Job 15

^{Job 15:1} Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

^{Job 15:2} “Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?

^{Job 15:3} Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?

^{Job 15:4} But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.

^{Job 15:5} For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.

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

^{Job 15:7} Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

^{Job 15:8} Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?

^{Job 15:9} What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?

^{Job 15:10} Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side— men much older than your father.

^{Job 15:11} Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?

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

^{Job 15:13} as you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?

^{Job 15:14} What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

^{Job 15:15} If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,

^{Job 15:16} how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?

^{Job 15:17} Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,

^{Job 15:18} what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,

^{Job 15:19} to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.

^{Job 15:20} A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.

^{Job 15:21} Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.

^{Job 15:22} He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.

^{Job 15:23} He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

^{Job 15:24} Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.

^{Job 15:25} For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,

^{Job 15:26} rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.

^{Job 15:27} Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,

^{Job 15:28} he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.

^{Job 15:29} He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.

^{Job 15:30} He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.

^{Job 15:31} Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.

^{Job 15:32} It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.

^{Job 15:33} He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.

^{Job 15:34} For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.

^{Job 15:35} They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”