Job 15

₂‘Someone who is wise doesn't speak like a fool,

and his words are not like the wind.

₃When he answers, it must mean something.

It must not be worthless.

₄But you are doing

something worse than that.

Your words will make people

turn away from God

and make them stop believing in Him.

₅It is your sin that makes you speak like that

and makes you choose those cunning words.

₆The things that you say show that you are guilty.

Your own words show that you are wrong.

₇Job, do you think that you are

the first person who was born?

Do you think that you were born

before God made the hills?

₈You did not listen when God

spoke to his messengers_from_heaven.

Do you think that you are the only person

who has wisdom?

₉You do not know anything that we do not know,

and we understand everything that you understand.

₁₀We get our wisdom from old people,

people who are older than your father.

₁₁God wants to comfort you

and say friendly words to you.

You must accept it and be thankful.

Is that not enough for you?

₁₂Why are you angry?

Why do your eyes look like lightning?

₁₃Why do you want to say these hard words

and show God that you are angry with Him?

₁₄No one is completely pure,

and no one is innocent.

₁₅Can God trust all his messengers_from_heaven?

Is heaven pure enough for Him? No.

₁₆He can trust people even less,

because people die, people are bad

and they do sinful things

as easily as drinking water.

₁₇Listen to me. I want to teach you something.

I want to tell you what I have seen.

₁₈This is something that wise men have said.

They learned it from their forefathers

at the time when God gave them this land.

The land belonged only to them at that time,

and there were no other people with them.

₁₉The wise men said:

₂₀“Someone who does what is wrong

and always wants to hurt other people

will always be afraid for as long as he lives.

₂₁He always hears things

that make him fear

and when he thinks he is safe,

robbers come and attack him

and take everything that he has.

₂₂He does not have any hope

to keep on living.

There will always be people

who want to kill him.

₂₃He walks from one place

to another to find food,

and he knows that he will die soon.

₂₄He is afraid because of all his trouble.

It feels as if a king is coming to attack him.

₂₅This happens to him

because he rebelled_against God

and showed God his fist,

because he wants to fight against the Almighty God.

₂₆He tries to attack God like a soldier

who has a strong shield in front of him,

₂₇a soldier who is fat

and does not know how to fight.

₂₈He will live in a town that

has been destroyed,

in a home where no people can live,

in a house that is only a heap of stones.

₂₉Sinful people like that

will never become rich,

they will not be able

to keep the things that they have,

and they will have nothing

when they go to their graves.

₃₀They will die, this is sure.

They are like a tree that burns down.

Its branches will burn and

the wind will blow all the flowers away.

₃₁People must not deceive themselves

and trust something that is useless.

If they do, they will have nothing.

₃₂They will be like a tree that dies

before it is old,

a tree that never gets new green branches.

₃₃They will be like a vine

whose grapes fall off before they are ripe,

or like an olive tree that loses its flowers.”

₃₄Because the people

who don't believe in God

and don't serve Him

will have nothing.

Fire will burn down the homes

of people who take bribe money.

₃₅These are the people who keep on thinking of

what bad things they can do,

the people who do wrong

and who deceive other people.’