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 useful to God? Can a wise man be useful to him?
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 you are righteous? Is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
4 Does he correct you and bring charges against you because of your reverence?
Is it because of your reverence for him that he rebukes you and takes you to judgment?
5 No: it's because you're so wicked! Your sins are never-ending!
Is not your wickedness great? Is there no end to your 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 you have demanded guarantee of a loan from your brother for no reason, and you have stripped away clothing from the naked.
7 You refused water to the thirsty; you denied food to the hungry.
You have not given water to weary people to drink; you have withheld bread from hungry people
8 Is it because the land belongs to the powerful, and only the privileged have a right to live there?
although you, a mighty man, possessed the earth, although you, an honored man, lived 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; 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 all around 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.
There is darkness, so that you cannot see; an abundance of waters covers you.
12 Doesn't God live in highest heaven and looks down on even the highest stars?
Is not God in the heights of heaven? Look at 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?
You 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 us; he walks on the vault of heaven.'
15 Why do you insist on following the traditional thinking of the wicked?
Will you keep the old way that wicked men have walked—
16 They were taken before their time; all they had built was washed away.
those who were snatched away before their time, those whose foundations have washed away like a river,
17 They had told God, ‘Get lost! What can the Almighty do to us?’
those who said to God, 'Depart from us'; those who said, 'What can the Almighty do to 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; the plans of wicked people are far from me.
19 Those who do right rejoice when they see the destruction of the wicked, and the innocent mock them,
Righteous people see their fate and are glad; innocent people laugh them to scorn.
20 saying, ‘Our enemies are destroyed, and fire has burned up all that's left of them.’
They say, 'Surely those who rose up against us are cut off; fire has consumed their possessions.'
21 Come back to God and be reconciled to him, and you'll be prosperous again.
Now agree with God and be at peace with him; in that way, good will come to you.
22 Listen to what he tells you and keep his words in mind.
Receive, I beg you, instruction from his mouth; store 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 will be built up, if you put unrighteousness far away from your tents.
24 and give up your love of money and desire for possessions,
Lay your treasure down in the dust, 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 will be your treasure, precious silver to you.
26 Then you will find delight in the Almighty, and be able to face him without feeling ashamed.
For then you will take pleasure in the Almighty; you will 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 will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you; you will pay your vows to him.
28 Whatever you decide to do will be successful, and wherever you go, light will shine on you.
You will also decree anything, and it will be confirmed for you; light will shine on your paths.
29 When others are humbled, and you say, ‘please help them,’ God will save them.
God humbles a proud man, and he saves the one with lowered eyes.
30 God saves those who are innocent, and you will be saved if you do what is right.”
He will rescue even the man who is not innocent; who will be rescued through the cleanness of your hands.”
