Job 22

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

Then Eliphaz replied,

2 Can a man be profitable to God, as he that is wise may be profitable to himself?

“(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 pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous? or is it gain to him, that you make your ways perfect?

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 Will he reprove you for fear of you? will he enter with you into judgment?

“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 your wickedness great? and your iniquities infinite?

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 you have taken a pledge from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

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 have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from 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 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honorable man dwelled 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 You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been 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 you, and sudden fear troubles you;

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 darkness, that you can not see; and abundance of waters cover you.

[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 in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high 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 And you say, How does God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

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 are a covering to him, that he sees not; and he walks in the circuit of 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 Have you marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

Will you continue to conduct your life the old way that evil people have done [for many years]?

16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood:

They suddenly died while they were still young; they disappeared [like everything disappears when there is] a flood [MET].

17 Which said to God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty 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 he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far 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 see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

“But when God punishes wicked people, and righteous people see that, they are glad, and they laugh, ridiculing the wicked people.

20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumes.

They say, ‘Now our enemies have been destroyed, and all [their possessions] that were left have been burned in a fire.’

21 Acquaint now yourself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come to you.

“So, [Job, ] be reconciled to God and make peace with him; if you do that, good things will happen to you.

22 Receive, I pray you, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.

Allow him to teach you, and keep thinking about what he has told you.

23 If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, you shall put away iniquity far from your tabernacles.

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 Then shall you lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

if you throw away your gold, even the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir [land],

25 Yes, the Almighty shall be your defense, and you shall have plenty of silver.

and if you allow Almighty [God] to be [as precious to you as] your gold and your silver [have been],

26 For then shall you have your delight in the Almighty, and shall lift up your face to God.

you will be happy because of your close relationship with God, and you will be able to approach him [IDM] [confidently].

27 You shall make your prayer to him, and he shall hear you, and you shall pay your vows.

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 You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you: and the light shall shine on your ways.

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 men are cast down, then you shall say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

God humbles those who are proud, but he saves those who are downcast/discouraged.

30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of your 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).”