Job 15:1-35 ICB

[1] Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered: [2] "A wise man would not answer with empty words. He would not fill his stomach with hot, east wind. [3] He would not argue with useless words. He would not make speeches that have no value. [4] But you even break down the worship of God. You stand in the way of those who pray to him. [5] Your sin teaches your mouth what to say. You use the same words as people who trick others. [6] It is your own mouth, not mine, that shows you are wicked. Your own lips speak as a witness against you. [7] "You are not the first man ever born. You were not born before the hills were made. [8] You cannot listen in on God's secret advice. You cannot limit wisdom to yourself. [9] You don't know any more than we know. You don't understand any more than we understand. [10] Old people with gray hair are on our side. They are men even older than your father. [11] The comfort God gives you is not enough for you, even when words are spoken gently to you. [12] Your heart has carried you away from God. Your eyes flash with anger. [13] You speak out your anger against God. And these words pour out of your mouth. [14] "How can man be pure? How can a person born to a woman be good? [15] God places no trust in his holy ones. Even the heavens are not pure in his eyes. [16] And man is even less than they are. He is terrible and rotten. He drinks up evil as if it were water! [17] "Job, listen to me, and I will tell you about it. I will tell you what I have seen. [18] These are things wise men have told. Their ancestors told them these things, and they have hidden nothing. [19] (The land was given to their fathers only. No foreigner lived among them.) [20] The evil man suffers pain all his life. The cruel man suffers during all the years saved up for him. [21] Terrible sounds fill his ears. When things seem to be going well, robbers attack him. [22] The evil person gives up trying to escape from the darkness. It has been decided that he will die by the sword. [23] He wanders around. He will become food for vultures. He knows death will soon come. [24] Worry and suffering terrify him. They overwhelm him. They seem like a king ready to attack. [25] This is because he shakes his fist at God. He tries to get his own way against God All-Powerful. [26] He stubbornly charges at God with a thick, strong shield. [27] "The evil person's face is covered with fat. His waist is fat with flesh. [28] He will live in towns that are ruined. He will live in houses where no one lives. They are houses that are crumbling into ruins. [29] The evil person will no longer get rich. And the riches he has will not last. The things he owns will no longer spread over the land. [30] He will not escape the darkness. A flame will dry up his branches. God's breath will carry that evil person away. [31] The evil person should not fool himself by trusting what is useless. If he does, he will get nothing in return. [32] His branch will dry up before it finishes growing. It will not even become green. [33] He will be like a vine whose grapes are pulled off before they are ripe. He will be like an olive tree that loses its blossoms. [34] People without God can produce nothing. Fire will destroy the tents of people who take money to do evil. [35] They plan trouble and give birth to evil. Their hearts plan ways to trick people."