Job 22

22:1

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

22:2

“Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?

22:3

Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless?

22:4

Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you?

22:5

Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless?

22:6

For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.

22:7

You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished,

22:8

while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it.

22:9

You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

22:10

Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you;

22:11

it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

22:12

Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!

22:13

Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness?

22:14

Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’

22:15

Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod?

22:16

They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.

22:17

They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’

22:18

But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

22:19

The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them:

22:20

‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’

22:21

Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you.

22:22

Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.

22:23

If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents

22:24

and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,

22:25

then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you.

22:26

Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.

22:27

You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.

22:28

Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.

22:29

When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly.

22:30

He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”