IYOB 22

1 And Eliphaz the Tĕmanite answered and said,

2 “Would a strong man be of use to Ĕl? Even he who is wise be of use to Him?

3 Is it a delight to Ĕl Shaddai that you are righteous? Or gain, that you make your ways perfect?

4 Is it because of your reverence of Him that He reproves you, or enters into right-ruling with you?

5 Is not your evil great? And is there no end to your wickednesses?

6 For you take pledges from your brother for naught, and strip the naked of their garments.

7 You do not give the weary water to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

8 But the man of strength, he has the earth, and the highly respected man dwells in it.

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

10 Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden fear alarms you,

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

12 Is not Eloah in the height of shamayim? And see the highest stars, how lofty they are!

13 And you have said, ‘What does Ĕl know? Would He judge through the dense cloud?

14 ‘Clouds screen Him, so that He does not see, and He moves about the circuit of the shamayim.’

15 Do you observe the old way which wicked men have trod,

16 who were cut down before their time, whose foundations were swept away by a flood?

17 They said to Ĕl, ‘Turn aside from us!’ And what did Ĕl Shaddai do to them?

18 Yet He filled their houses with the good! But the counsel of the wicked has been far from me.

19 The righteous see it and are glad, and the innocent mock at them.

20 ‘Truly, our adversaries are cut off, and fire has consumed their excess.’

21 Be of service to Him, and be at peace; thereby beraḵah shall come to you.

22 Please accept the Torah from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.

23 If you return to Ĕl Shaddai, you are built up. If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,

24 and lay gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the wadis,

25 then Ĕl Shaddai shall be your gold and your silver, strength to you.

26 Then you shall certainly delight in Ĕl Shaddai, and lift up your face to Eloah.

27 Make your prayer to Him, and He shall hear you, and you shall pay your vows.

28 And whatever you decide on shall be established for you, and light shine on your ways.

29 For they have made low, and you say, ‘Up!’ And He saves the lowly of eyes.

30 Would He deliver one who is not innocent? So by the cleanness of your hands you shall be delivered.”