English Standard Version

New Living Translation

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2“Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.

2“Can a person do anything to help God? Can even a wise person be helpful to him?

3Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?

3Is it any advantage to the Almighty if you are righteous? Would it be any gain to him if you were perfect?

4Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you and enters into judgment with you?

4Is it because you’re so pious that he accuses you and brings judgment against you?

5Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities.

5No, it’s because of your wickedness! There’s no limit to your sins.

6For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing and stripped the naked of their clothing.

6“For example, you must have lent money to your friend and demanded clothing as security. Yes, you stripped him to the bone.

7You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

7You must have refused water for the thirsty and food for the hungry.

8The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man lived in it.

8You probably think the land belongs to the powerful and only the privileged have a right to it!

9You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.

9You must have sent widows away empty-handed and crushed the hopes of orphans.

10Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you,

10That is why you are surrounded by traps and tremble from sudden fears.

11or darkness, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

11That is why you cannot see in the darkness, and waves of water cover you.

12“Is not God high in the heavens? See the highest stars, how lofty they are!

12“God is so great—higher than the heavens, higher than the farthest stars.

13But you say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness?

13But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing! How can he judge through the thick darkness?

14Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.’

14For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us. He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.’

15Will you keep to the old way that wicked men have trod?

15“Will you continue on the old paths where evil people have walked?

16They were snatched away before their time; their foundation was washed away.

16They were snatched away in the prime of life, the foundations of their lives washed away.

17They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’ and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’

17For they said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’

18Yet he filled their houses with good things— but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

18Yet he was the one who filled their homes with good things, so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.

19The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent one mocks at them,

19“The righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed, and the innocent will laugh in contempt.

20saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off, and what they left the fire has consumed.’

20They will say, ‘See how our enemies have been destroyed. The last of them have been consumed in the fire.’

21“Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you.

21“Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you.

22Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.

22Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart.

23If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; if you remove injustice far from your tents,

23If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored— so clean up your life.

24if you lay gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed,

24If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river,

25then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.

25the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver!

26For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.

26“Then you will take delight in the Almighty and look up to God.

27You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows.

27You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him.

28You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.

28You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you.

29For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’; but he saves the lowly.

29If people are in trouble and you say, ‘Help them,’ God will save them.

30He delivers even the one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

30Even sinners will be rescued; they will be rescued because your hands are pure.”

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.