Eliphaz’s Third Speech

¹ Then¹ Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

1. Hebrew “And”

² “Can a man be of use to God? Yes, can the wise be of use to him?

³ Is it a pleasure to Shaddai if you are righteous, or¹ a gain if you make your ways blameless?

1. Hebrew “and”

⁴ Does he reprove you because of your reverence or enter into judgment with you?

⁵ Is not your wickedness great, and there is no end to your iniquities?

⁶ “Indeed, you have required a pledge from your family for nothing, and you have stripped off the clothes of the naked.

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

⁸ And the land ⌞belongs to the man of power⌟,¹ and ⌞the favored⌟² lives in it.

1. Literally “man of power for him”
2. Literally “lifted up of face”

⁹ You have sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of orphans were crushed.

¹⁰ Therefore trapping nets are all around you, and panic suddenly terrifies you,

¹¹ or it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

¹² “Is not God in the height of the heavens? But¹ see how lofty are ⌞the highest stars⌟.²

1. Hebrew “And”
2. Literally “top of stars,” or “head of stars”

¹³ And you ask, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through deep gloom?

¹⁴ Thick clouds are a covering for him, so that he does not see; and he walks about on the dome of heaven.’

¹⁵ Will you keep to the way of old that the people of mischief have trod,

¹⁶ who were snatched away ⌞before their time⌟,¹ whose foundation was washed away by a current?

1. Literally “and not time”

¹⁷ Those who said to God, ‘Turn away from us,’ and ‘What can Shaddai do to us?’

¹⁸ Yet¹ he himself² filled up their houses with good things, but³ the schemes of the wicked are repugnant to me.

1. Hebrew “And”
2. Emphatic personal pronoun
3. Hebrew “and”

¹⁹ The righteous see, and they rejoice, but¹ the innocent one mocks at them.

1. Hebrew “and”

²⁰ ⌞Surely⌟¹ our foe perishes, and fire has consumed their remainder.²

1. Literally “If not”
2. Or “their wealth”

²¹ “Please reconcile yourself with him, and be at peace; ⌞in this way⌟,¹ good will come to you.

1. Literally “by them”

²² Please receive instruction from his mouth, and place his words in your heart.

²³ If you return to Shaddai, you will be restored; if you remove wickedness from your tent,

²⁴ and if you put gold ore in the dust, and the gold of Ophir in the rock of wadis,

²⁵ then¹ Shaddai will be your gold ore and ⌞your precious silver⌟.²

1. Hebrew “And”
2. Literally “silver of the best for you,” or “silver of the best belonging to you”

²⁶ Indeed, then you will delight yourself in Shaddai, and ⌞you will expect that God will be good to you⌟.¹

1. Literally “you will lift up to God your face”

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

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

²⁹ When they are humiliated, ⌞you say⌟,¹ ‘It is pride,’ for² he saves ⌞the humble⌟.³

1. Literally “and you say,” or “then you say”
2. Hebrew “and”
3. Literally “downward of eyes”

³⁰ He will deliver the guilty, and he will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.”