Job 15

Then Eliphaz, Job’s friend from the town of Teman, replied to what Job had said. Eliphaz told him, 2 “If you were truly wise, you would not have said such useless things. You have said a lot, but it has all been insignificant. 3 You should not be saying things that do not benefit anyone. No, you should not speak things that are not helpful. \* 4 You are actually encouraging others not to respect God. Yes, you are discouraging people from honoring him. 5 You are wicked, and that is why you say what you do. You are talking in the way that deceptive people talk. 6 Everything that you say shows that God should punish you. It is not necessary for me to prove that. \* 7 {You should not think that you know so much} You were not the first person whom God created. God did not make you when he first formed the world. 8 You do not listen as God makes his plans. You should not think that you are the only person who is wise. 9 We know everything that you know. We understand everything that you understand. \* 10 My friends and I are saying the same things that old, wise people say, people who were born before your father was. 11 God wants to comfort you and speak gently to you, but you do not appreciate that. \* 12 You should not be allowing yourself to become so emotional. No, you should not be allowing yourself to lose your temper. 13 You have become angry with God, and so you are saying harsh things against him. 14 No human being can be sinless. No one on this earth can be completely righteous. \* 15 God does not even trust his own angels {to do the right thing every time}. He does not consider the heavens to be completely pure. 16 So God certainly does not consider people to be pure who commit terrible wrongs, who do evil deeds as often as they drink water. \* 17 Job, I want to explain {why you are experiencing so much suffering}. Please listen to me. I have learned many things, and I want to explain them to you. 18 These are things that wise people have passed down from their ancestors. These wise people have declared all these things openly. \* 19 God gave the land {of Edom} exclusively to my wise ancestors. No one came from another country and caused them to think wrongly about God. 20 Wicked people suffer great pain the whole time that they are alive. God has determined that this will happen constantly to those who oppress others. 21 Wicked people constantly experience terrible things. They may become wealthy, but they will lose that wealth. \* 22 Wicked people lose hope that their troubles will ever end. They are always afraid that they are going to die violently. 23 They have to go and search for food to eat. They do not know where to find it. They know that they will certainly experience disasters soon. 24 Wicked people are always afraid that bad things will happen to them. Their fear keeps them from taking actions that might protect them, as if an opposing king had defeated them in a battle {and they had become helpless}. \* 25 These things happen to wicked people because they oppose God. They think they are strong enough to defeat Shaddai. 26 Wicked people stubbornly oppose God as if they had a strong shield to protect themselves against God. \* 27 But they are so fat that they would not be able to fight! 28 Wicked people have to live in cities that others have deserted. They live in homes that others have abandoned. Those homes are about to collapse into a pile of ruins. \* 29 Few wicked people become rich, and those who do become rich do not stay rich for very long. No, they do not acquire great wealth. 30 Wicked people will always be in trouble. They will be like trees whose branches burn up. When God gives the command, they will die. \* 31 Wicked people are often foolish and want to get things that are actually worthless. In the end, all they have are those worthless things. 32 While they are still young, they will die. They are like branches that have broken off a tree and dried up. 33 Wicked people are like vines whose grapes fall off before they are ripe. They are like olive trees whose blossoms fall off before they produce any fruit. \* 34 Surely wicked people will not have any descendants. Those who took money from bribes will not have any money left in the end. 35 They plan to cause trouble and to do evil things. They continually think of ways to deceive other people.” \*