Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded and said,
Then Eliphaz replied,
2 “How can anyone be of help to God? Even wise people are only helpful to themselves.
“(Can anyone be useful to God?/Certainly no one can be useful to God.) [RHQ] Even people who are wise cannot be helpful to God.
3 Is it any benefit to the Almighty if you're a good person? What does he gain if you do what's right?
If you were righteous, (would that benefit Almighty [God]?/that certainly would not benefit Almighty [God].) [RHQ] If you had (lived a perfect life/never done anything that is wrong), would that help him?
4 Does he correct you and bring charges against you because of your reverence?
“Is it because you have an awesome respect for God that he punishes you? Is that the reason that he puts you on trial?
5 No: it's because you're so wicked! Your sins are never-ending!
No, it certainly must be [RHQ] because you are extremely wicked. It must be that the evil things that you have done are so many that no one can count them!
6 For no reason at all you took your brother's clothing as a security for a debt, and left them stripped naked.
You must have lent money to others and wrongly forced them to give you things to guarantee that they would pay that money back to you; you must have taken all their clothes and left them with nothing to wear.
7 You refused water to the thirsty; you denied food to the hungry.
You must not have given water to those who were thirsty, and you must have refused to give food to those who were hungry.
8 Is it because the land belongs to the powerful, and only the privileged have a right to live there?
Because you were very powerful, you [must have] taken over all the people’s land, and then, being very respected, you have begun to live on that land.
9 You have sent widows away empty-handed; you have crushed the outstretched arms of orphans, begging for help.
[When] widows [came to you for help], you [must have] sent [them] away without giving them anything, and you must have oppressed orphans.
10 That's why you're surrounded by traps to catch you, and why you suddenly panic in terror.
Because of all that, now there are pits around you for you to fall into, and suddenly there are things that terrify you and cause you to tremble.
11 That's why it's so dark you cannot see, and why you feel like you're drowning.
[It is as though] it has become very dark, with the result that you cannot see anything, and [it is as though] [MET] a flood covers you.
12 Doesn't God live in highest heaven and looks down on even the highest stars?
“[But consider this, Job]: God lives [RHQ] high up in the heavens. From there he [RHQ] looks down on the highest stars.
13 But you ask, ‘What does God know? How can he see and judge what happens in down here in darkness?
So why do you say, ‘What does God know [about what we are doing]? [He is hidden from us by] dark clouds, so ([how] can he judge us?/he certainly cannot judge us.) [RHQ]’
14 Thick clouds cover him so he can't see anything as he walks around in heaven.’
[Do you think that] while he walks on the dome that covers the sky, there are thick clouds around him, with the result that he cannot see [what we do]?
15 Why do you insist on following the traditional thinking of the wicked?
Will you continue to conduct your life the old way that evil people have done [for many years]?
16 They were taken before their time; all they had built was washed away.
They suddenly died while they were still young; they disappeared [like everything disappears when there is] a flood [MET].
17 They had told God, ‘Get lost! What can the Almighty do to us?’
They kept saying to God, ‘Do not bother us,’ and they also said [defiantly], ‘Almighty [God] can do nothing [RHQ] to [harm] 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.
But it was God who filled their houses with good things, so I cannot at all understand why wicked people think like they do.
19 Those who do right rejoice when they see the destruction of the wicked, and the innocent mock them,
“But when God punishes wicked people, and righteous people see that, they are glad, and they laugh, ridiculing the wicked people.
20 saying, ‘Our enemies are destroyed, and fire has burned up all that's left of them.’
They say, ‘Now our enemies have been destroyed, and all [their possessions] that were left have been burned in a fire.’
21 Come back to God and be reconciled to him, and you'll be prosperous again.
“So, [Job, ] be reconciled to God and make peace with him; if you do that, good things will happen to you.
22 Listen to what he tells you and keep his words in mind.
Allow him to teach you, and keep thinking about what he has told you.
23 If you return to God you will be restored. If you renounce your sinful life
If you humble yourself and return to God, if you stop doing all the evil things that you have been doing in your house,
24 and give up your love of money and desire for possessions,
if you throw away your gold, even the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir [land],
25 then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.
and if you allow Almighty [God] to be [as precious to you as] your gold and your silver [have been],
26 Then you will find delight in the Almighty, and be able to face him without feeling ashamed.
you will be happy because of your close relationship with God, and you will be able to approach him [IDM] [confidently].
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will keep your promises to him.
You will pray to him, and he will do what you request him to do; you will do the things that you promised him that you would do.
28 Whatever you decide to do will be successful, and wherever you go, light will shine on you.
Everything that you decide to do will be successful; [it] will [be as though] a light [is] shining on the road in front of you.
29 When others are humbled, and you say, ‘please help them,’ God will save them.
God humbles those who are proud, but he saves those who are downcast/discouraged.
30 God saves those who are innocent, and you will be saved if you do what is right.”
God rescues those who (are innocent/have not done things that are wrong), so he will rescue you if you (start doing things that are right/are not guilty [IDM] of doing things that are wrong).”
