1 | Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, |
2 | Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? |
3 | Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect? |
4 | Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? |
5 | Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? |
6 | For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. |
7 | Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. |
8 | But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it. |
9 | Thou has sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. |
10 | Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; |
11 | Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee. |
12 | Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! |
13 | And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? |
14 | Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven. |
15 | Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? |
16 | Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood: |
17 | Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? |
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: and the innocent laugh them to scorn. |
20 | Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth. |
21 | Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. |
22 | Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. |
23 | If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. |
24 | Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. |
25 | Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. |
26 | For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. |
27 | Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. |
28 | Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. |
29 | When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. |
30 | He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands. |