Job 15 · Clearspring

Eliphaz: Job Does Not Fear God

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:+ ²“Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill his belly with the hot east wind?+ ³Should he argue with useless words or speeches that serve no purpose?+ ⁴But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before Him.+ ⁵For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.+ ⁶Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.+ ⁷Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?+ ⁸Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?+ ⁹What do you know that we do not? What do you understand that is not clear to us?+ ¹⁰Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side — men much older than your father.+ ¹¹Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?+ ¹²Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,+ ¹³so that you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?+ ¹⁴What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?+ ¹⁵If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,+ ¹⁶how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?+ ¹⁷Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,+ ¹⁸what was declared by wise men and was not concealed from their fathers,+ ¹⁹to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.+ ²⁰A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.+ ²¹Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.+ ²²He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.+ ²³He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.+ ²⁴Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.+ ²⁵For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,+ ²⁶rushing headlong at Him with a thick, studded shield.+ ²⁷Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,+ ²⁸he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become rubble.+ ²⁹He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.+ ³⁰He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.+ ³¹Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.+ ³²It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not flourish.+ ³³He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.+ ³⁴For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.+ ³⁵They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”+

Eliphaz: Job Does Not Fear God

Study Job 15