Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded and said,
Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
2 “How can anyone be of help to God? Even wise people are only helpful to themselves.
Can a man be profitable unto God? surely he that is wise is profitable unto 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 art righteous? or 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?
Is it for thy fear [of him] that he reproveth thee, that he entereth 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 hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You refused water to the thirsty; you denied food to the hungry.
Thou hast not given water to the weary 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 as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable 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 hast 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 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 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 sayest, What doth 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, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
15 Why do you insist on following the traditional thinking of the wicked?
Wilt 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 unto 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 fired 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 they that did rise up against us are cut off, and the remnant of them the fire hath 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: thereby good shall come unto 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 thine 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 put away unrighteousness far from thy tents.
24 and give up your love of money and desire for possessions,
And lay thou [thy] treasure in the dust, and [the gold of] Ophir among the stones of the brooks;
25 then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.
And the Almighty shall be thy treasure, and precious silver unto thee.
26 Then you will find delight in the Almighty, and be able to face him without feeling ashamed.
For 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 shall 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.
Thou shalt also 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 cast [thee] down, thou shalt say, [There is] lifting up; and the humble person he shall save.
30 God saves those who are innocent, and you will be saved if you do what is right.”
He shall deliver [even] him that is not innocent: yea, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thine hands.
