Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Revised Standard NRS
1 Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
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Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge?
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"Can a mortal be of use to God? Can even the wisest be of service 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 pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
4 Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment:
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Is it for your piety that he reproves you, and enters into judgment with you?
5 And not for thy manifold wickedness and thy infinite iniquities?
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Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities.
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 you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.
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You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from 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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The powerful possess the land, and the favored live in it.
9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.
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You have sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the orphans you have crushed.
10 Therefore art thou surrounded with shares, and sudden fear troubleth thee.
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Therefore snares are around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you,
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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or darkness so that you cannot see; a flood of water covers 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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"Is not God high in the heavens? See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
13 And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist.
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Therefore you say, "What does God know? Can he judge through the deep 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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Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the dome of heaven.'
15 Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden?
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Will you keep to the old way that the wicked have trod?
16 Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation.
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They were snatched away before their time; their foundation was washed away by a flood.
17 Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing:
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They said to God, "Leave us alone,' and "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 filled their houses with good things— but the plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.
19 The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.
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The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent laugh them to scorn,
20 Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them?
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saying, "Surely our adversaries are cut off, and what they left, the fire has consumed.'
21 Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits.
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"Agree with God, and be at peace; in this way good will come to you.
22 Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
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Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words 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, if you remove unrighteousness from your tents,
24 He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold.
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if you treat gold like dust, and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent-bed,
25 And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee.
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and if the Almighty is your gold and 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 delight yourself in the Almighty, and lift up your face 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 pay your vows.
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 decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.
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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When others are humiliated, you say it is pride; for he saves the humble.
30 The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands.
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He will deliver even those who are guilty; they will escape because of the cleanness of your hands."
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.