Job 22

¹Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:

²Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge?

³What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou give him if thy way be unspotted?

⁴Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment:

⁵And not for thy manifold wickedness and thy infinite iniquities?

⁶For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without cause, and stripped them naked of their clothing.

⁷Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.

⁸In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and being the most mighty thou holdest it.

⁹Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.

¹⁰Therefore art thou surrounded with snares, and sudden fear troubleth thee.

¹¹And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of overflowing waters?

¹²Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars?

¹³And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist.

¹⁴The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven.

¹⁵Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have spurned?

¹⁶Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation.

¹⁷Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing:

¹⁸Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose way of thinking be far from me.

¹⁹The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.

²⁰Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them?

²¹Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits.

²²Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.

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

²⁴He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold.

²⁵And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee.

²⁶Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.

²⁷Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay vows.

²⁸Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways.

²⁹For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved.

³⁰The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of 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.