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15:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered [Job] and said,
15:2  “Should a wise man [such as you] utter such windy and vain knowledge [as we have just heard] And fill himself with the east wind [of withering, parching, and violent accusations]?
15:3  “Should he rebuke and argue with useless talk? Or with words in which there is no benefit?
15:4  “Indeed, you are doing away with fear, And you are diminishing meditation before God.
15:5  “For your guilt teaches your mouth, And you choose [to speak] the language of the crafty and cunning.
15:6  “Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; Yes, your own lips testify against you.
15:7  “Were you the first man to be born [the original wise man], Or were you created before the hills?
15:8  “Do you hear the secret counsel of God, And do you limit [the possession of] wisdom to yourself?
15:9  “What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not equally clear to us?
15:10  “Among us are both the gray-haired and the aged, Older than your father.
15:11  “Are the consolations of God [as we have interpreted them to you] too trivial for you, [Or] were we too gentle toward you [in our first speech] to be effective?
15:12  “Why does your heart carry you away [allowing you to be controlled by emotion]? And why do your eyes flash [in anger or contempt],
15:13  That you should turn your spirit against God And let such words [as you have spoken] go out of your mouth?
15:14  “What is man, that he should be pure and clean, Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous and just?
15:15  “Behold, God puts no trust in His holy ones (angels); Indeed, the heavens are not pure in His sight—
15:16  How much less [pure and clean is] the one who is repulsive and corrupt, Man, who drinks unrighteousness and injustice like water!
15:17  “I will tell you, listen to me; And what I have seen I will also declare;
15:18  What wise men have [freely] told, And have not hidden [anything passed on to them] from their fathers,
15:19  To whom alone the land was given, And no stranger passed among them [corrupting the truth].
15:20  “The wicked man writhes with pain all his days, And numbered are the years stored up for him, the ruthless one.
15:21  “A [dreadful] sound of terrors is in his ears; While at peace and in a time of prosperity the destroyer comes upon him [the tent of the robber is not at peace].
15:22  “He does not believe that he will return out of the darkness [for fear of being murdered], And he is destined for the sword [of God’s vengeance].
15:23  “He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that the day of darkness and destruction is already at hand.
15:24  “Distress and anxiety terrify him, They overpower him like a king ready for battle.
15:25  “Because he has stretched out his hand against God And behaves arrogantly against the Almighty,
15:26  Running and charging headlong against Him With his ornamented and massive shield;
15:27  For he has covered his face with his fat, Adding layers of fat to his thighs [giving himself up to pleasures],
15:28  And he has lived in desolate [God-forsaken] cities, In houses which no one should inhabit, Which were destined to become heaps [of ruins];
15:29  He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure; And his grain will not bend to the earth nor his possessions be extended on the earth.
15:30  “He will not escape from darkness [fleeing disaster]; The flame [of God’s wrath] will wither his branch, And by the blast of His mouth he will go away.
15:31  “Let him not trust in vanity (emptiness, futility) and be led astray; For emptiness will be his reward [for such living].
15:32  “It will be fulfilled while he still lives, And his branch will not be green [but shall wither away].
15:33  “He will fail to bring his grapes to maturity [leaving them to wither unnourished] on the vine, And will cast off blossoms [and fail to bring forth fruit] like the olive tree.
15:34  “For the company of the godless is barren, And fire consumes the tents of bribery (wrong and injustice).
15:35  “They conceive mischief and bring forth wickedness, And their inmost soul prepares deceit and fraud.”