New Living Translation | Christian Standard Bible |
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: | 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: |
2“Can a person do anything to help God? Can even a wise person be helpful to him? | 2Can a man be of any use to God? Can even a wise man be of use to him? |
3Is it any advantage to the Almighty if you are righteous? Would it be any gain to him if you were perfect? | 3Does it delight the Almighty if you are righteous? Does he profit if you perfect your behavior? |
4Is it because you’re so pious that he accuses you and brings judgment against you? | 4Does he correct you and take you to court because of your piety? |
5No, it’s because of your wickedness! There’s no limit to your sins. | 5Isn't your wickedness abundant and aren't your iniquities endless? |
6“For example, you must have lent money to your friend and demanded clothing as security. Yes, you stripped him to the bone. | 6For you took collateral from your brothers without cause, stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked. |
7You must have refused water for the thirsty and food for the hungry. | 7You gave no water to the thirsty and withheld food from the famished, |
8You probably think the land belongs to the powerful and only the privileged have a right to it! | 8while the land belonged to a powerful man and an influential man lived on it. |
9You must have sent widows away empty-handed and crushed the hopes of orphans. | 9You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed. |
10That is why you are surrounded by traps and tremble from sudden fears. | 10Therefore snares surround you, and sudden dread terrifies you, |
11That is why you cannot see in the darkness, and waves of water cover you. | 11or darkness, so you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you. |
12“God is so great—higher than the heavens, higher than the farthest stars. | 12Isn't God as high as the heavens? And look at the highest stars--how lofty they are! |
13But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing! How can he judge through the thick darkness? | 13Yet you say, "What does God know? Can he judge through total darkness? |
14For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us. He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.’ | 14Clouds veil him so that he cannot see, as he walks on the circle of the sky." |
15“Will you continue on the old paths where evil people have walked? | 15Will you continue on the ancient path that wicked men have walked? |
16They were snatched away in the prime of life, the foundations of their lives washed away. | 16They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were washed away by a river. |
17For they said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’ | 17They were the ones who said to God, "Leave us alone!" and "What can the Almighty do to us?" |
18Yet he was the one who filled their homes with good things, so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking. | 18But it was he who filled their houses with good things. The counsel of the wicked is far from me! |
19“The righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed, and the innocent will laugh in contempt. | 19The righteous see this and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying, |
20They will say, ‘See how our enemies have been destroyed. The last of them have been consumed in the fire.’ | 20"Surely our opponents are destroyed, and fire has consumed what they left behind." |
21“Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. | 21Come to terms with God and be at peace; in this way good will come to you. |
22Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart. | 22Receive instruction from his mouth, and place his sayings in your heart. |
23If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored— so clean up your life. | 23If you return to the Almighty, you will be renewed. If you banish injustice from your tent |
24If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river, | 24and consign your gold to the dust, the gold of Ophir to the stones in the wadis, |
25the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver! | 25the Almighty will be your gold and your finest silver. |
26“Then you will take delight in the Almighty and look up to God. | 26Then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. |
27You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him. | 27You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. |
28You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you. | 28When you make a decision, it will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways. |
29If people are in trouble and you say, ‘Help them,’ God will save them. | 29When others are humiliated and you say, "Lift them up," God will save the humble. |
30Even sinners will be rescued; they will be rescued because your hands are pure.” | 30He will even rescue the guilty one, who will be rescued by the purity of your hands. |
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. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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