| 章 |
| 15:1 |
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
|
| 15:2 |
"Would a wise man answer with empty notions or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
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| 15:3 |
Would he argue with useless words, with speeches that have no value?
|
| 15:4 |
But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God.
|
| 15:5 |
Your sin prompts your mouth; you adopt the tongue of the crafty.
|
| 15:6 |
Your own mouth condemns you, not mine; your own lips testify against you.
|
| 15:7 |
"Are you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?
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| 15:8 |
Do you listen in on God's council? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
|
| 15:9 |
What do you know that we do not know? What insights do you have that we do not have?
|
| 15:10 |
The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men even older than your father.
|
| 15:11 |
Are God's consolations not enough for you, words spoken gently to you?
|
| 15:12 |
Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash,
|
| 15:13 |
so that you vent your rage against God and pour out such words from your mouth?
|
| 15:14 |
"What is man, that he could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could be righteous?
|
| 15:15 |
If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,
|
| 15:16 |
how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water!
|
| 15:17 |
"Listen to me and I will explain to you; let me tell you what I have seen,
|
| 15:18 |
what wise men have declared, hiding nothing received from their fathers
|
| 15:19 |
(to whom alone the land was given when no alien passed among them):
|
| 15:20 |
All his days the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless through all the years stored up for him.
|
| 15:21 |
Terrifying sounds fill his ears; when all seems well, marauders attack him.
|
| 15:22 |
He despairs of escaping the darkness; he is marked for the sword.
|
| 15:23 |
He wanders about--food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
|
| 15:24 |
Distress and anguish fill him with terror; they overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,
|
| 15:25 |
because he shakes his fist at God and vaunts himself against the Almighty,
|
| 15:26 |
defiantly charging against him with a thick, strong shield.
|
| 15:27 |
"Though his face is covered with fat and his waist bulges with flesh,
|
| 15:28 |
he will inhabit ruined towns and houses where no one lives, houses crumbling to rubble.
|
| 15:29 |
He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the land.
|
| 15:30 |
He will not escape the darkness; a flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God's mouth will carry him away.
|
| 15:31 |
Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless, for he will get nothing in return.
|
| 15:32 |
Before his time he will be paid in full, and his branches will not flourish.
|
| 15:33 |
He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.
|
| 15:34 |
For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.
|
| 15:35 |
They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit."
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