22
1 Then Eliphaz of Teman answered and said,
2 Can a gever be profitable unto El,
as he that has seichel may be profitable unto himself?
3 Is it any pleasure to Shaddai, that thou art tzaddik?
Or is it gain to Him, that thou makest thy ways blameless?
4 Is it for thy yireh [Elohim] that He reproves thee?
Will He enter with thee into mishpat?
5 Is not thy rah great?
And thine avonot infinite?
6 For thou hast exacted a pledge from thy brother for naught,
and stripped the arummim (naked ones) of their clothing.
7 Thou hast not given mayim to the weary to drink,
and thou hast withheld lechem from the hungry.
8 But as for the ish zeroa (mighty man), his is ha'aretz;
and the honorable man dwelt therein.
9 Thou hast sent almanot away empty,
and the arms of the yetomim have been broken.
10 Therefore pachim (snares) are around thee,
and sudden pachad troubleth thee;
11 Or choshech, that thou canst not see;
and overflow of mayim cover thee.
12 Is not Eloah in the height of Shomayim?
And hinei the rosh kokhavim, how high they are!
13 And thou sayest, How doth El know?
Can He judge through the thick cloud?
14 Thick clouds veil Him, that He seeth not;
and He walketh in the vault of Shomayim.
15 Wilt thou note the orach olam
which wicked men have trodden?
16 Who were cut down before their time,
whose yesod was overflown with a flood;
17 Who said unto El, Depart from us;
and what can Shaddai do to them?
18 Yet He filled their batim (houses) with tov;
but the etza (counsel) of the resha'im is far from me.
19 The tzaddikim see it, and are glad,
and the naki (innocent) laugh them to scorn.
20 Verily our foe is destroyed,
and the abundance of them the eish consumeth.
21 Acquaint now thyself with Him, and so hast thou shalom;
thereby tovah shall come unto thee.
22 Receive, now, torah from His mouth,
and lay up His words in thine lev.
23 If thou return to Shaddai,
thou shalt be restored;
if thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy ohalim;
24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as aphar,
and that of Ophir as the tzur of the brooks.
25 Yea, Shaddai shall be thy gold,
and thy precious kesef.
26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in Shaddai,
and shalt lift up thy face unto Eloah.
27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto Him, and He shall hear thee,
and thou shalt fulfill thy nederim.
28 Thou shalt also decide a matter, and it shall be established unto thee,
and the ohr shall shine upon thy ways.
29 When they are cast down, thou shalt say: Arise,
and He shall save the one with low eynayim.*
30 He shall deliver even the guilty;
and he is delivered by the bar (cleanness) of thine hands.
* 22:29 i.e., humility