Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded and said,
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said,
2 “How can anyone be of help to God? Even wise people are only helpful to themselves.
Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
3 Is it any benefit to the Almighty if you're a good person? What does he gain if you do what's right?
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou are righteous? Or is it gain to him that thou make thy ways perfect?
4 Does he correct you and bring charges against you because of your reverence?
Is it for thy fear of him that he reproves thee, that he enters with thee into judgment?
5 No: it's because you're so wicked! Your sins are never-ending!
Is not thy wickedness great? Neither is there any end to thine iniquities.
6 For no reason at all you took your brother's clothing as a security for a debt, and left them stripped naked.
For thou have taken pledges from thy brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You refused water to the thirsty; you denied food to the hungry.
Thou have not given water to the weary to drink, and thou have withheld bread from the hungry.
8 Is it because the land belongs to the powerful, and only the privileged have a right to live there?
But as for the mighty man, he had the land. And the honorable man, he dwelt in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty-handed; you have crushed the outstretched arms of orphans, begging for help.
Thou have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
10 That's why you're surrounded by traps to catch you, and why you suddenly panic in terror.
Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubles thee,
11 That's why it's so dark you cannot see, and why you feel like you're drowning.
or darkness, so that thou cannot see, and abundance of waters cover thee.
12 Doesn't God live in highest heaven and looks down on even the highest stars?
Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
13 But you ask, ‘What does God know? How can he see and judge what happens in down here in darkness?
And thou say, What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?
14 Thick clouds cover him so he can't see anything as he walks around in heaven.’
Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.
15 Why do you insist on following the traditional thinking of the wicked?
Will thou keep the old way which wicked men have trodden?
16 They were taken before their time; all they had built was washed away.
Who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
17 They had told God, ‘Get lost! What can the Almighty do to us?’
who said to God, Depart from us, and, What can the Almighty do for us?
18 And yet he was the one who had filled their homes with good things—but I don't accept their way of thinking.
Yet he filled their houses with good things. But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19 Those who do right rejoice when they see the destruction of the wicked, and the innocent mock them,
The righteous see it, and are glad. And the innocent laugh them to scorn,
20 saying, ‘Our enemies are destroyed, and fire has burned up all that's left of them.’
Saying, Surely those who rose up against us are cut off, and the remnant of them, the fire has consumed.
21 Come back to God and be reconciled to him, and you'll be prosperous again.
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace. By this good shall come to thee.
22 Listen to what he tells you and keep his words in mind.
Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
23 If you return to God you will be restored. If you renounce your sinful life
If thou return to the Almighty, thou shall be built up, thou put away unrighteousness far from thy tents.
24 and give up your love of money and desire for possessions,
Then thou shall lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
25 then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.
Yea, the Almighty will be thy treasure, and precious silver to thee.
26 Then you will find delight in the Almighty, and be able to face him without feeling ashamed.
For then shall thou delight thyself in the Almighty, and shall lift up thy face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will keep your promises to him.
Thou shall make thy prayer to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shall pay thy vows.
28 Whatever you decide to do will be successful, and wherever you go, light will shine on you.
Thou shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to thee. And light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 When others are humbled, and you say, ‘please help them,’ God will save them.
When they cast thee down, thou shall say, There is lifting up, and he will save the humble man.
30 God saves those who are innocent, and you will be saved if you do what is right.”
He will deliver even him who is not innocent. Yea, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thy hands.
