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, as he that is wise may be 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 you are righteous? or is it gain to him, that you make your ways perfect?
4 Does he correct you and bring charges against you because of your reverence?
Will he reprove you for fear of you? will he enter with you into judgment?
5 No: it's because you're so wicked! Your sins are never-ending!
Is not your wickedness great? and your iniquities infinite?
6 For no reason at all you took your brother's clothing as a security for a debt, and left them stripped naked.
For you have taken a pledge from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You refused water to the thirsty; you denied food to the hungry.
You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you 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 earth; and the honorable man dwelled in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty-handed; you have crushed the outstretched arms of orphans, begging for help.
You 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 you, and sudden fear troubles you;
11 That's why it's so dark you cannot see, and why you feel like you're drowning.
Or darkness, that you can not see; and abundance of waters cover you.
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 you say, How does God know? can 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 sees not; and he walks in the circuit of heaven.
15 Why do you insist on following the traditional thinking of the wicked?
Have you marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
16 They were taken before their time; all they had built was washed away.
Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood:
17 They had told God, ‘Get lost! What can the Almighty do to us?’
Which said to God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for 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 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.’
Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumes.
21 Come back to God and be reconciled to him, and you'll be prosperous again.
Acquaint now yourself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come to you.
22 Listen to what he tells you and keep his words in mind.
Receive, I pray you, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to God you will be restored. If you renounce your sinful life
If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, you shall put away iniquity far from your tabernacles.
24 and give up your love of money and desire for possessions,
Then shall you 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.
Yes, the Almighty shall be your defense, and you shall have plenty of silver.
26 Then you will find delight in the Almighty, and be able to face him without feeling ashamed.
For then shall you have your delight in the Almighty, and shall lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will keep your promises to him.
You shall make your prayer to him, and he shall hear you, and you shall pay your vows.
28 Whatever you decide to do will be successful, and wherever you go, light will shine on you.
You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you: and the light shall shine on your ways.
29 When others are humbled, and you say, ‘please help them,’ God will save them.
When men are cast down, then you shall say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
30 God saves those who are innocent, and you will be saved if you do what is right.”
He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of your hands.
