< Job 22 >

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
2 Can a man be profitable to God, as he that is wise may be profitable to 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] 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 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?
Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment:
5 [Is] not thy wickedness great? and thy iniquities infinite?
And not for thy manifold wickedness, and thy infinite iniquities?
6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for naught, 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 thou hast withheld bread from the hungry.
Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.
8 But [as for] the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honorable man dwelt in it.
In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and being the most mighty thou holdest it.
9 Thou hast sent widows 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 snares [are] around thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;
Therefore art thou surrounded with snares, and sudden fear troubleth thee.
11 Or darkness, [that] thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover 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 hight of heaven? and behold the hight of the stars, how high they are!
Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars?
13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist.
14 Thick clouds [are] a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven.
15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden?
16 Who were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood!
Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation.
17 Who said to God, depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them!
Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing:
18 Yet he filled their houses with good [things]: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose way of thinking be far from me.
19 The righteous see [it], and are glad: and the innocent deride them.
The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.
20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them?
21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: by this good shall come to thee.
Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits.
22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
23 If thou shalt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the [gold] of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold.
25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defense and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee.
26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.
Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.
27 Thou shalt make thy prayer to him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay vows.
28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established to thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
Thou shalt decree a thing, and it I shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways.
29 When [men] are cast down, then thou shalt say, [There is] exaltation; and he shall save the humble person.
For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved.
30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thy hands.
The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands.

< Job 22 >