GodsWord - Job - 15

15:1  Then Eliphaz from Teman replied to Job,

15:2  "Should a wise person answer with endless details and fill his stomach with the east wind?

15:3  Should he argue with words that don't help, with speeches that don't help anyone?

15:4  Yes, you destroy the fear of God and diminish devotion to God.

15:5  Your sin teaches you what to say. You choose to talk with a sly tongue.

15:6  Your own mouth condemns you, not I. Your lips testify against you.

15:7  "Were you the first human to be born? Were you delivered before the hills existed?

15:8  Did you listen in on God's council meeting and receive a monopoly on wisdom?

15:9  What do you know that we don't know? What do you understand that we don't?

15:10  Both the old and the gray-haired are among us. They are older than your father.

15:11  Isn't God's comfort enough for you, even when gently spoken to you?

15:12  Why have your emotions carried you away? Why do your eyes flash

15:13  when you turn against God and spit these words out of your mouth?

15:14  Why should a mortal be considered faultless or someone born of a woman be considered righteous?

15:15  If God doesn't trust his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight,

15:16  how much less will he trust the one who is disgusting and corrupt, the one who drinks wickedness like water.

15:17  "I'll tell you; listen to me! I'll relate what I have seen.

15:18  I'll tell you what wise people have declared and what was not kept secret from their ancestors.

15:19  (The land was given to them alone, and no stranger passed through their land.)

15:20  "The wicked person is tortured all his days. Only a few years are reserved for the ruthless person.

15:21  Terrifying sounds are in his ears. While he enjoys peace, the destroyer comes to him.

15:22  He doesn't believe he'll return from the dark. He is destined to be killed with a sword.

15:23  He wanders around for food and asks, 'Where is it?' He knows that his ruin is close at hand.

15:24  "The day of darkness troubles him. Distress and anguish terrify him like a king ready for battle.

15:25  He stretches out his hand against God and attacks the Almighty like a warrior.

15:26  He stubbornly charges at him with a thick shield.

15:27  "His face is bloated with fat, and he is fat around the waist.

15:28  He lives in ruined cities where no one dwells, in houses that are doomed to be piles of rubble.

15:29  He won't get rich, and his wealth won't last. His possessions won't spread out over the land.

15:30  "He won't escape the darkness. A flame will shrivel his branches. He will be blown away by his own breath.

15:31  He shouldn't trust in worthless things and deceive himself because he will get worthless things in return.

15:32  It will happen before his time has come, and his branch will not become green.

15:33  He will drop his unripened grapes like a vine and throw off his blossoms like an olive tree

15:34  because a mob of godless people produces nothing, and fire burns up the tents of those who offer bribes.

15:35  They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their wombs produce deception."