Capítulo 22

1 - Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 - "Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person benefit him?

3 - What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

4 - "Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?

5 - Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?

6 - You demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.

7 - You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry,

8 - though you were a powerful man, owning land - an honored man, living on it.

9 - And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.

10 - That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you,

11 - why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.

12 - "Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!

13 - Yet you say, 'What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?

14 - Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.'

15 - Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?

16 - They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.

17 - They said to God, 'Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?'

18 - Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

19 - The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,

20 - 'Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.'

21 - "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.

22 - Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.

23 - If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent

24 - and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

25 - then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.

26 - Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God.

27 - You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.

28 - What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.

29 - When people are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!' then he will save the downcast.

30 - He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."