1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
1And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2“Can a man be of use to God?
Can even a wise man benefit Him?
2“Can a man be useful to God? Can even a wise one benefit Him?
3Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous?
Does He profit if your ways are blameless?
3Is it pleasure to Shaddai that you are righteous, or gain that you perfect your ways?
4Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you
and enters into judgment against you?
4For your fear does He rebuke you and enter against you into judgment?
5Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your iniquities endless?
5Is not your evil great, and your iniquity without end?
6For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers
and deprived the naked of their clothing.
6For you take a pledge from your brothers needlessly, and the garments the naked you strip off.
7You gave no water to the weary
and withheld food from the famished,
7You have not quenched with water the weary, and from the hungry you have withheld bread.
8while the land belonged to a mighty man,
and a man of honor lived on it.
8But the man of arm, unto him is the land, and the uplifted of face, he dwells in it!
9You sent widows away empty-handed,
and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
9You have sent away widows in emptiness, and the arms of the fatherless are crushed.
10Therefore snares surround you,
and sudden peril terrifies you;
10Upon thus there are snares all around you, and dread suddenly terrifies you,
11it is so dark you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.
11or darkness you cannot see, and an abundance of waters covers you.
12Is not God as high as the heavens?
Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!
12Is not God in the height of the heavens? And behold, the head of the stars, how exalted they are!
13Yet you say: ‘What does God know?
Does He judge through thick darkness?
13And you say, ‘What does God know? How can He judge through the dark cloud?
14Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us
as He traverses the vault of heaven.’a
14Clouds are a covering for Him, so that He does not see, and the vault of the heavens He walks about.’
15Will you stay on the ancient path
that wicked men have trod?
15Will you keep the way of old, which men of iniquity have trod,
16They were snatched away before their time,
and their foundations were swept away by a flood.
16who were seized, and it was not time, their foundation was poured out by a torrent?
17They said to God, ‘Depart from us.
What can the Almighty do to us?’
17They said to God, ‘Turn away from us!’ And’What can Shaddai do to us?’
18But it was He who filled their houses with good things;
so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
18Yet He filled their houses with good—and the counsel of the wicked, may it be far from me!
19The righteous see it and are glad;
the innocent mock them:
19The righteous see it and are glad, and the innocent one mocks them:
20‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire has consumed their excess.’
20‘Surely our adversaries cut off, and fire consumes their excess.’
21Reconcile now and be at peace with Him;
thereby good will come to you.
21Make yourself of use now, and be at peace with Him; with these things will come to you good.
22Receive instruction from His mouth,
and lay up His words in your heart.
22Receive, please, instruction from His mouth, and set His words in your heart.
23If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored.
If you remove injustice from your tents
23If you should return to Shaddai, you will be built up, if you put far away from your tent iniquity,
24and consign your gold to the dust
and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,
24and if you set your gold upon the dust, and Ophir among the stones of the torrents,
25then the Almighty will be your gold
and the finest silver for you.
25then Shaddai will be your gold, and the silver of heights for you.
26Surely then you will delight in the Almighty
and lift up your face to God.
26For then you will take delight in Shaddai, and you will lift to God your face.
27You will pray to Him, and He will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
27You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and your vows you will fulfill.
28Your decisions will be carried out,
and light will shine on your ways.
28Then you will decree a word, and it will stand for you, and upon your paths light will shine.
29When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then He will save the lowly.
29When they have made low, and you say Lift up, then the lowly of eyes He will save.
30He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”
30He will deliver the one not innocent, rescuing him by the purity of your hands.”