Eliphaz Speaks

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2Can a man be of any use to God?

Can even a wise man be of use to him?

3Does it delight the Almighty if you are righteous?

Does he profit if you perfect your behavior?a

4Does he correct you and take you to court

because of your piety?a

5Isn’t your wickedness abundant

and aren’t your iniquities endless?

6For you took collaterala from your brothers without cause,

stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.

7You gave no water to the thirsty

and withheld food from the famished,a

8while the land belonged to a powerful man

and an influential man lived on it.

9You sent widows away empty-handed,

and the strength of the fatherlessa wasA crushed.

10Therefore snares surround you,

and sudden dread terrifiesa you,

11or darkness, so you cannot see,

and a flood of water covers you.a

12Isn’t God as high as the heavens?

And look at the highest stars — how lofty they are!

13Yet you say, “What does God know?

Can he judge through total darkness?a

14Cloudsa veil him so that he cannot see,

as he walks on the circle of the sky.”

15Will you continue on the ancient path

that wicked men have walked?

16They were snatched away before their time,

and their foundationsa were washed away by a river.

17They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone! ”

and “What can the Almighty do to us? ”a a

18But it was he who filled their houses with good things.

The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

19The righteous see this and rejoice;

the innocent mock them, saying,a

20“Surely our opponents are destroyed,

and fire has consumed what they left behind.”a

21Come to terms with God and be at peace;a

in this wayA good will come to you.

22Receive instruction from his mouth,a

and place his sayingsb in your heart.

23If you returna to the Almighty, you will be renewed.

If you banish injustice from your tent

24and consign your gold to the dust,

the gold of Ophira to the stones in the wadis,

25the Almighty will be your gold

and your finest silver.

26Then you will delighta in the Almighty

and lift up your face to God.b

27You will pray to him, and he will hear you,a

and you will fulfill your vows.

28When you make a decision, it will be carried out,A

and light will shine on your ways.a

29When others are humiliated and you say, “Lift them up,”

God will save the humble.a a

30He will even rescue the guilty one,

who will be rescued by the purity of your hands.a