¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

²“Is a man profitable to God?

For a prudent man is profitable to himself.

³Is it a matter of delight to the Almighty

If you are righteous?

Or is it gain to him

That you act with integrity in your ways?

⁴Will he contend with you for fear of you?

Will he enter with you into a judicial process?

⁵Is not your wickedness great?

And is there no end to your iniquities?

⁶– Whether you bind your brothers by a pledge gratuitously,

Or strip off the clothes of those you leave naked,

⁷Or you don't give the weary water to drink,

Or you withhold bread from the hungry?

⁸Or you may be of those who say,

‘The earth belongs to the powerful man’,

And, ‘Let him who is of elevated station dwell in it.’

⁹You may have sent away widows empty-handed

And stood by when the arms of orphans were crushed.

¹⁰That is why there are snares all around you,

And fear suddenly grips you,

¹¹Or darkness so that you can't see anything,

Or a flood of water which will cover you.

¹²Is not God in the height of the heavens?

For see how high the foremost stars are.

¹³And you may have said,

‘What does God know?

Can he judge through dark clouds?

¹⁴Thick clouds are his secret covering,

And he cannot see,

And he walks round in the circuit of heaven.’

¹⁵Have you observed the age-old path

Which vain men have trodden?

¹⁶They become wrinkly before their time;

A river is spilled over their foundation.

¹⁷They say to God,

‘Depart from us’,

And ask how the Almighty can profit them.

¹⁸Yet he filled their houses with good things.

So the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁹The righteous will see their downfall and rejoice,

And the innocent man will mock them

²⁰And say,

‘Our adversary will certainly be obliterated,

And fire will consume their remnant.’

²¹Become familiar, I pray, with him,

And be at peace with them,

And your future will be good.

²²Receive, I pray, the law from what he says,

And put his declarations in your heart.

²³If you return to the Almighty,

You will be built up.

So remove iniquity from your tent,

²⁴And cast your fine gold on the dust,

And your Ophir gold on a torrent boulder,

²⁵And the Almighty will be your fine gold

And your silver treasure.

²⁶For then you will delight in the Almighty,

And you will lift up your face to God.

²⁷You will entreat him,

And he will hear you,

And you will fulfil your vows.

²⁸And you will make a declaration

Which will hold good for you,

And light will shine on your ways.

²⁹When others are brought low,

You will say,

‘Such is the consequence of pride,

But he saves the humble.’

³⁰He delivers the estate of the innocent,

And deliverance comes through the cleanness of your hands.”