1 Then responded Eliphaz the Temanite, and said:—

2 Unto GOD, can a man act as friend? Surely a discreet man befriendeth himself!

3 Is it a pleasure to the Almighty, that thou shouldst be righteous? or any profit, that thou shouldst be blameless in thy ways?

4 Is it, for thy reverence, that he will accuse thee? will enter with thee into judgment?

5 Is not, thy wickedness, great? and, without end, [are not] thine iniquities?

6 Surely then hast been wont to put thy brother in pledge, for nothing, and, the garments of the ill-clad, hast thou stripped off:

7 No water—to the weary, hast thou given to drink, and, from the hungry, thou hast withheld bread:

8 A man of might, to him, pertaineth the land, and, the favorite, dwelleth therein:

9 Widows, thou hast sent away empty, and, the arms of the fatherless, thou dost crush.

10 For this cause, round about thee, are snares, and a dread startleth thee suddenly;

11 Or darkness—thou canst not see, and, a flood of waters, covereth thee.

12 Is not, GOD, [in] the height of the heavens? Behold, then, the head of the stars, that they are high.

13 Wilt thou say then, What doth GOD know? Out through a thick cloud, can he judge?

14 Dark clouds, are a veil to him, and he cannot see, or, the vault of the heavens, doth he walk?

15 The path of the ancient time, wilt thou mark, which the men of iniquity trod?

16 Who were snatched away before the time, and, a stream, washed away their foundation?

17 Who had been saying unto GOD, Depart from us! and—What can the Almighty do for himself?

18 Yet, he, had filled their houses with good! The counsel of the lawless, then, is far from me:

19 The righteous shall see and rejoice, and, the innocent, shall laugh them to scorn:

20 If our assailants do not vanish, then, their abundance, a fire consumeth!

21 Shew thyself to be one with him—I pray thee—and prosper, thereby, shall there come on thee blessing.

22 Accept, I beseech thee, from his mouth—instruction,—and lay up his sayings in thy heart.

23 If thou return unto the Almighty and submit thyself, if thou far remove perversity from thy tent,

24 Then lay up, in the dust, precious ore, and, among the stones of the torrent-beds, fine gold:

25 So shall, the Almighty, become, thy precious ores, yea glittering silver unto thee!

26 For, then, in the Almighty, shalt thou take exquisite delight, and shalt lift up—unto GOD—thy face;

27 Thou shalt make entreaty unto him, and he will hear thee, and, thy vows, shalt thou pay;

28 And thou shalt decree a purpose, and it shall be fulfilled unto thee, and, upon thy ways, shall have shone a light;

29 When men cast themselves down, then thou shalt say: Up! And, him that is of downcast eyes, shall he save;

30 He shall deliver the innocent, and thou shalt escape by the pureness of thy hands.