Eliphaz Continues: God Blesses those Who Seek Him

¹“Call out if you please, but who will answer?To which of the holy ones will you turn?

²For resentment kills a fool,and envy slays the simple.

³I have seen a fool taking root,but suddenly his house was cursed.

⁴His sons are far from safety,crushed in court without a defender.

⁵The hungry consume his harvest,taking it even from the thorns,and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

⁶For distress does not spring from the dust,and trouble does not sprout from the ground.

⁷Yet man is born to troubleas surely as sparks fly upward.

⁸However, if I were you, I would appeal to Godand lay my cause before Him—

⁹the One who does great and unsearchable things,wonders without number.

¹⁰He gives rain to the earthand sends water upon the fields.

¹¹He sets the lowly on high,so that mourners are lifted to safety.

¹²He thwarts the schemes of the crafty,so that their hands find no success.

¹³He catches the wise in their craftiness,and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

¹⁴They encounter darkness by dayand grope at noon as in the night.

¹⁵He saves the needy from the sword in their mouthand from the clutches of the powerful.

¹⁶So the poor have hope,and injustice shuts its mouth.

¹⁷Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects;so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

¹⁸For He wounds, but He also binds;He strikes, but His hands also heal.

¹⁹He will rescue you from six calamities;no harm will touch you in seven.

²⁰In famine He will redeem you from death,and in battle from the stroke of the sword.

²¹You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,and will not fear havoc when it comes.

²²You will laugh at destruction and famine,and need not fear the beasts of the earth.

²³For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

²⁴You will know that your tent is secure,and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home.

²⁵You will know that your offspring will be many,your descendants like the grass of the earth.

²⁶You will come to the grave in full vigor,like a sheaf of grain gathered in season.

²⁷Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true!So hear it and know for yourself.”

Exclusion from the Congregation

¹No man with crushed or severed genitals may enter the assembly of the LORD.

²No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the LORD, nor may any of his descendants, even to the tenth generation.

³No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.

⁴For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaimto curse you.

⁵Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.

⁶You are not to seek peace or prosperity from them as long as you live.

⁷Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.

⁸The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.

Uncleanness in the Camp

⁹When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every wicked thing.

¹⁰If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he must leave the camp and stay outside.

¹¹When evening approaches, he must wash with water, and when the sun sets he may return to the camp.

¹²You must have a place outside the camp to go and relieve yourself.

¹³And you must have a digging tool in your equipment so that when you relieve yourself you can dig a hole and cover up your excrement.

¹⁴For the LORD your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, lest He see anything unclean among you and turn away from you.

Miscellaneous Laws

¹⁵Do not return a slave to his master if he has taken refuge with you.

¹⁶Let him live among you wherever he chooses, in the town of his pleasing. Do not oppress him.

¹⁷No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute.

¹⁸You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male,into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.

¹⁹Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan.

²⁰You may charge a foreigner interest, but not your brother, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything to which you put your hand in the land that you are entering to possess.

²¹If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

²²But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty of sin.

²³Be careful to follow through on what comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed to the LORD your God with your own mouth.

²⁴When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not put any in your basket.

²⁵When you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.

The LORD’s Love for Israel

¹This is the burden of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi:

²“I have loved you,” says the LORD.But you ask, “How have You loved us?”“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved,

³but Esau I have hated,and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

⁴Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with whom the LORD is indignant forever.

⁵You will see this with your own eyes, and you yourselves will say, ‘The LORD is great—even beyond the borders of Israel.’”

The Polluted Offerings

⁶“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise My name.“But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’

⁷By presenting defiled food on My altar.But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible.

⁸When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present the lame and sick ones, is it not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the LORD of Hosts.

⁹“But ask now for God’s favor. Will He be gracious? Since this has come from your hands, will He show you favor?” asks the LORD of Hosts.

¹⁰“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

¹¹For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Hosts.

¹²“But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’

¹³You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the LORD of Hosts.“You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from your hands?” asks the LORD.

¹⁴“But cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and My name is to be feared among the nations.

The Blessed Fear of the LORD

¹Hallelujah!Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,who greatly delights in His commandments.

²His descendants will be mighty in the land;the generation of the upright will be blessed.

³Wealth and riches are in his house,and his righteousness endures forever.

⁴Light dawns in the darkness for the upright—for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous.

⁵It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely,whose affairs are guided by justice.

⁶Surely he will never be shaken;the righteous man will be remembered forever.

⁷He does not fear bad news;his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

⁸His heart is assured; he does not fear,until he looks in triumph on his foes.

⁹He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;his righteousness endures forever;his horn will be lifted high in honor.

¹⁰The wicked man will see and be grieved;he will gnash his teeth and waste away;the desires of the wicked will perish.