Eliphaz’s Third Speech
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
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"Can a man be of use to God? Yes, can [the] wise be of use to him?
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[Is] it a pleasure to Shaddai if you are righteous, or a gain if you make your ways blameless?
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Does he reprove you because of your reverence [or] enter into judgment with you?
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[Is] not your wickedness great, and there is no end to your iniquities?
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"Indeed, you have required a pledge from your family for nothing, and you have stripped off [the] clothes of [the] naked.
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You have given no water [for the] weary to drink, and you withheld food from [the] hungry.
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And the land {belongs to the man of power}, and {the favored} lives in it.
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You have sent widows away empty-handed, and [the] arms of orphans were crushed.
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Therefore trapping nets [are] all around you, and panic suddenly terrifies you,
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or [it is so] dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.
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"[Is] not God [in the] height of [the] heavens? But see how lofty are {the highest stars}.
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And you ask, 'What does God know? Can he judge through deep gloom?
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Thick clouds [are] a covering for him, so that he does not see; and he walks about on [the] dome of heaven.'
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Will you keep [to the] way of old that [the] people of mischief have trod,
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who were snatched away {before their time}, whose foundation was washed away [by] a current?
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[Those] who said to God, 'Turn away from us,' and 'What can Shaddai do to us?'
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Yet he himself filled up their houses [with] good [things], but [the] schemes of [the] wicked are repugnant to me.
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[The] righteous see, and they rejoice, but [the] innocent [one] mocks at them.
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{Surely} our foe perishes, and fire has consumed their remainder.
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"Please reconcile yourself with him, and be at peace; {in this way}, good will come to you.
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Please receive instruction from his mouth, and place his words in your heart.
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If you return to Shaddai, you will be restored; [if] you remove wickedness from your tent,
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and [if you] put gold ore in [the] dust, and [the] gold of Ophir in [the] rock of wadis,
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then Shaddai will be your gold ore and {your precious silver}.
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Indeed, then you will delight yourself in Shaddai, and {you will expect that God will be good to you}.
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You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows.
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And you will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.
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When they are humiliated, {you say}, '[It is] pride,' for he saves {the humble}.
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He will deliver the guilty, and he will escape because of the cleanness of your hands."