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.
