Chapter 15
Then Eliphaz, the Temanite,
replied saying:
Should a wise man respond to empty opinion,
A bellyful of hot air from the East?
Should he dispute against useless speeches,
Or words that have no value?
Indeed,
You are subverting reverence for God,
Diminishing communion with God.
Your sinfulness dictates your speech,
Makes you adopt crafty language.
Your own mouth condemns you, Not I,
Your own lips testify against you.
Were you the first, bearing all mankind?
Were you created, befall the fall?
Did you listen in on the council of God?
Did you take all wisdom for yourself?
What do you know that we do not?
Understand that we have not?
Among us are the gray-haired, the aged,
Far older than your father.
Are the consolations of God not enough for you?
Nor the words we spoke gently to you?
Why let your heart impassion you?
Why let your eyes flash with anger?
That you vent hot air towards God,
Let empty words pour forth from your mouth.
What is man that he could be cleared of guilt?
One born of woman, that he could be in the right?
Behold,
God puts no trust even in His Holy Ones,
The heavens are not pure in His sight.
How much less, one who is vile and corrupt,
You who drinks iniquity like water.
I will tell you – listen to me,
What I have seen I will declare.
Which wise sages have declared,
Not concealing anything received from their ancestors,
To whom individually, God gave the earth,
When there were no strangers to pass among them.
The wicked writhe in torment all their days,
The tyrants through all the years reserved for them.
The sound of terror is always in their ears,
Even while at peace, they fear the despoiler coming upon them.
They lack hope of escaping the darkness,
Certain the sword is their destiny.
They wander about for bread – Asking Where is it?
Knowing the day of darkness is ready for them.
Anguish terrifies them,
Anxiety overpowers them,
Like a king, anticipating the enemy’s siege.
Because they raised their fists towards God,
Acting in defiance of the Almighty.
Rushing against Him with their thick necks,
Behind the thick layers of their shields.
For they have enshroud their faces with fat,
Layered their loins with blubber.
They dwell in devastated cities,
In houses others would not live in,
Readied to become heaps of rubble.
They cannot retain their wealth,
Their fortune cannot endure,
Their yield is not prolonged upon the earth.
Never will they turn away from the darkness,
Their shoots shall wither in the hot wind,
Their fruits by the breath of God.
Let no one trust in them,
Deceived by falsehoods,
For falsehoods will be their recompense.
It shall be accomplished,
Before their day is over,
Their boughs never having flourished.
Their unripe fruit will be stripped, like the vine,
Their blossom petals shed, like the olive tree.
For the assembly of the godless is left desolate,
And fire devours the tents of the corrupt.
For they conceive wretchedness,
Giving birth to evil,
Whose womb fashions deceit.