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." |