15:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

15:2  “Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge,
And fill himself with the east wind?

15:3  Should he reason with unprofitable talk,
Or by speeches with which he can do no good?

15:4  Yes, you cast off fear,
And restrain prayer before God.

15:5  For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
And you choose the tongue of the crafty.

15:6  Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
Yes, your own lips testify against you.

15:7  “Are you the first man who was born?
Or were you made before the hills?

15:8  Have you heard the counsel of God?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

15:9  What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not in us?

15:10  Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Much older than your father.

15:11  Are the consolations of God too small for you,
And the word spoken gently with you?

15:12  Why does your heart carry you away,
And what do your eyes wink at,

15:13  That you turn your spirit against God,
And let such words go out of your mouth?

15:14  “What is man, that he could be pure?
And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?

15:15  If God puts no trust in His saints,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight,

15:16  How much less man, who is abominable and filthy,
Who drinks iniquity like water!

15:17  “I will tell you, hear me;
What I have seen I will declare,

15:18  What wise men have told,
Not hiding anything received from their fathers,

15:19  To whom alone the land was given,
And no alien passed among them:

15:20  The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.

15:21  Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.

15:22  He does not believe that he will return from darkness,
For a sword is waiting for him.

15:23  He wanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.

15:24  Trouble and anguish make him afraid;
They overpower him, like a king ready for battle.

15:25  For he stretches out his hand against God,
And acts defiantly against the Almighty,

15:26  Running stubbornly against Him
With his strong, embossed shield.

15:27  “Though he has covered his face with his fatness,
And made his waist heavy with fat,

15:28  He dwells in desolate cities,
In houses which no one inhabits,
Which are destined to become ruins.

15:29  He will not be rich,
Nor will his wealth continue,
Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.

15:30  He will not depart from darkness;
The flame will dry out his branches,
And by the breath of His mouth he will go away.

15:31  Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself,
For futility will be his reward.

15:32  It will be accomplished before his time,
And his branch will not be green.

15:33  He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine,
And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.

15:34  For the company of hypocrites will be barren,
And fire will consume the tents of bribery.

15:35  They conceive trouble and bring forth futility;
Their womb prepares deceit.”