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[1]Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said,
[2]May a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise, may be profitable to himself?
[3]Is it anything unto the Almighty, that thou art righteous? Or is it profitable to him, that thou makest thy ways upright?
[4]Is it for fear of thee that he will accuse thee? Or go with thee into judgment?
[5]Is not thy wickedness great, and thine iniquities innumerable?
[6]For thou hast taken the pledge from thy brother for naught, and spoiled the clothes of the naked.
[7]To such as were weary, thou hast not given water to drink, and hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.
[8]But the mighty man had the earth, and he that was in authority, dwelt in it.
[9]Thou hast cast out widows empty, and the arms of the fatherless were broken.
[10]Therefore snares are round about thee, and fear shall suddenly trouble thee:
[11]Or darkness that thou shouldest not see, and abundance of waters shall cover thee.
[12]Is not God on high in the heaven? And behold the height of the stars how high they are.
[13]But thou sayest, How should God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
[14]The clouds hide him that he cannot see, And he walketh in the circle of heaven.
[15]Hast thou marked the way of the world, wherein wicked men have walked?
[16]Which were cut down before the time, whose foundation was as a river that overflowed:
[17]Which said unto God, Depart from us, and asked what the Almighty could do for them.
[18]Yet he filled their houses with good things: but let the counsel of the wicked be far from me.
[19]The righteous shall see them, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.
[20]Surely our substance is hid: but the fire hath devoured the remnant of them.
[21]Therefore acquaint thyself, I pray thee, with him, and make peace: thereby thou shalt have prosperity.
[22]Receive, I pray thee, the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
[23]If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and thou shalt put iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
[24]Thou shalt lay up gold for dust, and the gold of Ophir, as the flints of the rivers.
[25]Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defense, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
[26]And thou shalt then delight in the Almighty, and lift up thy face unto God.
[27]Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt render thy vows.
[28]Thou shalt also decree a thing, and he shall establish it unto thee, and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
[29]When others are cast down, then shalt thou say, I am lifted up: and God shall save the humble person.
[30]The innocent shall deliver the island, and it shall be preserved by the pureness of thine hands.
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