< Job 22 >

1 Then Eliphaz replied,
And Eliphaz the Temanite answers and says:
2 “(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.
“Is a man profitable to God, Because a wise man is profitable to himself?
3 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?
Is it a delight to the Mighty One That you are righteous? Is it gain, That you make your ways perfect?
4 “Is it because you have an awesome respect for God that he punishes you? Is that the reason that he puts you on trial?
Because of your reverence Does He reason [with] you? He enters with you into judgment:
5 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!
Is your wickedness not abundant? And there is no end to your iniquities.
6 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.
For you take a pledge of your brother for nothing, And you strip off the garments of the naked.
7 You must not have given water to those who were thirsty, and you must have refused to give food to those who were hungry.
You do not cause the weary to drink water, And you withhold bread from the hungry.
8 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.
As for the man of arm—he has the earth, And the accepted of face—he dwells in it.
9 [When] widows [came to you for help], you [must have] sent [them] away without giving them anything, and you must have oppressed orphans.
You have sent widows away empty, And the arms of the fatherless are bruised.
10 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.
Therefore snares [are] all around you, And sudden fear troubles you.
11 [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.
Or darkness—you do not see, And abundance of waters covers you.
12 “[But consider this, Job]: God lives [RHQ] high up in the heavens. From there he [RHQ] looks down on the highest stars.
Is God not high [in] the heavens? And see the summit of the stars, That they are high.
13 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]’
And you have said, How has God known? Does He judge through thickness?
14 [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]?
Thick clouds [are] a secret place to Him, And He does not see, And He habitually walks [above] the circle of the heavens.
15 Will you continue to conduct your life the old way that evil people have done [for many years]?
Do you observe the path of the age, That men of iniquity have trodden,
16 They suddenly died while they were still young; they disappeared [like everything disappears when there is] a flood [MET].
Who have been cut down unexpectedly? A flood is poured out on their foundation.
17 They kept saying to God, ‘Do not bother us,’ and they also said [defiantly], ‘Almighty [God] can do nothing [RHQ] to [harm] us!’
Those saying to God, Turn aside from us, And what does the Mighty One do to them?
18 But it was God who filled their houses with good things, so I cannot at all understand why wicked people think like they do.
And He has filled their houses [with] good (And the counsel of the wicked Has been far from me).
19 “But when God punishes wicked people, and righteous people see that, they are glad, and they laugh, ridiculing the wicked people.
The righteous see and they rejoice, And the innocent mocks at them:
20 They say, ‘Now our enemies have been destroyed, and all [their possessions] that were left have been burned in a fire.’
Surely our substance has not been cut off, And fire has consumed their excellence.
21 “So, [Job, ] be reconciled to God and make peace with him; if you do that, good things will happen to you.
Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace, Thereby your increase [is] good.
22 Allow him to teach you, and keep thinking about what he has told you.
Please receive a law from His mouth, And set His sayings in your heart.
23 If you humble yourself and return to God, if you stop doing all the evil things that you have been doing in your house,
If you return to the Mighty you are built up, You put iniquity far from your tents.
24 if you throw away your gold, even the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir [land],
So as to set a defense on the dust, And a covering on a rock of the valleys.
25 and if you allow Almighty [God] to be [as precious to you as] your gold and your silver [have been],
And the Mighty has been your defense, And silver [is] strength to you.
26 you will be happy because of your close relationship with God, and you will be able to approach him [IDM] [confidently].
For then you delight yourself on the Mighty, And lift up your face to God,
27 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.
You make supplication to Him, And He hears you, And you complete your vows.
28 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.
And you decree a saying, And it is established to you, And light has shone on your ways.
29 God humbles those who are proud, but he saves those who are downcast/discouraged.
For they have made low, And you say, Lift up. And He saves the bowed down of eyes.
30 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).”
He delivers the one [who is] not innocent, Indeed, he has been delivered By the cleanness of your hands.”

< Job 22 >