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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 hast 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. | |