Job 22 / 42
- 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
- 2"Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise man benefit him?
- 3What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
- 4"Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?
- 5Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?
- 6You demanded security from your brothers for no reason; you stripped men of their clothing, leaving them naked.
- 7You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry,
- 8though you were a powerful man, owning land- an honored man, living on it.
- 9And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.
- 10That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you,
- 11why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.
- 12"Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!
- 13Yet you say, 'What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?
- 14Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.'
- 15Will you keep to the old path that evil men have trod?
- 16They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.
- 17They said to God, 'Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?'
- 18Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.
- 19"The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,
- 20'Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.'
- 21"Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.
- 22Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.
- 23If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent
- 24and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
- 25then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.
- 26Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God.
- 27You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.
- 28What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.
- 29When men are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!' then he will save the downcast.
- 30He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."