The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
2 “Can a man be profitable to God?
Surely he who is wise is profitable to
himself.
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you
are righteous? Or does it benefit him that you make
your ways perfect?
4 Is it for your piety that he reproves you,
thathe enters withyouinto judgment?
5 Isn’t your wickedness great?
Neither is there any end to your iniquities.
6 For you have taken pledges from your
brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You haven’t given water to the weary to
drink, and you have withheld bread from the
hungry.
8 But as for the mighty man, he had the
earth. The honorable man, he lived in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty,
and the arms of the fatherless have
been broken.
10 Therefore snares are around you.
Sudden fear troubles you,
11 or darkness, so that you can not see,
and floods of waters cover you.
12 “Isn’t God in the heights of heaven?
See the height of the stars, how high
they are!
13 You say, ‘What does God know?
Can he judge through the thick darkness?
14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, so
that he doesn’t see. He walks on the vault of the sky.
15 Will you keep the old way,
which wicked men have trodden,
16 who were snatched away before their
time, whose foundation was poured out as a
stream,
17 who said to God, ‘Depart from us!’
and, ‘What can the Almighty do for
us?’
18 Yet he filled their houses with good
things, but the counsel of the wicked is far
from me.
19 The righteous see it, and are glad.
The innocent ridicule them,
20 saying, ‘Surely those who rose up against
us are cut off. The fire has consumed their remnant.
21 “Acquaint yourself with him now, and
be at peace. By it, good will come to you.
22 Please receive instruction from his
mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be
built up, if you put away unrighteousness far
from your tents.
24 Lay your treasure in the dust,
the gold of Ophir among the stones of
the brooks.
25 The Almighty will be your treasure,
and precious silver to you.
26 For then you will delight yourself in the
Almighty, and will lift up your face to God.
27 You willmake yourprayer tohim, andhe
will hear you. You will pay your vows.
28 You will also decree a thing, and it will be
established to you. Light will shine on your ways.
29 When they cast down, you will say, ‘be
lifted up. He will save the humble person.
30 He will even deliver him who is not
innocent. Yes, he will be delivered through the
cleanness of your hands.”