Eliphaz accuses Job of wickedness
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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.(a)’
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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.”
Footnotes