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15:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
15:2  “A wise man would not answer with empty words. He would not fill his stomach with hot, east wind.
15:3  He would not argue with useless words. He would not make speeches that have no value.
15:4  But you even break down the worship of God. You stand in the way of those who pray to him.
15:5  Your sin teaches your mouth what to say. You use the same words as people who trick others.
15:6  It is your own mouth, not mine, that shows you are wicked. Your own lips speak as a witness against you.
15:7  “You are not the first man ever born. You were not born before the hills were made.
15:8  You cannot listen in on God’s secret advice. You cannot limit wisdom to yourself.
15:9  You don’t know any more than we know. You don’t understand any more than we understand.
15:10  Old people with gray hair are on our side. They are men even older than your father.
15:11  The comfort God gives you is not enough for you, even when words are spoken gently to you.
15:12  Your heart has carried you away from God. Your eyes flash with anger.
15:13  You speak out your anger against God. And these words pour out of your mouth.
15:14  “How can man be pure? How can a person born to a woman be good?
15:15  God places no trust in his holy ones. Even the heavens are not pure in his eyes.
15:16  And man is even less than they are. He is terrible and rotten. He drinks up evil as if it were water!
15:17  “Job, listen to me, and I will tell you about it. I will tell you what I have seen.
15:18  These are things wise men have told. Their ancestors told them these things, and they have hidden nothing.
15:19  (The land was given to their fathers only. No foreigner lived among them.)
15:20  The evil man suffers pain all his life. The cruel man suffers during all the years saved up for him.
15:21  Terrible sounds fill his ears. When things seem to be going well, robbers attack him.
15:22  The evil person gives up trying to escape from the darkness. It has been decided that he will die by the sword.
15:23  He wanders around. He will become food for vultures. He knows death will soon come.
15:24  Worry and suffering terrify him. They overwhelm him. They seem like a king ready to attack.
15:25  This is because he shakes his fist at God. He tries to get his own way against God All-Powerful.
15:26  He stubbornly charges at God with a thick, strong shield.
15:27  “The evil person’s face is covered with fat. His waist is fat with flesh.
15:28  He will live in towns that are ruined. He will live in houses where no one lives. They are houses that are crumbling into ruins.
15:29  The evil person will no longer get rich. And the riches he has will not last. The things he owns will no longer spread over the land.
15:30  He will not escape the darkness. A flame will dry up his branches. God’s breath will carry that evil person away.
15:31  The evil person should not fool himself by trusting what is useless. If he does, he will get nothing in return.
15:32  His branch will dry up before it finishes growing. It will not even become green.
15:33  He will be like a vine whose grapes are pulled off before they are ripe. He will be like an olive tree that loses its blossoms.
15:34  People without God can produce nothing. Fire will destroy the tents of people who take money to do evil.
15:35  They plan trouble and give birth to evil. Their hearts plan ways to trick people.”