1 Eliphaz of Teman spoke next. He said:
2 Does anyone wise respond with windy arguments, or feed on an east wind?
3 Or make a defence with ineffectual words and speeches good for nothing?
4 You do worse: you suppress reverence, you discredit discussion before God.
5 Your very fault incites you to speak like this, hence you adopt this language of cunning.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips bear witness against you.
7 Are you the first-born of the human race, brought into the world before the hills?
8 Have you been a listener at God's council, or established a monopoly of wisdom?
9 What knowledge do you have that we have not, what understanding that is not ours too?
10 One of us is an old, grey-headed man loaded with more years than your father!
11 Can you ignore these divine consolations and the moderate tone of our words?
12 How passion carries you away! And how you roll your eyes,
13 when you vent your anger on God and speeches come tripping off your tongue!
14 How can anyone be pure, anyone born of woman be upright?
15 God cannot rely even on his holy ones, to him, even the heavens seem impure.
16 How much more, this hateful, corrupt thing, humanity, which soaks up wickedness like water!
17 Listen to me, I have a lesson for you: I am going to impart my own experience
18 and the tradition of the sages who have remained faithful to their ancestors,
19 to whom alone the land was given -- no foreigner included among them.
20 The life of the wicked is unceasing torment, the years allotted to the tyrant are numbered.
21 A cry of panic echoes in his ear; when all is peace, his destroyer swoops down on him.
22 No more can he count on escaping from the dark, but knows that he is destined for the sword,
23 marked down as meat for the vulture. He knows that his ruin is at hand.
24 The hour of darkness terrifies him, distress and anguish assail him as when a king is poised for the assault.
25 He raised his hand against God, boldly he defied Shaddai!
26 Head lowered, he charged him, with his massively bossed shield.
27 His face had grown full and fat, and his thighs too heavy with flesh.
28 He had occupied the towns he had destroyed, with their uninhabited houses about to fall into ruins;
29 but no great profit to him, his luck will not hold, he will cast his shadow over the country no longer,
30 (he will not escape the dark). A flame will scorch his young shoots, the wind will carry off his blossom.
31 Let him not trust in his great height or delusion will be his.
32 His palm trees will wither before their time and his branches never again be green.
33 Like the vine, he will shake off his unripe fruit, like the olive tree, shed his blossom.
34 Yes, sterile is the spawn of the sinner, and fire consumes the tents of the venal.
35 Whoever conceives malice, breeds disaster, bears as offspring only a false hope.
Versículos relacionados com Job, 15:
Job 15 is a chapter in which Elifaz, one of Job's friends, responds to the suffering's words, accusing him of talking without knowledge. Elifaz argues that Job is suffering as a consequence of his sins and encourages him to regret. The verses below relate to the topics covered in the chapter:
Proverbs 15:32: "He who rejects discipline belitties his soul, but he who listens to rebuke acquires understanding." Elifaz believes Job is suffering as a consequence of his sins and suggests that he repents and accepts God's discipline.
Psalm 34:18: "Near the lord of those who have a broken heart and save those of the oppressed spirit." Elifaz believes Job is suffering because of his sins and encourages him to repent and seek God's help.
Psalm 94:12: "Blessed is the man whom you rebuke, O Lord, and whom you teach your law." Elifaz believes that Job is suffering as a consequence of his sins and encourages him to repent and learn the law of God.
Job 4:17-19: "Can the mortal man be righteous before God? Can man be pure before his Creator? God does not trust neither in his saints, and even heaven are not pure in his eyes." Elifaz believes that Job is suffering as a consequence of his sins and argues that no human being is righteous before God.
Psalm 32:5: "I confess to my sin and my wickedness I did not cover up; Elifaz encourages Job to repent and confess his sins to God, believing that this will bring relief to his suffering.
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