Job 22

22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

22:2 “Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit?

Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable?

22:3 Is it of any special benefit to the Almighty

that you should be righteous,

or is it any gain to him

that you make your ways blameless?

22:4 Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you

and goes to judgment with you?

22:5 Is not your wickedness great

and is there no end to your iniquity?

22:6 “For you took pledges from your brothers

for no reason,

and you stripped the clothing from the naked.

22:7 You gave the weary no water to drink

and from the hungry you withheld food.

22:8 Although you were a powerful man, owning land,

an honored man living on it,

22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed,

and the arms of the orphans you crushed.

22:10 That is why snares surround you,

and why sudden fear terrifies you,

22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see,

and why a flood of water covers you.

22:12 “Is not God on high in heaven?

And see the lofty stars, how high they are!

22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?

Does he judge through such deep darkness?

22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us,

as he goes back and forth

in the vault of heaven.’

22:15 Will you keep to the old path

that evil men have walked –

22:16 men who were carried off before their time,

when the flood was poured out

on their foundations?

22:17 They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’

and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’

22:18 But it was he who filled their houses

with good things –

yet the counsel of the wicked

was far from me.

22:19 The righteous see their destruction and rejoice;

the innocent mock them scornfully, saying,

22:20 ‘Surely our enemies are destroyed,

and fire consumes their wealth.’

22:21 “Reconcile yourself with God,

and be at peace with him;

in this way your prosperity will be good.

22:22 Accept instruction from his mouth

and store up his words in your heart.

22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;

if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,

22:24 and throw your gold in the dust –

your gold of Ophir

among the rocks in the ravines –

22:25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold,

and the choicest silver for you.

22:26 Surely then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,

and will lift up your face toward God.

22:27 You will pray to him and he will hear you,

and you will fulfill your vows to him.

22:28 Whatever you decide on a matter,

it will be established for you,

and light will shine on your ways.

22:29 When people are brought low and you say

‘Lift them up!’

then he will save the downcast;

22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent,

who will escape through the cleanness of your hands.”