Job 15:1-35 ERV

[1] Then Eliphaz from Teman answered Job: [2] "If you were really wise, you would not answer with your worthless personal opinions! A wise man would not be so full of hot air. [3] Do you think a wise man would use empty words and meaningless speeches to win his arguments? [4] If you had your way, no one would respect God and pray to him. [5] What you say clearly shows your sin. Job, you are trying to hide your sin by using clever words. [6] I don't need to prove to you that you are wrong. The words from your own mouth show that you are wrong. Your own lips speak against you. [7] "Do you think you were the first person ever to be born? Were you born before the hills? [8] Did you listen to God's secret plans? Do you think you are the only wise person? [9] We know as much as you do! We understand as well as you. [10] The old, gray-haired men agree with us. People older than your father are on our side. [11] God tries to comfort you, but that is not enough for you. We have spoken his message to you in a gentle way. [12] Why will you not understand? Why can you not see the truth? [13] You are expressing your anger against God when you say these things. [14] "People cannot really be pure. They cannot be more right than God! [15] God does not even trust his angels. He does not even think the sky is pure. [16] People are even worse. They are disgusting and dirty. They drink up evil like water. [17] "Listen to me, and I will explain it to you. Let me tell you what I have seen. [18] I will tell you what wise men would say, things they heard from their fathers and then freely passed on. They didn't hide any secrets from me. [19] These are important people in our country! Everyone knows who they are. [20] And they said that an evil man suffers all his life. A cruel man suffers all his numbered years. [21] Every noise scares him. His enemy will attack him when he thinks he is safe. [22] An evil man has no hope of escaping the darkness. There is a sword somewhere waiting to kill him. [23] He wanders from place to place, looking for food. But he knows a dark day is coming, which he brought on himself. [24] He lives in fear, with worry and suffering threatening him like a king ready to attack. [25] That is because that evil man shook his fist at God, refusing to obey. He dared to attack God All-Powerful, [26] like a soldier with a thick, strong shield who runs at his enemy to strike him in the neck. [27] He might be rich and fat, [28] but his town will be ruined; his home will be destroyed; his house will be empty. [29] He will not be rich for long. His wealth will not last. His crops will not grow large. [30] He will not escape the darkness. He will be like a tree whose leaves die from disease and are blown away by the wind. [31] That evil man should not fool himself by trusting in worthless things, because he will keep nothing. [32] He will die before his time, like a tree whose top branches have already begun to die. [33] He will be like a vine that loses its grapes before they ripen. He will be like an olive tree that loses its buds. [34] That is because people without God have nothing. Those who take bribes will have their homes destroyed by fire. [35] They are always thinking of ways to do evil and cause trouble. They are always planning how they might cheat others."