Job 22:1
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
Job 22:2
“Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?
Job 22:3
Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless?
Job 22:4
Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you?
Job 22:5
Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless?
Job 22:6
For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.
Job 22:7
You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished,
Job 22:8
while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it.
Job 22:9
You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
Job 22:10
Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you;
Job 22:11
it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.
Job 22:12
Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!
Job 22:13
Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness?
Job 22:14
Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’
Job 22:15
Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod?
Job 22:16
They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.
Job 22:17
They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’
Job 22:18
But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
Job 22:19
The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them:
Job 22:20
‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’
Job 22:21
Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you.
Job 22:22
Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.
Job 22:23
If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents
Job 22:24
and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,
Job 22:25
then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you.
Job 22:26
Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.
Job 22:27
You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.
Job 22:28
Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.
Job 22:29
When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly.
Job 22:30
He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”