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15:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
15:2  Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill himself with the hot east wind?
15:3  Should he argue with useless talk or with words that serve no good purpose?
15:4  But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before him.
15:5  Your iniquity teaches you what to say, and you choose the language of the crafty.
15:6  Your own mouth condemns you, not I; your own lips testify against you.
15:7  Were you the first human ever born, or were you brought forth before the hills?
15:8  Do you listen in on the council of God, or have a monopoly on wisdom?
15:9  What do you know that we don’t? What do you understand that is not clear to us?
15:10  Both the gray-haired and the elderly are with us— older than your father.
15:11  Are God’s consolations not enough for you, even the words that deal gently with you?
15:12  Why has your heart misled you, and why do your eyes flash
15:13  as you turn your anger against God and allow such words to leave your mouth?
15:14  What is a mere human, that he should be pure, or one born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15:15  If God puts no trust in his holy ones and the heavens are not pure in his sight,
15:16  how much less one who is revolting and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
15:17  Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,
15:18  what the wise have declared and not concealed, that came from their ancestors,
15:19  to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.
15:20  A wicked person writhes in pain all his days, throughout the number of years reserved for the ruthless.
15:21  Dreadful sounds fill his ears; when he is at peace, a robber attacks him.
15:22  He doesn’t believe he will return from darkness; he is destined for the sword.
15:23  He wanders about for food, asking, “Where is it?” He knows the day of darkness is at hand.
15:24  Trouble and distress terrify him, overwhelming him like a king prepared for battle.
15:25  For he has stretched out his hand against God and has arrogantly opposed the Almighty.
15:26  He rushes headlong at him with his thick, studded shields.
15:27  Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with it,
15:28  he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become piles of rubble.
15:29  He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not increase in the land.
15:30  He will not escape from the darkness; flames will wither his shoots, and by the breath of God’s mouth, he will depart.
15:31  Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray, for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless.
15:32  It will be accomplished before his time, and his branch will not flourish.
15:33  He will be like a vine that drops its unripe grapes and like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.
15:34  For the company of the godless will have no children, and fire will consume the tents of those who offer bribes.
15:35  They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb prepares deception.