Job 15

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite spoke and said:	1 But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, said:
2 Should a wise man answer with airy opinions, or puff himself up with wind?	2 Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking wind, and will he fill his stomach with fire?
3 Should he argue in speech which does not avail, and in words which are to no profit?	3 You rebuke with words he who is not equal to you, and you speak what is not expedient for you,
4 You in fact do away with piety, and you lessen devotion toward God,	4 to such an extent that, within yourself, you have expelled reverence and have taken away prayers from the presence of God.
5 Because your wickedness instructs your mouth, and you choose to speak like the crafty.	5 For your iniquity has mislead your mouth, and you imitate the tongue of blasphemers.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I; you own lips refute you.	6 Your own mouth will condemn you, not I; and your own lips will answer you.
7 Are you indeed the first-born of mankind, or were you brought forth before the hills?	7 Are you the first man who was born, or were you formed before the hills?
8 Are you privy to the counsels of God, and do you restrict wisdom to yourself?	8 Have you heard the intentions of God, and will his wisdom be inferior to you?
9 What do you know that we do not know? What intelligence have you which we have not?	9 What do you know, about which we are ignorant? What do you understand that we do not know?
10 There are gray-haired old men among us more advanced in years than your father.	10 There are with us both aged and ancient men, even more senior than your fathers.
11 Are the consolations of God not enough for you, and speech that deals gently with you?	11 Is it so important that God should console you? But your own depraved words prevent this.
12 Why do your notions carry you away, and why do your eyes blink,	12 Why does your heart exalt you, and why do you gaze with your eyes, as if thinking great things?
13 So that you turn your anger against God and let such words escape your mouth!	13 Why does your spirit stir against God, so as to utter such speeches from your mouth?
14 What is a man that he should be blameless, one born of woman that he should be righteous?	14 What is man that he should be immaculate, and that he should appear just, having been born of woman?
15 If in his holy ones God places no confidence, and if the heavens are not clean in his sight,	15 Behold, among his holy ones not one is immutable, and even the heavens are not pure in his sight.
16 How much less so is the abominable, the corrupt: man, who drinks in iniquity like water!	16 How much more abominable and useless is the man who drinks as if from the water of iniquity?
17 I will show you, if you listen to me; what I have seen I will tell--	17 I will reveal to you, so listen to me; and I will explain to you what I have seen.
18 What wise men relate and have not contradicted since the days of their fathers,	18 The wise acknowledge, and they do not leave behind, their fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given, when no foreigner moved among them.	19 to whom alone the earth has been given, and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked man is in torment all his days, and limited years are in store for the tyrant;	20 The impious is arrogant for all his days, and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain.
21 The sound of terrors is in his ears; when all is prosperous, the spoiler comes upon him.	21 The sound of terror is always in his ears; and when there is peace, he always suspects treason.
22 He despairs of escaping the darkness, and looks ever for the sword;	22 He does not believe that it is possible for him to be turned from darkness into the light, for he sees around him the sword on every side.
23 A wanderer, food for the vultures, he knows that his destruction is imminent.	23 When he moves himself to seek bread, he knows that the day of darkness has been prepared for his hand.
24 By day the darkness fills him with dread; distress and anguish overpower him.	24 Tribulation will terrify him, and anguish will prevail over him, like a king who is being prepared to go to battle.
25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God and bade defiance to the Almighty,	25 For he has extended his hand against God, and he has strengthened himself against the Almighty.
26 One shall rush sternly upon him with the stout bosses of his shield, like a king prepared for the charge.	26 He has rushed against him with his throat exposed, and he has been armed with a fat neck.
27 Because he has blinded himself with his crassness, padding his loins with fat,	27 Thickness has covered his face, and lard hangs down from his sides.
28 He shall dwell in ruinous cities, in houses that are deserted, That are crumbling into clay	28 He has lived in desolate cities and deserted houses, which have been turned into tombs.
29 with no shadow to lengthen over the ground. He shall not be rich, and his possessions shall not endure;	29 He will not be enriched, nor will his basic necessities endure, nor will he establish his root in the earth.
30 A flame shall wither him up in his early growth, and with the wind his blossoms shall disappear.	30 He will not withdraw from the darkness; the flame will burn up his branches, and he will be defeated by the breath of his own mouth.
31 for vain shall be his bartering.	31 He will not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that he could be redeemed at any price.
32 His stalk shall wither before its time, and his branches shall be green no more.	32 Before his time is completed, he will pass into ruin and his hands will wither away.
33 He shall be like a vine that sheds its grapes unripened, and like an olive tree casting off its bloom.	33 He will be wounded like a grapevine, when its cluster is in first flower, and like an olive tree that casts off its flower.
34 For the breed of the impious shall be sterile, and fire shall consume the tents of extortioners.	34 For the congregation of the hypocrites is fruitless, and fire will devour the tabernacles of those who love to accept money.
35 They conceive malice and bring forth emptiness; they give birth to failure.	35 He has conceived sorrow, and he has brought forth iniquity, and his womb prepares deceit.