Eliphaz Discourses on Just Retribution

“Call out, and see who will answer;
Can you turn to the Sons of God?
Wrath kills the foolish man;
Envy slays the silly one.
I have watched as the foolish take root
Though I curse their houses.

“The hungry eat the harvest of the foolish;
The robber swallows their things;
Affliction does not grow from the dust,
Neither does trouble spring out of the ground.
Human beings create their own trouble
As surely as sparks fly upward.

“I believe in seeking God
And committing my causes to God.
God does great and mysterious things,
Marvelous, numberless things.
God gives rain to the earth,
Sends waters to the fields.
God sets high those who are low;
Those who mourn may be lifted to safety.
God disappoints the devices of the crafty;
God snares the wise in their own craftiness,
And the counsel of the deceitful is revealed.
They meet with darkness in the daytime;
They grope in the noonday as if it were night.

“God saves the poor from the swords
And from the hands of the mighty.
Thus the poor have hope.

“Look, that person is happy who God corrects.
Do not despise chastening by the Almighty:
God makes sore, and God binds up;
God wounds, and God heals.

“God will deliver you from six troubles;
Even in seven troubles no evil will touch you.
In famine God will redeem you from death;
In war God will save you from the sword.
You will be hid from the scourge of the tongue,
And you will not fear destruction when it comes.
You will laugh at catastrophe and famine;
You will not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

“Can’t you see? You will be an ally to the stones;
The wild beasts will be at peace with you.
Can’t you see? Your tent will be peaceful;
You can relax in your home.
And you can be assured that
Your offspring will be great,
As numerous as the grass of the earth.
You will go to your grave in old age
Just as corn is harvested in season.

“This is all true, as we have seen.
It is as we say;
Know it for your own peace of mind.”