1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: |
2 "Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise man benefit him? |
3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless? |
4 "Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you? |
5 Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless? |
6 You demanded security from your brothers for no reason; you stripped men of their clothing, leaving them naked. |
7 You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry, |
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land--an honored man, living on it. |
9 And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless. |
10 That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you, |
11 why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you. |
12 "Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars! |
13 Yet you say, 'What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness? |
14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.' |
15 Will you keep to the old path that evil men have trod? |
16 They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood. |
17 They said to God, 'Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?' |
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked. |
19 "The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying, |
20 'Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.' |
21 "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. |
22 Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. |
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent |
24 and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, |
25 then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you. |
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God. |
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. |
28 What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways. |
29 When men are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!' then he will save the downcast. |
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands." |