Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz replied,
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
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.
Can a man, then, profit God? Behold, the wise man profiteth 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 pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous; Or a gain to him, that thou walkest uprightly?
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?
Will he contend with thee because he feareth thee? Will he enter with thee 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!
Hath not thy wickedness been great? Have not thine iniquities been numberless?
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 thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother unjustly, And stripped the poor of their clothing.
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.
Thou hast given the weary no water to drink, And withholden 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.
But the man of power, his was the land, And the honorable man dwelt 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.
Thou hast sent widows away empty, And broken the arms of the fatherless.
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 round about thee, And sudden fear confoundeth thee;
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, through which thou canst not see, And floods of water cover thee.
12 “[But consider this, Job]: God lives [RHQ] high up in the heavens. From there he [RHQ] looks down on the highest stars.
Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the stars, how high they are!
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]’
Hence thou sayest, “What doth God know? Can he govern behind the thick darkness?
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]?
Dark clouds are a veil to him, and he cannot see; And he walketh upon the arch of heaven.”
15 Will you continue to conduct your life the old way that evil people have done [for many years]?
Wilt thou take the old way Which wicked men have trodden,
16 They suddenly died while they were still young; they disappeared [like everything disappears when there is] a flood [MET].
Who were cut down before their time, And whose foundations were swept away by a flood?
17 They kept saying to God, ‘Do not bother us,’ and they also said [defiantly], ‘Almighty [God] can do nothing [RHQ] to [harm] us!’
Who said unto God, “Depart from us!” And, “What can the Almighty do to us?”
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 yet he filled their houses with good things!—Far from me be the counsel of the wicked!
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 their fate, and rejoice; And the innocent hold them in derision.
20 They say, ‘Now our enemies have been destroyed, and all [their possessions] that were left have been burned in a fire.’
“Truly our adversary is destroyed, And fire hath consumed his abundance!”
21 “So, [Job, ] be reconciled to God and make peace with him; if you do that, good things will happen to you.
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: Thus shall prosperity return to thee.
22 Allow him to teach you, and keep thinking about what he has told you.
Receive, I pray thee, instruction from his mouth, And lay up his words in thy 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 thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up; If thou put away iniquity from thy tent.
24 if you throw away your gold, even the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir [land],
Cast to the dust thy gold, And the gold of Ophir to the stones of the brook:
25 and if you allow Almighty [God] to be [as precious to you as] your gold and your silver [have been],
Then shall the Almighty be thy gold, Yea, treasures of silver unto thee;
26 you will be happy because of your close relationship with God, and you will be able to approach him [IDM] [confidently].
For then shalt thou have delight in the Almighty, And shalt lift up thy face unto 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.
Thou shalt pray to him, and he shall hear thee, And thou shalt perform thy 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.
The purpose which thou formest shall prosper with thee, And light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 God humbles those who are proud, but he saves those who are downcast/discouraged.
When men are cast down, thou shalt say, “There lifting up!” And the humble person he will save.
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 will deliver even him that is not innocent. The purity of thy hands shall save him.
