# Job 15 (New King James Version)
Eliphaz Accuses Job of Folly

##### Chapter 15
###### 1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

###### 2 "Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge,  
And fill himself with the east wind?  

###### 3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk,  
Or by speeches with which he can do no good?  

###### 4 Yes, you cast off fear,  
And restrain prayer before God.  

###### 5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,  
And you choose the tongue of the crafty.  

###### 6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;  
Yes, your own lips testify against you.

###### 7 "_Are_ you the first man _who_ was born?  
Or were you made before the hills?  

###### 8 Have you heard the counsel of God?  
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?  

###### 9 What do you know that we do not know?  
_What_ do you understand that _is_ not in us?  

###### 10 Both the gray-haired and the aged _are_ among us,  
Much older than your father.  

###### 11 _Are_ the consolations of God too small for you,  
And the word _spoken_ gently with you?  

###### 12 Why does your heart carry you away,  
And what do your eyes wink at,  

###### 13 That you turn your spirit against God,  
And let _such_ words go out of your mouth?

###### 14 "What _is_ man, that he could be pure?  
And _he who is_ born of a woman, that he could be righteous?  

###### 15 If _God_ puts no trust in His saints,  
And the heavens are not pure in His sight,  

###### 16 How much less man, _who is_ abominable and filthy,  
Who drinks iniquity like water!

###### 17 "I will tell you, hear me;  
What I have seen I will declare,  

###### 18 What wise men have told,  
Not hiding _anything received_ from their fathers,  

###### 19 To whom alone the land was given,  
And no alien passed among them:  

###### 20 The wicked man writhes with pain all _his_ days,  
And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.  

###### 21 Dreadful sounds _are_ in his ears;  
In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.  

###### 22 He does not believe that he will return from darkness,  
For a sword is waiting for him.  

###### 23 He wanders about for bread, _saying,_ 'Where _is it?_'  
He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.  

###### 24 Trouble and anguish make him afraid;  
They overpower him, like a king ready for battle.  

###### 25 For he stretches out his hand against God,  
And acts defiantly against the Almighty,  

###### 26 Running stubbornly against Him  
With his strong, embossed shield.

###### 27 "Though he has covered his face with his fatness,  
And made _his_ waist heavy with fat,  

###### 28 He dwells in desolate cities,  
In houses which no one inhabits,  
Which are destined to become ruins.  

###### 29 He will not be rich,  
Nor will his wealth continue,  
Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.  

###### 30 He will not depart from darkness;  
The flame will dry out his branches,  
And by the breath of His mouth he will go away.  

###### 31 Let him not trust in futile _things,_ deceiving himself,  
For futility will be his reward.  

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

###### 33 He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine,  
And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.  

###### 34 For the company of hypocrites _will be_ barren,  
And fire will consume the tents of bribery.  

###### 35 They conceive trouble and bring forth futility;  
Their womb prepares deceit."