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Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
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“Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person benefit him?
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What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
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“Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?
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Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?
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You demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
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You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry,
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though you were a powerful man, owing land – an honored man, living on it.
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And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.
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That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you.
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why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.
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“Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!
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Yet you say, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?
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Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.”
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Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?
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They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.
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They said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’
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Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
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The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,
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‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.’
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“Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.
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Accept 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 wickedness far from your tent
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and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
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then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.
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Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will 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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What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.
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When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then he will save the downcast.
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He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
