Job 15 — Side by side (WEB, ASV, BBE)

1Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

1And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,

2Should a wise man make answer with vain knowledge, And fill himself with the east wind?

2 Should a wise man make answer with vain knowledge, And fill himself with the east wind?

2Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?

3Should he reason with unprofitable talk, Or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

3Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?

4Yea, thou doest away with fear, And hinderest devotion before God.

4Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry.

5For thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth, And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

5For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself.

6Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; Yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

6It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you.

7Art thou the first man that was born? Or wast thou brought forth before the hills?

7 Art thou the first man that was born? Or wast thou brought forth before the hills?

7Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills?

8Hast thou heard the secret counsel of God? And dost thou limit wisdom to thyself?

8Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself?

9What knowest thou, that we know not? What understandest thou, which is not in us?

9What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?

10With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men, Much elder than thy father.

10With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father.

11Are the consolations of God too small for thee, Even the word that is gentle toward thee?

11Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?

12Why doth thy heart carry thee away? And why do thine eyes flash,

12Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up;

13That against God thou turnest thy spirit, And lettest words go out of thy mouth?

13So that you are turning your spirit against God, and letting such words go out of your mouth?

14What is man, that he should be clean? And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

14What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?

15Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones; Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight:

15Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes;

16How much less one that is abominable and corrupt, A man that drinketh iniquity like water!

16How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water!

17I will show thee, hear thou me; And that which I have seen I will declare

17 I will show thee, hear thou me; And that which I have seen I will declare

17Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:

18(Which wise men have told From their fathers, and have not hid it;

18(The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us;

19Unto whom alone the land was given, And no stranger passed among them):

19For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them:)

20The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.

20The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small.

21A sound of terrors is in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

21A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:

22He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, And he is waited for of the sword.

22He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;

23He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

23He is wandering about in search of bread, saying, Where is it? and he is certain that the day of trouble is ready for him:

24Distress and anguish make him afraid; They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

24He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him:

25Because he hath stretched out his hand against God, And behaveth himself proudly against the Almighty;

25Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all,

26He runneth upon him with astiffneck, With the thick bosses of his bucklers;

26Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight,

27Because he hath covered his face with his fatness, And gathered fat upon his loins;

27Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;

28And he hath dwelt in desolate cities, In houses which no man inhabited, Which were ready to become heaps;

28And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls.

29He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, Neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth.

29He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth.

30He shall not depart out of darkness; The flame shall dry up his branches, And by the breath ofGod’smouth shall he go away.

30He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.

31Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself; For vanity shall be his recompense.

31Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.

32It shall be accomplished before his time, And his branch shall not be green.

32His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green.

33He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, And shall cast off his flower as the olive-tree.

33He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers.

34For the company of the godless shall be barren, And fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

34For the band of the evil-doers gives no fruit, and the tents of those who give wrong decisions for reward are burned with fire.

35They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, And their heart prepareth deceit.

35Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.