Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded and said,
2 Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge?
“How can anyone be of help to God? Even wise people are only helpful to themselves.
3 What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou give him if thy way be unspotted?
Is it any benefit to the Almighty if you're a good person? What does he gain if you do what's right?
4 Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment:
Does he correct you and bring charges against you because of your reverence?
5 And not for thy manifold wickedness, and thy infinite iniquities?
No: it's because you're so wicked! Your sins are never-ending!
6 For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
For no reason at all you took your brother's clothing as a security for a debt, and left them stripped naked.
7 Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.
You refused water to the thirsty; you denied food to the hungry.
8 In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and being the most mighty thou holdest it.
Is it because the land belongs to the powerful, and only the privileged have a right to live there?
9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.
You have sent widows away empty-handed; you have crushed the outstretched arms of orphans, begging for help.
10 Therefore art thou surrounded with snares, and sudden fear troubleth thee.
That's why you're surrounded by traps to catch you, and why you suddenly panic in terror.
11 And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of overflowing waters?
That's why it's so dark you cannot see, and why you feel like you're drowning.
12 Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars?
Doesn't God live in highest heaven and looks down on even the highest stars?
13 And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist.
But you ask, ‘What does God know? How can he see and judge what happens in down here in darkness?
14 The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven.
Thick clouds cover him so he can't see anything as he walks around in heaven.’
15 Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden?
Why do you insist on following the traditional thinking of the wicked?
16 Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation.
They were taken before their time; all they had built was washed away.
17 Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing:
They had told God, ‘Get lost! What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose way of thinking be far from me.
And yet he was the one who had filled their homes with good things—but I don't accept their way of thinking.
19 The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.
Those who do right rejoice when they see the destruction of the wicked, and the innocent mock them,
20 Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them?
saying, ‘Our enemies are destroyed, and fire has burned up all that's left of them.’
21 Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits.
Come back to God and be reconciled to him, and you'll be prosperous again.
22 Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
Listen to what he tells you and keep his words in mind.
23 If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
If you return to God you will be restored. If you renounce your sinful life
24 He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold.
and give up your love of money and desire for possessions,
25 And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee.
then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.
26 Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.
Then you will find delight in the Almighty, and be able to face him without feeling ashamed.
27 Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay vows.
You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will keep your promises to him.
28 Thou shalt decree a thing, and it I shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways.
Whatever you decide to do will be successful, and wherever you go, light will shine on you.
29 For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved.
When others are humbled, and you say, ‘please help them,’ God will save them.
30 The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands.
God saves those who are innocent, and you will be saved if you do what is right.”
