Job 15:1-35 NLT

[1] Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: [2] "A wise man wouldn't answer with such empty talk! You are nothing but a windbag. [3] The wise don't engage in empty chatter. What good are such words? [4] Have you no fear of God, no reverence for him? [5] Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception. [6] Your own mouth condemns you, not I. Your own lips testify against you. [7] "Were you the first person ever born? Were you born before the hills were made? [8] Were you listening at God's secret council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom? [9] What do you know that we don't? What do you understand that we do not? [10] On our side are aged, gray-haired men much older than your father! [11] "Is God's comfort too little for you? Is his gentle word not enough? [12] What has taken away your reason? What has weakened your vision, [13] that you turn against God and say all these evil things? [14] Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be just? [15] Look, God does not even trust the angels. Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight. [16] How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness! [17] "If you will listen, I will show you. I will answer you from my own experience. [18] And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men who have heard the same thing from their fathers- [19] from those to whom the land was given long before any foreigners arrived. [20] "The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives. Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless. [21] The sound of terror rings in their ears, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer. [22] They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered. [23] They wander around, saying, 'Where can I find bread?' They know their day of destruction is near. [24] That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for battle. [25] For they shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty. [26] Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him. [27] "These wicked people are heavy and prosperous; their waists bulge with fat. [28] But their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down. [29] Their riches will not last, and their wealth will not endure. Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon. [30] "They will not escape the darkness. The burning sun will wither their shoots, and the breath of God will destroy them. [31] Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches, for emptiness will be their only reward. [32] They will be cut down in the prime of life; their branches will never again be green. [33] They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early, like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form. [34] For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn. [35] They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their womb produces deceit."