Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded and said,
And 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 it is unto himself that the wise man is profitable.
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 if thou art righteous? And is it gain [to him] that thou makest thy ways perfect?
4 Does he correct you and bring charges against you because of your reverence?
Will he reason with thee for fear of thee? Will he enter with thee into judgment?
5 No: it's because you're so wicked! Your sins are never-ending!
Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities without end?
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 hast taken a pledge of thy brother for nought, and stripped off the clothing of the naked.
7 You refused water to the thirsty; you denied food to the hungry.
Thou hast not given water to the fainting to drink, and thou hast withholden 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 the powerful man, he had the land; and the man of high rank dwelt in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty-handed; you have crushed the outstretched arms of orphans, begging for help.
Widows hast thou sent empty away, 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 troubleth thee;
11 That's why it's so dark you cannot see, and why you feel like you're drowning.
Or darkness, that thou canst not see, and floods 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 the heavens? And behold the summit of the stars: how exalted are they!
13 But you ask, ‘What does God know? How can he see and judge what happens in down here in darkness?
And thou sayest, What doth God know? will he judge through the dark cloud?
14 Thick clouds cover him so he can't see anything as he walks around in heaven.’
Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh on the vault of the heavens.
15 Why do you insist on following the traditional thinking of the wicked?
Dost thou mark the ancient path which wicked men have trodden?
16 They were taken before their time; all they had built was washed away.
Who were carried off before the time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood;
17 They had told God, ‘Get lost! What can the Almighty do to us?’
Who said unto God, Depart from us! and what could the Almighty do to them?
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. 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.’
Is not he who rose against us destroyed, and doth not the fire consume his residue?
21 Come back to God and be reconciled to him, and you'll be prosperous again.
Reconcile thyself now with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
22 Listen to what he tells you and keep his words in mind.
Receive, I pray thee, instruction 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 shalt be built up. If thou remove unrighteousness far from thy tents,
24 and give up your love of money and desire for possessions,
And put the precious ore with the dust, and [the gold of] Ophir among the stones of the torrents,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.
Then the Almighty will be thy precious ore, and silver heaped up unto thee;
26 Then you will find delight in the Almighty, and be able to face him without feeling ashamed.
Yea, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God:
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will keep your promises to him.
Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows;
28 Whatever you decide to do will be successful, and wherever you go, light will shine on you.
And thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto 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 are made low, then thou shalt say, Rise up! and he shall save him that is of downcast eyes.
30 God saves those who are innocent, and you will be saved if you do what is right.”
[Even] him that is not innocent shall he deliver; yea, he shall be delivered by the pureness of thy hands.
