Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge?
Can a man, then, profit God? Behold, the wise man profiteth himself.
3 What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou give him if thy way be unspotted?
Is it a pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous; Or a gain to him, that thou walkest uprightly?
4 Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment:
Will he contend with thee because he feareth thee? Will he enter with thee into judgment?
5 And not for thy manifold wickedness, and thy infinite iniquities?
Hath not thy wickedness been great? Have not thine iniquities been numberless?
6 For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother unjustly, And stripped the poor of their clothing.
7 Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.
Thou hast given the weary no water to drink, And withholden bread from the hungry.
8 In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and being the most mighty thou holdest it.
But the man of power, his was the land, And the honorable man dwelt in it.
9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.
Thou hast sent widows away empty, And broken the arms of the fatherless.
10 Therefore art thou surrounded with snares, and sudden fear troubleth thee.
Therefore snares are round about thee, And sudden fear confoundeth thee;
11 And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of overflowing waters?
Or darkness, through which thou canst not see, And floods of water cover thee.
12 Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars?
Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the stars, how high they are!
13 And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist.
Hence thou sayest, “What doth God know? Can he govern behind the thick darkness?
14 The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven.
Dark clouds are a veil to him, and he cannot see; And he walketh upon the arch of heaven.”
15 Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden?
Wilt thou take the old way Which wicked men have trodden,
16 Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation.
Who were cut down before their time, And whose foundations were swept away by a flood?
17 Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing:
Who said unto God, “Depart from us!” And, “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 filled their houses with good things!—Far from me be the counsel of the wicked!
19 The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.
The righteous see their fate, and rejoice; And the innocent hold them in derision.
20 Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them?
“Truly our adversary is destroyed, And fire hath consumed his abundance!”
21 Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits.
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: Thus shall prosperity return to thee.
22 Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
Receive, I pray thee, instruction from his mouth, And lay up his words in thy heart.
23 If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up; If thou put away iniquity from thy tent.
24 He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold.
Cast to the dust thy gold, And the gold of Ophir to the stones of the brook:
25 And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee.
Then shall the Almighty be thy gold, Yea, treasures of silver unto thee;
26 Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.
For then shalt thou have delight in the Almighty, And shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay vows.
Thou shalt pray to him, and he shall hear thee, And thou shalt perform thy vows.
28 Thou shalt decree a thing, and it I shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways.
The purpose which thou formest shall prosper with thee, And light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved.
When men are cast down, thou shalt say, “There lifting up!” And the humble person he will save.
30 The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands.
He will deliver even him that is not innocent. The purity of thy hands shall save him.
