Job 22
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite, and said,
Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
2 Can a man be serviceable unto God? Truly the intelligent is serviceable unto himself.
Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous? or is it any gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?
What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou give him if thy way be unspotted?
4 Is it out of fear of thee that he will reproach thee? or go with thee into judgment?
Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment:
5 Is not thy evil great? and no end to thy iniquities?
And not for thy manifold wickedness, and thy infinite iniquities?
6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brothers for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and from the hungry thou hast withholden bread.
Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.
8 But as for the man of a strong arm, he obtained the land, and the highly honored could dwell therein.
In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and being the most mighty thou holdest it.
9 Widows hast thou sent away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.
10 Therefore are snares round about thee, and sudden dread terrifieth thee.
Therefore art thou surrounded with snares, and sudden fear troubleth thee.
11 Or seest thou not the darkness? and the abundance of water which covereth thee?
And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of overflowing waters?
12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and beholding the highest elevation of the stars, however high they are?
Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars?
13 But thou sayest, “What doth God know? can he judge behind the darkness?
And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist.
14 Thick clouds are a covering for him, so that he will not see; and he walketh along on the circle of heaven.”
The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven.
15 Wilt thou [thus] observe the path of ancient times which the men of injustice have trodden?
Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden?
16 Who were shrivelled up before their time, whose foundation was flooded away like a river;
Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation.
17 Who said unto God, “'Depart from us:” and what wrought the Almighty for them?
Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing:
18 And yet it was he that filled their houses with good things; but the counsel of the wicked be [still] far from me.
Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose way of thinking be far from me.
19 The righteous will see it, and be glad; and the innocent will laugh them to scorn.
The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.
20 “Is not he destroyed that rose up against us, and hath not the fire consumed what they had left?”
Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them?
21 Do but become acquainted with him, and be at peace: thereby will happiness come unto thee.
Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits.
22 Do but accept instruction from his mouth, and lay up his saying in thy heart.
Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, so thou wilt but remove wrong-doing far away from thy tents.
If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
24 And throw down in the dust precious metals, and [the gold of] Ophir to the stones of the brooks:
He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold.
25 Then will the Almighty be thy precious metal, and brightly-shining silver unto thee.
And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee.
26 For then wilt thou have in the Almighty thy delight, and thou canst lift up unto God thy face.
Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.
27 Thou wilt make entreaty unto him, and he will hear thee, and thy vows wilt thou pay.
Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay vows.
28 And if thou decree a thing, it will be fulfilled unto thee; and upon thy ways the light will shine.
Thou shalt decree a thing, and it I shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways.
29 For when men are brought low, thou wilt say, Pride [hath done it]; but those of lowly eyes [God] will help.
For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved.
30 He will even deliver him who is not guiltless: and thou wilt be delivered by the purity of thy hands.
The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands.
