Job 15 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Then Eliphaz from Teman answered Job:

² “Job, if you were really wise,\par you wouldn‘t answer with\par your worthless personal opinions!\par A wise man would not be so full\par of hot air.\par

³ Do you think a wise man would argue\par with worthless words\par and with speeches that mean nothing?\par

⁴ Job, if you had your way,\par no person would respect God\par and pray to him.\par

⁵ The things you say\par clearly show your sin.\par Job, you are trying to hide your sin\par by using clever words.\par

⁶ I don’t need to prove to you that you\par are wrong. Why?\par The things you say with your own mouth\par show that you are wrong.\par Your own lips speak against you.\par

⁷ “Job, do you think you were the first\par person ever to be born?\par Were you born before the hills?\par

⁸ Did you listen to God’s secret plans?\par Do you think you are the only wise person?\par

⁹ Job, we know more than you do!\par We understand things that you don’t.\par

¹⁰ The gray-haired men\par and the old people agree with us.\par Yes, even people older than your father\par are on our side.\par

¹¹ God tries to comfort you,\par but that is not enough for you.\par We have spoken God’s message to you\par in a gentle way.\par

¹² Job, why won’t you understand?\par Why can’t you see the truth?\par

¹³ You are against God\par when you say these angry words.\par

¹⁴ “A man can’t really be pure.\par A person {\cf2\super [25]} can’t be more right than God!\par

¹⁵ God doesn’t even trust his angels. {\cf2\super [26]} \par Compared to God\par even the heavens are not pure.\par

¹⁶ Man is even worse.\par Man is dirty and ruined.\par He drinks up evil like water.\par

¹⁷ “Listen to me Job,\par and I will explain it to you.\par I will tell you what I know.\par

¹⁸ I will tell you the things\par wise men have told me.\par The wise men’s ancestors {\cf2\super [27]} \par told them these things.\par They didn’t hide any secrets from me.\par

¹⁹ They alone lived in their country.\par There were no foreigners passing through.\par \{So no person told them strange ideas.\}\par

²⁰ \{These wise people said,\}\par An evil person suffers all his life.\par A cruel person suffers all his\par numbered years.\par

²¹ Every noise scares him.\par His enemy will attack him\par when he thinks he is safe.\par

²² The evil person is very frustrated,\par and there is no hope for him to\par escape the darkness.\par There is a sword somewhere\par that is waiting to kill him.\par

²³ He wanders here and there,\par but his body will be food for the vultures.\par He knows that his death {\cf2\super [28]} is very near.\par

²⁴ Worry and suffering make him afraid.\par These things attack him like a king\par ready to destroy him.\par

²⁵ Why? Because the evil person refuses to obey God—\par He shakes his fist at God,\par and tries to defeat God All-Powerful.\par

²⁶ That evil person is very stubborn.\par He tries to attack God with a thick,\par strong shield.\par

²⁷ “A person might be rich and fat\par

²⁸ but his town will be ruined,\par his home will be destroyed,\par his house will be empty.\par

²⁹ The evil person won’t be rich for long.\par His wealth won’t last.\par His crops won’t grow large.\par

³⁰ The evil person won’t escape the darkness.\par He will be like a tree\par whose leaves die from disease\par and a wind blows them all away.\par

³¹ The evil person should not fool himself\par when he trusts worthless things.\par Why? He will get nothing.\par

³² Before his life is over,\par the evil person will be old and dried up.\par He will be like a dried branch,\par never to be green again.\par

³³ The evil person will be like a vine\par that loses its grapes before they ripen.\par That person will be like an olive tree that\par loses its buds.\par

³⁴ Why? Because people without God\par have nothing.\par People who love money\par will have their homes destroyed by fire.\par

³⁵ Evil people are always planning ways\par to do evil and cause trouble.\par They are always planning ways\par to cheat people.”\par