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v1
Then ^[Hebrew “And”] Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
v2
“Can a man be of use to God? Yes, can the wise be of use to him?
v3
Is it a pleasure to Shaddai if you are righteous, or ^[Hebrew “and”] a gain if you make your ways blameless?
v4
Does he reprove you because of your reverence or enter into judgment with you?
v5
Is not your wickedness great, and there is no end to your iniquities?
v6
“Indeed, you have required a pledge from your family for nothing, and you have stripped off the clothes of the naked.
v7
You have given no water for the weary to drink, and you withheld food from the hungry.
v8
And the land belongs to the man of power, ^[Literally “man of power for him”] and the favored ^[Literally “lifted up of face”] lives in it.
v9
You have sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of orphans were crushed.
v10
Therefore trapping nets are all around you, and panic suddenly terrifies you,
v11
or it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.
v12
“Is not God in the height of the heavens? But ^[Hebrew “And”] see how lofty are the highest stars. ^[Literally “top of stars,” or “head of stars”]
v13
And you ask, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through deep gloom?
v14
Thick clouds are a covering for him, so that he does not see; and he walks about on the dome of heaven.‘
v15
Will you keep to the way of old that the people of mischief have trod,
v16
who were snatched away before their time, ^[Literally “and not time”] whose foundation was washed away by a current?
v17
Those who said to God, ‘Turn away from us,’ and ‘What can Shaddai do to us?‘
v18
Yet ^[Hebrew “And”] he himself ^[Emphatic personal pronoun] filled up their houses with good things, but ^[Hebrew “and”] the schemes of the wicked are repugnant to me.
v19
The righteous see, and they rejoice, but ^[Hebrew “and”] the innocent one mocks at them.
v20
Surely ^[Literally “If not”] our foe perishes, and fire has consumed their remainder. ^[Or “their wealth”]
v21
“Please reconcile yourself with him, and be at peace; in this way, ^[Literally “by them”] good will come to you.
v22
Please receive instruction from his mouth, and place his words in your heart.
v23
If you return to Shaddai, you will be restored; if you remove wickedness from your tent,
v24
and if you put gold ore in the dust, and the gold of Ophir in the rock of wadis,
v25
then ^[Hebrew “And”] Shaddai will be your gold ore and your precious silver. ^[Literally “silver of the best for you,” or “silver of the best belonging to you”]
v26
Indeed, then you will delight yourself in Shaddai, and you will expect that God will be good to you. ^[Literally “you will lift up to God your face”]
v27
You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows.
v28
And you will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.
v29
When they are humiliated, you say, ^[Literally “and you say,” or “then you say”] ‘It is pride,’ for ^[Hebrew “and”] he saves the humble. ^[Literally “downward of eyes”]
v30
He will deliver the guilty, and he will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.”