Job 22
1 Then responded Eliphaz the Temanite, and said: —
Then Eliphaz replied,
2 Unto GOD, can a man act as friend? Surely a discreet man befriendeth 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 a pleasure to the Almighty, that thou shouldst be righteous? or any profit, that thou shouldst be blameless in thy ways?
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 thy reverence, that he will accuse thee? will enter with thee 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, thy wickedness, great? and, without end, [are not] thine iniquities?
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 Surely then hast been wont to put thy brother in pledge, for nothing, and, the garments of the ill-clad, hast thou stripped off:
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 No water—to the weary, hast thou given to drink, and, from the hungry, thou hast withheld bread:
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 A man of might, to him, pertaineth the land, and, the favorite, dwelleth therein:
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 Widows, thou hast sent away empty, and, the arms of the fatherless, thou dost crush.
[When] widows [came to you for help], you [must have] sent [them] away without giving them anything, and you must have oppressed orphans.
10 For this cause, round about thee, are snares, and a dread startleth thee suddenly;
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—thou canst not see, and, a flood of waters, covereth 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, [in] the height of the heavens? Behold, then, the head of the stars, that they are high.
“[But consider this, Job]: God lives [RHQ] high up in the heavens. From there he [RHQ] looks down on the highest stars.
13 Wilt thou say then, What doth GOD know? Out through a thick cloud, can he judge?
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 Dark clouds, are a veil to him, and he cannot see, or, the vault of the heavens, doth he walk?
[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 The path of the ancient time, wilt thou mark, which the men of iniquity trod?
Will you continue to conduct your life the old way that evil people have done [for many years]?
16 Who were snatched away before the time, and, a stream, washed away their foundation?
They suddenly died while they were still young; they disappeared [like everything disappears when there is] a flood [MET].
17 Who had been saying unto GOD, Depart from us! and—What can the Almighty do for himself?
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, had filled their houses with good! The counsel of the lawless, then, 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 shall see and rejoice, and, the innocent, shall 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 If our assailants do not vanish, then, their abundance, a fire consumeth!
They say, ‘Now our enemies have been destroyed, and all [their possessions] that were left have been burned in a fire.’
21 Shew thyself to be one with him—I pray thee—and prosper, thereby, shall there come on thee blessing.
“So, [Job, ] be reconciled to God and make peace with him; if you do that, good things will happen to you.
22 Accept, I beseech thee, from his mouth—instruction, —and lay up his sayings in thy heart.
Allow him to teach you, and keep thinking about what he has told you.
23 If thou return unto the Almighty and submit thyself, if thou far remove perversity from thy tent,
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 lay up, in the dust, precious ore, and, among the stones of the torrent-beds, fine gold:
if you throw away your gold, even the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir [land],
25 So shall, the Almighty, become, thy precious ores, yea glittering silver unto thee!
and if you allow Almighty [God] to be [as precious to you as] your gold and your silver [have been],
26 For, then, in the Almighty, shalt thou take exquisite delight, and shalt lift up—unto GOD—thy face;
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 entreaty unto him, and he will hear thee, and, thy vows, shalt thou pay;
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 And thou shalt decree a purpose, and it shall be fulfilled unto thee, and, upon thy ways, shall have shone a light;
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 cast themselves down, then thou shalt say: Up! And, him that is of downcast eyes, shall he save;
God humbles those who are proud, but he saves those who are downcast/discouraged.
30 He shall deliver the innocent, and thou shalt escape by the pureness of thy 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).”
