| | 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." | |
