Job 15

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Eliphaz Answers Job

15 <1> Then Eliphaz from Teman answered Job:

<2> "If you were really wise,

you wouldn't answer with your worthless personal opinions!

A wise man would not be so full of hot air.

<3> Do you think a wise man

would use empty words

and meaningless speeches to win his arguments?

<4> If you had your way,

no one would respect God and pray to him.

<5> What you say clearly shows your sin.

Job, you are trying to hide your sin

by using clever words.

<6> I don't need to prove to you that you are wrong.

The words from your own mouth

show that you are wrong.

Your own lips speak against you.

<7> "Do you think you were the first

person ever to be born?

Were you born before the hills?

<8> Did you listen to God's secret plans?

Do you think you are the only wise person?

<9> We know as much as you do!

We understand as well as you.

<10> The old, gray-haired men agree with us.

People older than your father are on our side.

<11> God tries to comfort you,

but that is not enough for you.

We have spoken his message to you in a gentle way.

<12> Why will you not understand?

Why can you not see the truth?

<13> You are against God

when you say these angry words.

<14> "People cannot really be pure.

They[33] cannot be more right than God!

<15> God does not even trust his angels.[34]

He does not even think the sky is pure.

<16> People are even worse.

They are disgusting and dirty.

They drink up evil like water.

<17> "Listen to me.

I will explain it to you.

Let me tell you what I have seen.

<18> I will tell you what wise men would say.

They heard these things from their fathers,

and they freely passed it on.

They didn't hide any secrets from me.

<19> These are important people in our country!

Everyone knows who they are.

<20> And they said that an evil man suffers all his life.

A cruel man suffers all his numbered years.

<21> Every noise scares him.

His enemy will attack him when he thinks he is safe.

<22> An evil man will be frustrated,

and there is no hope for him to escape the darkness.

There is a sword somewhere

that is waiting to kill him.

<23> He wanders from place to place,

looking for food.

But he knows that a dark day is coming,

and that he brought it on himself.

<24> Worry and suffering frighten him

like a king who is ready to attack.

<25> That is because that evil man

refused to obey God.

He shook his fist at God

and tried to defeat God All-Powerful.

<26> He is like a soldier with a thick, strong shield

who runs at his enemy to strike him in the neck.

<27> He might be rich and fat,

<28> but his town will be ruined;

his home will be destroyed;

his house will be empty.

<29> He will not be rich for long.

His wealth will not last.

His crops will not grow large.

<30> He will not escape the darkness.

He will be like a tree

whose leaves die from disease

and a wind blows them all away.

<31> That evil man shouldn't fool himself

by trusting in worthless things,

because he will keep nothing.

<32> He will die before his time.

He will be like a tree whose top branches

have already begun to die.

<33> He will be like a vine

that loses its grapes before they ripen.

He will be like an olive tree

that loses its buds.

<34> That is because people without God have nothing.

People who love money

will have their homes destroyed by fire.

<35> Evil people are always planning ways

to do evil and cause trouble.

They are always planning ways

to cheat people."