| 1 | Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, |
| 2 | "Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself. |
| 3 | Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous? Or does it benefit him, that you make your ways perfect? |
| 4 | Is it for your piety that he reproves you, that he enters with you into judgment? |
| 5 | Isn't your wickedness great? Neither is there any end to your iniquities. |
| 6 | For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing. |
| 7 | You haven't given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. |
| 8 | But as for the mighty man, he had the earth. The honorable man, he lived in it. |
| 9 | You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. |
| 10 | Therefore snares are around you. Sudden fear troubles you, |
| 11 | or darkness, so that you can not see, and floods of waters cover you. |
| 12 | "Isn't God in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high they are! |
| 13 | You say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness? |
| 14 | Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he doesn't see. He walks on the vault of the sky.' |
| 15 | Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden, |
| 16 | who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream, |
| 17 | who said to God, 'Depart from us;' and, 'What can the Almighty do for us?' |
| 18 | Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. |
| 19 | The righteous see it, and are glad. The innocent ridicule them, |
| 20 | saying, 'Surely those who rose up against us are cut off. The fire has consumed their remnant.' |
| 21 | "Acquaint yourself with him, now, and be at peace. Thereby good shall come to you. |
| 22 | Please receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. |
| 23 | If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents. |
| 24 | Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks. |
| 25 | The Almighty will be your treasure, and precious silver to you. |
| 26 | For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and shall lift up your face to God. |
| 27 | You shall make your prayer to him, and he will hear you. You shall pay your vows. |
| 28 | You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you. Light shall shine on your ways. |
| 29 | When they cast down, you shall say, 'be lifted up.' He will save the humble person. |
| 30 | He will even deliver him who is not innocent. Yes, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of your hands." |
