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Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
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“Can a person do anything to help God?
Can even a wise person be helpful to him?
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Is it any advantage to the Almighty if you are righteous?
Would it be any gain to him if you were perfect?
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Is it because you’re so pious that he accuses you
and brings judgment against you?
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No, it’s because of your wickedness!
There’s no limit to your sins.
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“For example, you must have lent money to your friend
and demanded clothing as security.
Yes, you stripped him to the bone.
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You must have refused water for the thirsty
and food for the hungry.
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You probably think the land belongs to the powerful
and only the privileged have a right to it!
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You must have sent widows away empty-handed
and crushed the hopes of orphans.
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That is why you are surrounded by traps
and tremble from sudden fears.
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That is why you cannot see in the darkness,
and waves of water cover you.
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“God is so great - higher than the heavens,
higher than the farthest stars.
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But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing!
How can he judge through the thick darkness?
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For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us.
He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.’
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“Will you continue on the old paths
where evil people have walked?
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They were snatched away in the prime of life,
the foundations of their lives washed away.
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For they said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
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Yet he was the one who filled their homes with good things,
so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.
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“The righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed,
and the innocent will laugh in contempt.
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They will say, ‘See how our enemies have been destroyed.
The last of them have been consumed in the fire.’
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“Submit to God, and you will have peace;
then things will go well for you.
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Listen to his instructions,
and store them in your heart.
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If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored -
so clean up your life.
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If you give up your lust for money
and throw your precious gold into the river,
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the Almighty himself will be your treasure.
He will be your precious silver!
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“Then you will take delight in the Almighty
and look up to God.
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You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows to him.
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You will succeed in whatever you choose to do,
and light will shine on the road ahead of you.
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If people are in trouble and you say, ‘Help them,’
God will save them.
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Even sinners will be rescued;
they will be rescued because your hands are pure.”