Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
Can a man be profitable unto God?
Surely he that is wise is profitable unto himself.
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous?
Or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?
Is it {Or, for fear of thee}for thy fear of him that he reproveth thee,
That he entereth with thee into judgment?
Is not thy wickedness great?
Neither is there any end to thine iniquities.
For thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought,
And stripped the naked of their clothing.
Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink,
And thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
But as for the {Hebrew: the man of arm.}mighty man, he had the {Or, land}earth;
And {Hebrew: he whose person is accepted.}the honorable man, he dwelt in it.
Thou hast sent widows away empty,
And the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
Therefore snares are round about thee,
And sudden fear troubleth thee,
{Or, Or dost thou not see the darkness, And the flood of waters that covereth thee?}Or darkness, so that thou canst not see,
And abundance of waters cover thee.
Is not God in the height of heaven?
And behold the {Hebrew: head.}height of the stars, how high they are!
And thou sayest, What doth God know?
Can he judge through the thick darkness?
Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he seeth not;
And he walketh on the vault of heaven.
{Or, Dost thou mark}Wilt thou keep the old way
Which wicked men have trodden?
Who were snatched away before their time,
Whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
Who said unto God, Depart from us;
And, What can the Almighty do {Or, to}for {Hebrew: them.}us?
Yet he filled their houses with good things:
But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
The righteous see it, and are glad;
And the innocent laugh them to scorn,
Saying, Surely they that did rise up against us are cut off,
And the {Or, that which remained to them Or, their abundance}remnant of them the fire hath consumed.
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace:
{Or,as otherwise read, Thereby shall thine increase be good.}Thereby good shall come unto thee.
Receive, I pray thee, {Or, instruction}the law from his mouth,
And lay up his words in thy heart.
If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up,
{Or, Thou shall put away…And shall lay up}If thou put away unrighteousness far from thy tents.
And lay thou thy {Hebrew: ore.}treasure {Or, on the earth}in the dust,
And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks;
And the Almighty will be thy {Hebrew: ore.}treasure,
And {Or, precious silver shall be thine}precious silver unto thee.
For then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty,
And shalt lift up thy face unto God.
Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee;
And thou shalt pay thy vows.
Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee;
And light shall shine upon thy ways.
When they {Or, are made low}cast thee down, thou shalt say, There is lifting up;
And {Hebrew: him that is lowly of eyes.}the humble person he will save.
He will deliver even him that is not innocent:
Yea, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thy hands.
Querverweise zu Hiob 22,9 Hiob 22,9
They drive away the ass of the fatherless;They take the widow's ox for a pledge.
Break thou the arm of the wicked;And as for the evil man, seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
He devoureth the barren that beareth not,And doeth not good to the widow.
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken;But Jehovah upholdeth the righteous.
Because I delivered the poor that cried,The fatherless also, {Or, and him that had &c.}that had none to help him.
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
If I have withheld {Or, aught that the poor desired}the poor from their desire,Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
Or have eaten my morsel alone,And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof
(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,And her have I guided from my mother's womb);
If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,Because I saw my help in the gate:
And a sojourner shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him: for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
If thou afflict them at all, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
Cursed be he that wresteth the justice due to the sojourner, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
They slay the widow and the sojourner,And murder the fatherless.
learn to do well; seek justice, {Or, set right the oppressor}relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
and there was a widow in that city; and she came oft unto him, saying, {Or, Do me justice of : and so in verse 5, 7, 8.}Avenge me of mine adversary.
And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, {Or, lest at last by her coming she wear me out}lest she {Greek: bruise.}wear me out by her continual coming.