| New International Version | King James Bible |
| 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: | 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, |
| 2"Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person benefit him? | 2Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? |
| 3What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless? | 3Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect? |
| 4"Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you? | 4Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? |
| 5Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless? | 5Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? |
| 6You demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked. | 6For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. |
| 7You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry, | 7Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. |
| 8though you were a powerful man, owning land-- an honored man, living on it. | 8But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it. |
| 9And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless. | 9Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. |
| 10That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you, | 10Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; |
| 11why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you. | 11Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee. |
| 12"Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars! | 12Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! |
| 13Yet you say, 'What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness? | 13And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? |
| 14Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.' | 14Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven. |
| 15Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod? | 15Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? |
| 16They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood. | 16Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood: |
| 17They said to God, 'Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?' | 17Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? |
| 18Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked. | 18Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. |
| 19The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying, | 19The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn. |
| 20Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.' | 20Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth. |
| 21"Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. | 21Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. |
| 22Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. | 22Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. |
| 23If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent | 23If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. |
| 24and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, | 24Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. |
| 25then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you. | 25Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. |
| 26Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God. | 26For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. |
| 27You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. | 27Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. |
| 28What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways. | 28Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. |
| 29When people are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!' then he will save the downcast. | 29When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. |
| 30He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands." | 30He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands. |
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