Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and sayde,
2 “Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?
May a man be profitable vnto God, as he that is wise, may be profitable to himselfe?
3 Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless?
Is it any thing vnto the Almightie, that thou art righteous? or is it profitable to him, that thou makest thy wayes vpright?
4 Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you?
Is it for feare of thee that he will accuse thee? or go with thee into iudgement?
5 Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless?
Is not thy wickednes great, and thine iniquities innumerable?
6 For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.
For thou hast taken the pledge from thy brother for nought, and spoyled the clothes of the naked.
7 You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished,
To such as were wearie, thou hast not giuen water to drinke, and hast withdrawen bread from the hungrie.
8 while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it.
But the mightie man had the earth, and he that was in autoritie, dwelt in it.
9 You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
Thou hast cast out widowes emptie, and the armes of the fatherles were broken.
10 Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you;
Therefore snares are round about thee, and feare shall suddenly trouble thee:
11 it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.
Or darkenes that thou shouldest not see, and abundance of waters shall couer thee.
12 Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!
Is not God on hie in the heauen? and behold the height of the starres how hie they are.
13 Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness?
But thou sayest, How should God know? can he iudge through the darke cloude?
14 Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’
The cloudes hide him that he can not see, and he walketh in the circle of heauen.
15 Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod?
Hast thou marked the way of the worlde, wherein wicked men haue walked?
16 They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.
Which were cut downe before the time, whose foundation was as a riuer that ouerflowed:
17 They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’
Which sayd vnto God, Depart from vs, and asked what the Almightie could do for them.
18 But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
Yet hee filled their houses with good things: but let the counsell of the wicked be farre from me.
19 The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them:
The righteous shall see them, and shall reioyce, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorne.
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’
Surely our substance is hid: but the fire hath deuoured the remnant of them.
21 Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you.
Therefore acquaint thy selfe, I pray thee, with him, and make peace: thereby thou shalt haue prosperitie.
22 Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.
Receiue, I pray thee, the law of his mouth, and lay vp his words in thine heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents
If thou returne to the Almightie, thou shalt be buylt vp, and thou shalt put iniquitie farre from thy tabernacle.
24 and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,
Thou shalt lay vp golde for dust, and the gold of Ophir, as the flintes of the riuers.
25 then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you.
Yea, the Almightie shalbe thy defence, and thou shalt haue plentie of siluer.
26 Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.
And thou shalt then delite in the Almightie, and lift vp thy face vnto God.
27 You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.
Thou shalt make thy praier vnto him, and he shall heare thee, and thou shalt render thy vowes.
28 Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.
Thou shalt also decree a thing, and he shall establish it vnto thee, and the light shall shine vpon thy wayes.
29 When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly.
When others are cast downe, then shalt thou say, I am lifted vp: and God shall saue the humble person.
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”
The innocent shall deliuer the yland, and it shalbe preserued by the purenes of thine hands.
