Job 15

“A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk!
    You are nothing but a windbag.

‘Would a wise person answer with empty notions
    or fill their belly with the hot east wind?

The wise don’t engage in empty chatter.
    What good are such words?

Would they argue with useless words,
    with speeches that have no value?

Have you no fear of God,
    no reverence for him?

But you even undermine piety
    and hinder devotion to God.

Your sins are telling your mouth what to say.
    Your words are based on clever deception.

Your sin prompts your mouth;
    you adopt the tongue of the crafty.

Your own mouth condemns you, not I.
    Your own lips testify against you.

Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
    your own lips testify against you.

“Were you the first person ever born?
    Were you born before the hills were made?

‘Are you the first man ever born?
    Were you brought forth before the hills?

Were you listening at God’s secret council?
    Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?

Do you listen in on God’s council?
    Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?

What do you know that we don’t?
    What do you understand that we do not?

What do you know that we do not know?
    What insights do you have that we do not have?

On our side are aged, gray-haired men
    much older than your father!

The grey-haired and the aged are on our side,
    men even older than your father.

“Is God’s comfort too little for you?
    Is his gentle word not enough?

Are God’s consolations not enough for you,
    words spoken gently to you?

What has taken away your reason?
    What has weakened your vision,^[a]

Why has your heart carried you away,
    and why do your eyes flash,

that you turn against God
    and say all these evil things?

so that you vent your rage against God
    and pour out such words from your mouth?

Can any mortal be pure?
    Can anyone born of a woman be just?

‘What are mortals, that they could be pure,
    or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?

Look, God does not even trust the angels.^[b]
    Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight.

If God places no trust in his holy ones,
    if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,

How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person
    with a thirst for wickedness!

how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,
    who drink up evil like water!

“If you will listen, I will show you.
    I will answer you from my own experience.

‘Listen to me and I will explain to you;
    let me tell you what I have seen,

And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men
    who have heard the same thing from their fathers—

what the wise have declared,
    hiding nothing received from their ancestors

from those to whom the land was given
    long before any foreigners arrived.

(to whom alone the land was given
    when no foreigners moved among them):

“The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives.
    Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.

all his days the wicked man suffers torment,
    the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.

The sound of terror rings in their ears,
    and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.

Terrifying sounds fill his ears;
    when all seems well, marauders attack him.

They dare not go out into the darkness
    for fear they will be murdered.

He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;
    he is marked for the sword.

They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’^[c]
    They know their day of destruction is near.

He wanders about for food like a vulture;
    he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

That dark day terrifies them.
    They live in distress and anguish,
    like a king preparing for battle.

Distress and anguish fill him with terror;
    troubles overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,

For they shake their fists at God,
    defying the Almighty.

because he shakes his fist at God
    and vaunts himself against the Almighty,

Holding their strong shields,
    they defiantly charge against him.

defiantly charging against him
    with a thick, strong shield.

“These wicked people are heavy and prosperous;
    their waists bulge with fat.

‘Though his face is covered with fat
    and his waist bulges with flesh,

But their cities will be ruined.
    They will live in abandoned houses
    that are ready to tumble down.

he will inhabit ruined towns
    and houses where no one lives,
    houses crumbling to rubble.

Their riches will not last,
    and their wealth will not endure.
    Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.

He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,
    nor will his possessions spread over the land.

“They will not escape the darkness.
    The burning sun will wither their shoots,
    and the breath of God will destroy them.

He will not escape the darkness;
    a flame will wither his shoots,
    and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.

Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches,
    for emptiness will be their only reward.

Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless,
    for he will get nothing in return.

They will be cut down in the prime of life;
    their branches will never again be green.

Before his time he will wither,
    and his branches will not flourish.

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.

He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,
    like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.

For the godless are barren.
    Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.

For the company of the godless will be barren,
    and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.

They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
    Their womb produces deceit.”