evil like water! <pb/></t>
  17. 17<t>“Listen to me and I will explain to you;</t> <t>let me tell you what I have seen,</t>
  18. 18<t>what the wise have declared,</t> <t>hiding nothing received from their ancestors</t>
  19. 19<t>(to whom alone the land was given</t> <t>when no foreigners moved among them):</t>
  20. 20<t>All his days the wicked man suffers torment,</t> <t>the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.</t>
  21. 21<t>Terrifying sounds fill his ears;</t> <t>when all seems well, marauders attack him.</t>
  22. 22<t>He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;</t> <t>he is marked for the sword.</t>
  23. 23<t>He wanders about for food like a vulture;</t> <t>he knows the day of darkness is at hand.</t>
  24. 24<t>Distress and anguish fill him with terror;</t> <t>troubles overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,</t>
  25. 25<t>because he shakes his fist at God</t> <t>and vaunts himself against the Almighty,</t>
  26. 26<t>defiantly charging against him</t> <t>with a thick, strong shield. <pb/></t>
  27. 27<t>“Though his face is covered with fat</t> <t>and his waist bulges with flesh,</t>
  28. 28<t>he will inhabit ruined towns</t> <t>and houses where no one lives,</t> <t>houses crumbling to rubble.</t>
  29. 29<t>He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,</t> <t>nor will his possessions spread over the land.</t>
  30. 30<t>He will not escape the darkness;</t> <t>a flame will wither his shoots,</t> <t>and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.</t>
  31. 31<t>Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless,</t> <t>for he will get nothing in return.</t>
  32. 32<t>Before his time he will wither,</t> <t>and his branches will not flourish.</t>
  33. 33<t>He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,</t> <t>like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.</t>
  34. 34<t>For the company of the godless will be barren,</t> <t>and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.</t>
  35. 35<t>They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;</t> <t>their womb fashions deceit.”</t>