Read the Bible

² "Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit?
Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable?
³ Is it of any special benefit to the Almighty
that you should be righteous,
or is it any gain to him
that you make your ways blameless?
⁴ Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you
and goes to judgment with you?
⁵ Is not your wickedness great
and is there no end to your iniquity?
⁶ "For you took pledges from your brothers
for no reason,
and you stripped the clothing from the naked.
⁷ You gave the weary no water to drink
and from the hungry you withheld food.
⁸ Although you were a powerful man, owning land,
an honored man living on it,
⁹ you sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms of the orphans you crushed.
¹⁰ That is why snares surround you,
and why sudden fear terrifies you,
¹¹ why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
¹² "Is not God on high in heaven?
And see the lofty stars, how high they are!
¹³ But you have said, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such deep darkness?
¹⁴ Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us,
as he goes back and forth
in the vault of heaven.'
¹⁵ Will you keep to the old path
that evil men have walked—
¹⁶ men who were carried off before their time,
when the flood was poured out
on their foundations?
¹⁷ They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,'
and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?'
¹⁸ But it was he who filled their houses
with good things—
yet the counsel of the wicked
was far from me.
¹⁹ The righteous see their destruction and rejoice;
the innocent mock them scornfully, saying,
²⁰ ‘Surely our enemies are destroyed,
and fire consumes their wealth.'
²¹ "Reconcile yourself with God,
and be at peace with him;
in this way your prosperity will be good.
²² Accept instruction from his mouth
and store up his words in your heart.
²³ If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;
if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,
²⁴ and throw your gold in the dust—
your gold of Ophir
among the rocks in the ravines—
²⁵ then the Almighty himself will be your gold,
and the choicest silver for you.
²⁶ Surely then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,
and will lift up your face toward God.
²⁷ You will pray to him and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows to him.
²⁸ Whatever you decide on a matter,
it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
²⁹ When people are brought low and you say
‘Lift them up!'
then he will save the downcast;
³⁰ he will deliver even someone who is not innocent,
who will escape through the cleanness of your hands."