1Then Eliphaz from Teman answered,
2“Can a person truly help God? A wise person certainly helps himself.
3Does it please the Almighty God if you are righteous? Or does it benefit him if you live a perfect life?
4Does he correct you and bring you to judgment because you are religious?
5Isn’t your wickedness great? And aren’t your sins endless?
6For example, you took collateral from your brother for no reason, and you stripped the clothes off those who had none.
7You didn’t give water to the thirsty, and you withheld food from the hungry.
8But the powerful man owned the land, and the respected man lived in it.
9You sent widows away empty-handed, and you broke the strength of orphans.
10Therefore, traps are all around you, and sudden fear troubles you.
11Or darkness, so you cannot see, and floods of water cover you.
12“Isn’t God in the highest heavens? Look at the highest stars, how high they are!
13But you say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?
14Thick clouds cover him so he cannot see. He walks on the arch of the sky.’
15Will you stick to the old path that wicked people have followed?
16They were taken away before their time, and their foundation was washed away like a stream.
17They told God, ‘Leave us alone,’ and ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
18Yet he filled their homes with good things, but I keep far away from the advice of the wicked.
19The righteous see this and are glad. The innocent make fun of them,
20saying, ‘Surely those who stood against us are destroyed. Fire has consumed what was left of them.’
21“Get to know God now, and be at peace. Then good things will come to you.
22Please accept instruction from him, and store his words in your heart.
23If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored, if you remove wickedness far from your tents.
24Throw your gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the rocks in the streams.
25Then the Almighty will be your treasure and precious silver to you.
26For then you will find joy in the Almighty, and you will look up to God.
27You will pray to him, and he will hear you. You will keep your promises.
28Whatever you decide will happen, and light will shine on your path.
29When people are brought low, you will say, ‘Be lifted up.’ He will save those who are humble.
30He will even rescue those who are not innocent. Yes, they will be saved because your hands are clean.”