| Chapter 22 |
1 |
Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said: |
2 |
Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge? |
3 |
What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou give him if thy way be unspotted? |
4 |
Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment: |
5 |
And not for thy manifold wickedness, and thy infinite iniquities? |
6 |
For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing. |
7 |
Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry. |
8 |
In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and being the most mighty thou holdest it. |
9 |
Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces. |
10 |
Therefore art thou surrounded with snares, and sudden fear troubleth thee. |
11 |
And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of overflowing waters? |
12 |
Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars? |
13 |
And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist. |
14 |
The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven. |
15 |
Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden? |
16 |
Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation. |
17 |
Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing: |
18 |
Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose way of thinking be far from me. |
19 |
The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn. |
20 |
Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them? |
21 |
Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits. |
22 |
Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart. |
23 |
If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle. |
24 |
He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold. |
25 |
And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee. |
26 |
Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God. |
27 |
Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay vows. |
28 |
Thou shalt decree a thing, and it I shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways. |
29 |
For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved. |
30 |
The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands. |