Eliphaz: Can a Man Be of Use to God?

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

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“ Can a man be of use to God?

Can even a wise man benefit Him?

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Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous?

Does He profit if your ways are blameless?

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Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you

and enters into judgment against you?

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Is not your wickedness great?

Are not your iniquities endless

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For {you} needlessly demanded security from your brothers

and deprived the naked of their clothing.

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You gave no water to the weary

and withheld food from the famished,

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while the land belonged to a mighty man,

and a man of honor lived on it.

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You sent widows away empty-handed,

and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

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Therefore snares surround you,

and sudden peril terrifies you;

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it is so dark you cannot see,

and a flood of water covers you.

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Is not God as high as the heavens?

Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!

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Yet you say:‘What does God know?

Does He judge through thick darkness?

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Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us

as He traverses the vault of heaven.[fn]’

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Will you stay on the ancient path

that wicked men have trod?

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They were snatched away before their time,

and their foundations were swept away by a flood.

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They said to God,‘Depart from us.

What can the Almighty do to us?’

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But it was He who filled their houses with good things;

so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

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The righteous see [it] and are glad;

the innocent mock them:

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‘Surely our foes are destroyed,

and fire has consumed their excess.’

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Reconcile now and be at peace with Him;

thereby good will come to you.

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Receive instruction from His mouth,

and lay up His words in your heart.

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If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored.

If you remove injustice from your tents

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and consign your gold to the dust

and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,

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then the Almighty will be your gold

and the finest silver for you.

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Surely then you will delight in the Almighty

and lift up your face to God.

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You will pray to Him, and He will hear you,

and you will fulfill your vows.

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Your decisions will be carried out

and light will shine on your ways.

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When men are brought low and you say,‘Lift them up!’

then He will save the lowly

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He will deliver [even] [one who is] not innocent,

rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.” 23