Job 22

¹Then Eliphaz the Themanite responded by saying:

²Can man be compared with God, even if he were perfect in knowledge?

³What advantage is it to God, if you were just? Or what do you provide for him, if your way should be immaculate?

⁴Will he reprove you and take you to judgment for being afraid,

⁵and not because of your many evil deeds and your infinite unfairness?

⁶For you have taken away the collateral of your brothers without cause, and stripped them naked of their clothing.

⁷You have not given water to the weary; you have taken bread away from the hungry.

⁸By the strength of your arm, you took possession of the land, and you retain it by being the strongest.

⁹You have sent widows away empty, and you have crushed the shoulders of orphans.

¹⁰Because of this, you are surrounded by traps, and unexpected fears will disturb you.

¹¹And did you think that you would not see darkness and that you were not to be overwhelmed by the onrush of overflowing waters?

¹²Have you not considered that God is higher than the heavens and is lifted above the height of the stars?

¹³And you say: “Well, what does God know?” and, “He judges, as if through a fog,”

¹⁴and, “The clouds are his hiding-place,” and, “He does not examine us closely,” and, “He makes his rounds at the limits of the heavens.”

¹⁵Do you not want to tend the path of the ages, which wicked men have spurned?

¹⁶These were taken away before their time, and a flood overthrew their foundation.

¹⁷They said to God, “Withdraw from us,” and they treated the Almighty as if he could do nothing,

¹⁸though he had filled their houses with good things. May their way of thinking be far from me.

¹⁹The just will see and will rejoice, and the innocent will mock them.

²⁰Has not their haughtiness been cut down, and has not fire devoured the remnants of them?

²¹So, repose yourself with him and be at peace, and, in this way, you will have the best fruits.

²²Accept the law from his mouth, and place his words in your heart.

²³If you will return to the Almighty, you will be rebuilt, and you will put sinfulness far from your tabernacle.

²⁴He will give you stone in place of dirt, and torrents of gold in place of stone.

²⁵And the Almighty will be against your enemies, and silver will be gathered together for you.

²⁶Then will you flock together in delight over the Almighty, and you will lift up your face to God.

²⁷You will plead with him, and he will listen to you, and you will pay your vows.

²⁸You will decide on something, and it will come to you, and the light will shine in your ways.

²⁹For he who had been humbled, will be in glory; and he who will lower his eyes, will be the one saved.

³⁰The innocent will be saved, and he will be saved with purity in his hands.

Job 22

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

²Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

³Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

⁴Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

⁵Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

⁶For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

⁷Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

⁸But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.

⁹Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

¹⁰Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

¹¹Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

¹²Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

¹³And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

¹⁴Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

¹⁵Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

¹⁶Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

¹⁷Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?

¹⁸Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁹The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

²⁰Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

²¹Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

²²Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.

²³If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

²⁴Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

²⁵Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.

²⁶For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

²⁷Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.

²⁸Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

²⁹When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

³⁰He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.