Job 22
1 respondens autem Eliphaz Themanites dixit
Then Eliphaz replied,
2 numquid Deo conparari potest homo etiam cum perfectae fuerit scientiae
“(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 quid prodest Deo si iustus fueris aut quid ei confers si inmaculata fuerit via tua
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 numquid timens arguet te et veniet tecum in iudicium
“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 et non propter malitiam tuam plurimam et infinitas iniquitates tuas
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 abstulisti enim pignus fratrum tuorum sine causa et nudos spoliasti vestibus
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 aquam lasso non dedisti et esurienti subtraxisti panem
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 in fortitudine brachii tui possidebas terram et potentissimus obtinebas eam
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 viduas dimisisti vacuas et lacertos pupillorum comminuisti
[When] widows [came to you for help], you [must have] sent [them] away without giving them anything, and you must have oppressed orphans.
10 propterea circumdatus es laqueis et conturbat te formido subita
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 et putabas te tenebras non visurum et impetu aquarum inundantium non oppressurum
[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 an cogitas quod Deus excelsior caelo et super stellarum vertices sublimetur
“[But consider this, Job]: God lives [RHQ] high up in the heavens. From there he [RHQ] looks down on the highest stars.
13 et dicis quid enim novit Deus et quasi per caliginem iudicat
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 nubes latibulum eius nec nostra considerat et circa cardines caeli perambulat
[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 numquid semitam saeculorum custodire cupis quam calcaverunt viri iniqui
Will you continue to conduct your life the old way that evil people have done [for many years]?
16 qui sublati sunt ante tempus suum et fluvius subvertit fundamentum eorum
They suddenly died while they were still young; they disappeared [like everything disappears when there is] a flood [MET].
17 qui dicebant Deo recede a nobis et quasi nihil possit facere Omnipotens aestimabant eum
They kept saying to God, ‘Do not bother us,’ and they also said [defiantly], ‘Almighty [God] can do nothing [RHQ] to [harm] us!’
18 cum ille implesset domos eorum bonis quorum sententia procul sit a 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 videbunt iusti et laetabuntur et innocens subsannabit eos
“But when God punishes wicked people, and righteous people see that, they are glad, and they laugh, ridiculing the wicked people.
20 nonne succisa est erectio eorum et reliquias eorum devoravit ignis
They say, ‘Now our enemies have been destroyed, and all [their possessions] that were left have been burned in a fire.’
21 adquiesce igitur ei et habeto pacem et per haec habebis fructus optimos
“So, [Job, ] be reconciled to God and make peace with him; if you do that, good things will happen to you.
22 suscipe ex ore illius legem et pone sermones eius in corde tuo
Allow him to teach you, and keep thinking about what he has told you.
23 si reversus fueris ad Omnipotentem aedificaberis et longe facies iniquitatem a tabernaculo tuo
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 dabit pro terra silicem et pro silice torrentes aureos
if you throw away your gold, even the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir [land],
25 eritque Omnipotens contra hostes tuos et argentum coacervabitur tibi
and if you allow Almighty [God] to be [as precious to you as] your gold and your silver [have been],
26 tunc super Omnipotentem deliciis afflues et elevabis ad Deum faciem tuam
you will be happy because of your close relationship with God, and you will be able to approach him [IDM] [confidently].
27 rogabis eum et exaudiet te et vota tua reddes
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 decernes rem et veniet tibi et in viis tuis splendebit lumen
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 qui enim humiliatus fuerit erit in gloria et qui inclinaverit oculos suos ipse salvabitur
God humbles those who are proud, but he saves those who are downcast/discouraged.
30 salvabitur innocens salvabitur autem munditia manuum suarum
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).”
