📖 Job — Chapter 15 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Job 15:1 Then answered REliphaz the Temanite, and said,
Job 15:2 Should Ra wise man utter Tvain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
Job 15:3 Should Rhe reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
Job 15:4 Yea, thou RTcastest off fear, and restrainest Tprayer before God.
Job 15:5 For thy mouth RTuttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
Job 15:6 Thine Rown mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
Job 15:7 Art thou Rthe first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
Job 15:8 Hast thou heard Rthe secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
Job 15:9 What Rknowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?
Job 15:10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
Job 15:11 Are Rthe consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?
Job 15:12 Why doth Rthine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,
Job 15:13 That thou Rturnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
Job 15:14 What Ris man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Job 15:15 Behold, Rhe putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
Job 15:16 How much more Rabominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
Job 15:17 I will shew thee, Rhear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;
Job 15:18 Which wise men have told Rfrom their fathers, and have not hid it:
Job 15:19 RUnto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
Job 15:20 The wicked man Rtravaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
Job 15:21 TA Rdreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
Job 15:22 RHe believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
Job 15:23 He Rwandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
Job 15:24 Trouble and Ranguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
Job 15:25 For Rhe stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.
Job 15:26 He Rrunneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
Job 15:27 Because Rhe covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
Job 15:28 And he dwelleth in Rdesolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.
Job 15:29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
Job 15:30 He shall not Rdepart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
Job 15:31 Let Rnot him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
Job 15:32 It shall be RTaccomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
Job 15:33 He shall Rshake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
Job 15:34 For Rthe congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
Job 15:35 They Rconceive mischief, and bring forth Tvanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 15:1–16 — Eliphaz intensifies the accusation
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Eliphaz treats Job's words as evidence of guilt and appeals to the age of the friends' counselors. He repeats claims about human impurity. The point is not that human beings have no need of humility, but that these broad claims do not establish the accusation against Job. Seniority and confident speech cannot replace truth.
Key Truth: Do not confuse seniority or confidence with a reliable diagnosis.
Check What You Remember
1. Which friend speaks again? (Job 15:1)
Find it in Job 15:1 (KJV).
2. What wind does he use to describe Job's speech? (Job 15:2)
Find it in Job 15:2 (KJV).
3. What age group does he cite in support? (Job 15:10)
Find it in Job 15:10 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 15:17–24 — The portrait of a terrified wicked man
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Eliphaz describes the wicked as continually haunted by dread, darkness, hunger, and attack. His picture implies an explanation for Job's distress. Yet the opening has established Job's integrity, and Job has observed wicked people who prosper. A portrait that resembles someone's suffering is not evidence that it correctly describes their character.
Key Truth: Resemblance is not proof of guilt.
Check What You Remember
1. Whose days does Eliphaz describe as painful? (Job 15:20)
Find it in Job 15:20 (KJV).
2. What sound is in that person's ears? (Job 15:21)
Find it in Job 15:21 (KJV).
3. What food does he picture the man wandering for? (Job 15:23)
Find it in Job 15:23 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 15:25–35 — Destruction attributed to rebellion
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Eliphaz completes the account with rebellion against God, lost riches, withered growth, hypocrisy, and deceit. These are his claims about the wicked within the argument. The chapter warns readers not to transfer the whole description onto Job simply because he has lost wealth and children. The book will judge the friends' account.
Key Truth: Do not make losses into a substitute for evidence.
Check What You Remember
1. Against whom does the described man stretch his hand? (Job 15:25)
Find it in Job 15:25 (KJV).
2. What does Eliphaz say not to trust? (Job 15:31)
Find it in Job 15:31 (KJV).
3. What wrongdoing is pictured by the tabernacles consumed by fire? (Job 15:34)
Find it in Job 15:34 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
John 7:24 — Jesus calls for righteous judgment rather than judgment by appearances.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
How can you distinguish a plausible story about someone from facts you actually know?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. How does Eliphaz intensify his accusation about Job’s words?
2. What basis does Eliphaz invoke for his authority?
3. How is the wicked man portrayed even during prosperity?
4. What action underlies the description of rebellion?
5. How do vine and olive images portray premature loss?
Notes
Write what you want to remember, questions to explore, or Scriptures to look up later. Your saved notes are private to your account.
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