Bible

Job 15 (TNIV)

Topics in Book | Outline of Book | Facts About Book | Commentary | Parallel Verse

NET | ESV | KJV | ASV | RSV | Good News | CEV | Basic | MSG | Spanish | French

Previous Chapter | Browse | Next Chapter

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