Job 15

Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

1Then Eliphaz, one of Job's three friends, answered him. He came from a place called Teman.

2Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

2He said, "Should a wise man answer with empty words? Should he fill himself with hot desert wind?"

NoteThe east wind in that land was hot and dry. It blew in off the desert and helped nothing grow. Eliphaz says Job's words are like that wind.

3Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

3Should he argue using words that help no one? Should he make speeches that do no good?

4Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.

4But you chip away at people's respect for God. You get in the way of praying to him.

5For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

5Your wrongdoing tells your mouth what to say. You talk like a person who tricks others.

6Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

6Your own mouth says you are guilty, not me. Your own lips speak against you.

7Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?

7Were you the very first person ever born? Were you made before the hills were made?

8Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?

8Have you listened in while God made his plans? Do you keep all wisdom for yourself?

9What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?

9What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that we have missed?

10With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

10Gray-haired and very old men agree with us. They are much older than your father is.

11Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?

11Is God's comfort too small for you? Are our gentle words not enough for you?

12Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,

12Why does your heart carry you away? Why do your eyes flash with anger?

13That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?

13You have turned your spirit against God. You let words like these pour out of your mouth.

14What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

14What is a person, that he could be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be truly good?

15Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

15Look, God does not even trust his holy ones. Even the heavens are not clean in his eyes.

16How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?

16So a person is far worse. People are dirty inside. They drink up evil the way we drink water.

17I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;

17Listen to me, and I will tell you. I will explain what I have seen myself.

18Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:

18Wise men said these things long ago. Their fathers told them, and they did not hide them.

19Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

19The land was given to those men alone. No one from another country lived among them.

20The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

20A wicked man twists in pain all his days. A cruel man is given only a few years.

21A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

21Scary sounds fill his ears. Even when things go well, someone comes to destroy him.

22He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

22He does not believe he will come back from the dark. A sword is waiting for him.

23He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

23He wanders around looking for food and asks, "Where is it?" He knows a dark day is coming soon.

24Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

24Trouble and pain make him afraid. They beat him down like a king ready for battle.

25For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.

25This is because he shook his fist at God. He made himself proud against God, the strongest one.

26He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:

26He ran straight at God, carrying a thick shield covered with metal bumps.

NoteShields back then were often covered with thick metal studs. Eliphaz pictures the wicked man charging at God like a soldier in battle.

27Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

27His face is round with fat. Thick rolls of fat cover his sides.

NoteIn that time, a fat face and body meant a person was rich and comfortable. Eliphaz is not talking about how the man looks. He is saying the man has had an easy life.

28And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

28But he will live in ruined towns. He will live in empty houses that will soon be piles of stone.

29He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

29He will not stay rich. His money will not last. His things will not spread across the land.

30He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.

30He will not get out of the dark. Fire will dry up his branches. God's breath will blow him away.

31Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.

31He should not fool himself by trusting in things that are empty. Empty is all he will get back.

32It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

32He will be paid back before his time is up. His branch will not stay green.

33He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

33He will be like a vine that drops its grapes too soon. He will be like an olive tree that loses its flowers.

34For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

34People who only pretend to be good will end up with nothing. Fire will burn the tents of men who take bribes.

NoteA bribe is money paid in secret to get someone to do something wrong, like a judge deciding a case unfairly.

35They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

35They plan trouble, and what comes out is evil. Inside them, they are getting lies ready.