Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Living Translation NLT
1 Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
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Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge?
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“Can a person do anything to help God? Can even a wise person be helpful to him?
3 What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou give him if thy way be unspotted?
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Is it any advantage to the Almighty if you are righteous? Would it be any gain to him if you were perfect?
4 Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment:
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Is it because you’re so pious that he accuses you and brings judgment against you?
5 And not for thy manifold wickedness and thy infinite iniquities?
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No, it’s because of your wickedness! There’s no limit to your sins.
6 For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
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“For example, you must have lent money to your friend and demanded clothing as security. Yes, you stripped him to the bone.
7 Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.
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You must have refused water for the thirsty and food for the hungry.
8 In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and being the most mighty thou holdest it.
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You probably think the land belongs to the powerful and only the privileged have a right to it!
9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.
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You must have sent widows away empty-handed and crushed the hopes of orphans.
10 Therefore art thou surrounded with shares, and sudden fear troubleth thee.
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That is why you are surrounded by traps and tremble from sudden fears.
11 And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of overflowing waters?
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That is why you cannot see in the darkness, and waves of water cover you.
12 Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars?
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“God is so great—higher than the heavens, higher than the farthest stars.
13 And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist.
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But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing! How can he judge through the thick darkness?
14 The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven.
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For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us. He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.’
15 Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden?
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“Will you continue on the old paths where evil people have walked?
16 Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation.
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They were snatched away in the prime of life, the foundations of their lives washed away.
17 Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing:
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For they said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose way of thinking be far from me.
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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 just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.
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“The righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed, and the innocent will laugh in contempt.
20 Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them?
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They will say, ‘See how our enemies have been destroyed. The last of them have been consumed in the fire.’
21 Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits.
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“Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you.
22 Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
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Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart.
23 If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
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If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored— so clean up your life.
24 He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold.
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If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river,
25 And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee.
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the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver!
26 Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.
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“Then you will take delight in the Almighty and look up to God.
27 Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay vows.
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You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him.
28 Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways.
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You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you.
29 For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved.
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If people are in trouble and you say, ‘Help them,’ God will save them.
30 The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands.
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Even sinners will be rescued; they will be rescued because your hands are pure.”
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