1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2Can a man be of use to God? Surely a wise man is of use to himself.
3Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous, or any gain that you make your ways blameless?
4Is it because of your fear of him that he rebukes you and enters into judgment with you?
5Is not your evil great, and your iniquities without end?
6For you took pledges from your brothers for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7You gave no water to the weary to drink, and from the hungry you withheld bread.
8But the man of the arm—his was the land, and the favored one dwelt in it.
9Widows you sent away empty-handed, and the arms of the orphans were crushed.
10Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden dread terrifies you.
11Or darkness—you cannot see—and a flood of waters covers you.
12Is not God in the height of heaven? And see the topmost of the stars, how lofty they are!
13Yet you say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through thick darkness?’
14Thick clouds are a veil to him, so that he cannot see, and he walks about on the vault of heaven.
15Will you keep to the ancient path that wicked men have trodden—
16who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation a flood poured over?
17who said to God, ‘Depart from us,’ and, ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
18Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things—but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19The righteous see it and rejoice, and the innocent mocks them,
20saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off, and fire has consumed what remained of them.’
21Come to terms with him now, and be at peace; by this good will come to you.
22Receive instruction from his mouth, and set his words in your heart.
23If you return to the Almighty you will be rebuilt; if you put away injustice far from your tent,
24and lay your gold ore in the dust, and Ophir’s gold among the stones of the wadis,
25then the Almighty will be your gold ore, and silver in abundance for you.
26For then you will take delight in the Almighty, and lift up your face to God.
27You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.
28You will decree a thing, and it will be established for you, and light will shine upon your ways.
29When they are brought low, you will say, ‘It is pride!’—and the one with downcast eyes he will save.
30He will deliver even one who is not innocent, and he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.
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