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¹ Then Eli'phaz the Te'manite answered:² "Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.³ Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?⁴ Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you, and enters into judgment with you?

⁵ Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities.⁶ For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.⁷ You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.⁸ The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man dwelt in it.⁹ You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.¹⁰ Therefore snares are round about you, and sudden terror overwhelms you;¹¹ your light is darkened, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.¹² "Is not God high in the heavens? See the highest stars, how lofty they are!¹³ Therefore you say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness?¹⁴ Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.'

¹⁵ Will you keep to the old way which wicked men have trod?¹⁶ They were snatched away before their time; their foundation was washed away.¹⁷ They said to God, 'Depart from us,' and 'What can the Almighty do to us?'¹⁸ Yet he filled their houses with good things--but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.¹⁹ The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent laugh them to scorn,²⁰ saying, 'Surely our adversaries are cut off, and what they left the fire has consumed.'

²¹ "Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you.²² Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.²³ If you return to the Almighty and humble yourself, if you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,²⁴ if you lay gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent bed,²⁵ and if the Almighty is your gold, and your precious silver;²⁶ then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and lift up your face to God.²⁷ You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you; and you will pay your vows.²⁸ You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.²⁹ For God abases the proud, but he saves the lowly.³⁰ He delivers the innocent man; you will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."