| 章 |
| 22:1 |
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
|
| 22:2 |
"Can a mortal be of use to God? Can even the wisest be of service to him?
|
| 22:3 |
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
|
| 22:4 |
Is it for your piety that he reproves you, and enters into judgment with you?
|
| 22:5 |
Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities.
|
| 22:6 |
For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
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| 22:7 |
You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
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| 22:8 |
The powerful possess the land, and the favored live in it.
|
| 22:9 |
You have sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the orphans you have crushed.
|
| 22:10 |
Therefore snares are around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you,
|
| 22:11 |
or darkness so that you cannot see; a flood of water covers you.
|
| 22:12 |
"Is not God high in the heavens? See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
|
| 22:13 |
Therefore you say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the deep darkness?
|
| 22:14 |
Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the dome of heaven.'
|
| 22:15 |
Will you keep to the old way that the wicked have trod?
|
| 22:16 |
They were snatched away before their time; their foundation was washed away by a flood.
|
| 22:17 |
They said to God, 'Leave us alone,' and 'What can the Almighty do to us?'
|
| 22:18 |
Yet he filled their houses with good things-- but the plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.
|
| 22:19 |
The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent laugh them to scorn,
|
| 22:20 |
saying, 'Surely our adversaries are cut off, and what they left, the fire has consumed.'
|
| 22:21 |
"Agree with God, and be at peace; in this way good will come to you.
|
| 22:22 |
Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
|
| 22:23 |
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored, if you remove unrighteousness from your tents,
|
| 22:24 |
if you treat gold like dust, and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent-bed,
|
| 22:25 |
and if the Almighty is your gold and your precious silver,
|
| 22:26 |
then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and lift up your face to God.
|
| 22:27 |
You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows.
|
| 22:28 |
You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.
|
| 22:29 |
When others are humiliated, you say it is pride; for he saves the humble.
|
| 22:30 |
He will deliver even those who are guilty; they will escape because of the cleanness of your hands."
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