New International Version NIV
New Living Translation NLT
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 “Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person benefit him?
2 “Can a person do anything to help God? Can even a wise person be helpful to him?
3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
3 Is it any advantage to the Almighty if you are righteous? Would it be any gain to him if you were perfect?
4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?
4 Is it because you’re so pious that he accuses you and brings judgment against you?
5 Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?
5 No, it’s because of your wickedness! There’s no limit to your sins.
6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
6 “For example, you must have lent money to your friend and demanded clothing as security. Yes, you stripped him to the bone.
7 You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry,
7 You must have refused water for the thirsty and food for the hungry.
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land— an honored man, living on it.
8 You probably think the land belongs to the powerful and only the privileged have a right to it!
9 And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.
9 You must have sent widows away empty-handed and crushed the hopes of orphans.
10 That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you,
10 That is why you are surrounded by traps and tremble from sudden fears.
11 why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.
11 That is why you cannot see in the darkness, and waves of water cover you.
12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!
12 “God is so great—higher than the heavens, higher than the farthest stars.
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?
13 But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing! How can he judge through the thick darkness?
14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
14 For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us. He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?
15 “Will you continue on the old paths where evil people have walked?
16 They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.
16 They were snatched away in the prime of life, the foundations of their lives washed away.
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’
17 For they said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
18 Yet he was the one who filled their homes with good things, so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,
19 “The righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed, and the innocent will laugh in contempt.
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.’
20 They will say, ‘See how our enemies have been destroyed. The last of them have been consumed in the fire.’
21 “Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.
21 “Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you.
22 Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.
22 Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored— so clean up your life.
24 and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
24 If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.
25 the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver!
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God.
26 “Then you will take delight in the Almighty and look up to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him.
28 What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.
28 You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you.
29 When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then he will save the downcast.
29 If people are in trouble and you say, ‘Help them,’ God will save them.
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
30 Even sinners will be rescued; they will be rescued because your hands are pure.”
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