Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and sayde,
Then Eliphaz replied,
2 May a man be profitable vnto God, as he that is wise, may be profitable to himselfe?
“(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 thing vnto the Almightie, that thou art righteous? or is it profitable to him, that thou makest thy wayes vpright?
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 Is it for feare of thee that he will accuse thee? or go with thee into iudgement?
“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 Is not thy wickednes great, and thine iniquities innumerable?
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 thou hast taken the pledge from thy brother for nought, and spoyled the clothes of the 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 To such as were wearie, thou hast not giuen water to drinke, and hast withdrawen bread from the hungrie.
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 But the mightie man had the earth, and he that was in autoritie, dwelt in it.
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 Thou hast cast out widowes emptie, and the armes of the fatherles were broken.
[When] widows [came to you for help], you [must have] sent [them] away without giving them anything, and you must have oppressed orphans.
10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and feare shall suddenly trouble thee:
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 Or darkenes that thou shouldest not see, and abundance of waters shall couer thee.
[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 Is not God on hie in the heauen? and behold the height of the starres how hie they are.
“[But consider this, Job]: God lives [RHQ] high up in the heavens. From there he [RHQ] looks down on the highest stars.
13 But thou sayest, How should God know? can he iudge through the darke cloude?
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 The cloudes hide him that he can not see, and he walketh in the circle of heauen.
[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 Hast thou marked the way of the worlde, wherein wicked men haue walked?
Will you continue to conduct your life the old way that evil people have done [for many years]?
16 Which were cut downe before the time, whose foundation was as a riuer that ouerflowed:
They suddenly died while they were still young; they disappeared [like everything disappears when there is] a flood [MET].
17 Which sayd vnto God, Depart from vs, and asked what the Almightie could do for them.
They kept saying to God, ‘Do not bother us,’ and they also said [defiantly], ‘Almighty [God] can do nothing [RHQ] to [harm] us!’
18 Yet hee filled their houses with good things: but let the counsell of the wicked be farre from me.
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 The righteous shall see them, and shall reioyce, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorne.
“But when God punishes wicked people, and righteous people see that, they are glad, and they laugh, ridiculing the wicked people.
20 Surely our substance is hid: but the fire hath deuoured the remnant of them.
They say, ‘Now our enemies have been destroyed, and all [their possessions] that were left have been burned in a fire.’
21 Therefore acquaint thy selfe, I pray thee, with him, and make peace: thereby thou shalt haue prosperitie.
“So, [Job, ] be reconciled to God and make peace with him; if you do that, good things will happen to you.
22 Receiue, I pray thee, the law of his mouth, and lay vp his words in thine heart.
Allow him to teach you, and keep thinking about what he has told you.
23 If thou returne to the Almightie, thou shalt be buylt vp, and thou shalt put iniquitie farre from thy tabernacle.
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 Thou shalt lay vp golde for dust, and the gold of Ophir, as the flintes of the riuers.
if you throw away your gold, even the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir [land],
25 Yea, the Almightie shalbe thy defence, and thou shalt haue plentie of siluer.
and if you allow Almighty [God] to be [as precious to you as] your gold and your silver [have been],
26 And thou shalt then delite in the Almightie, and lift vp thy face vnto God.
you will be happy because of your close relationship with God, and you will be able to approach him [IDM] [confidently].
27 Thou shalt make thy praier vnto him, and he shall heare thee, and thou shalt render thy vowes.
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 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and he shall establish it vnto thee, and the light shall shine vpon thy wayes.
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 cast downe, then shalt thou say, I am lifted vp: and God shall saue the humble person.
God humbles those who are proud, but he saves those who are downcast/discouraged.
30 The innocent shall deliuer the yland, and it shalbe preserued by the purenes of thine hands.
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).”
