| 1 | Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered [Job], |
| 2 | Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he that is wise is profitable to himself. |
| 3 | Is it any pleasure
or
advantage to the Almighty that you are righteous (upright and in right standing with Him)? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways perfect? |
| 4 | Is it for your [reverential] fear of Him that He [thus] reproves you, that He enters with you into judgment? |
| 5 | Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities. |
| 6 | For you have taken pledges of your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing. |
| 7 | You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. |
| 8 | But [you, Job] the man with power possessed the land, and the favored
and
accepted man dwelt in it. |
| 9 | You have sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. |
| 10 | Therefore snares are round about you, and sudden fear troubles
and
overwhelms you; |
| 11 | Your light is darkened, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you. |
| 12 | Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are! |
| 13 | Therefore you say, How
and
what does God know [about me]? Can He judge through the thick darkness? |
| 14 | Thick clouds are a covering to Him, so that He does not see, and He walks on the vault of the heavens. |
| 15 | Will you pay attention
and
keep to the old way that wicked men trod [in Noah’s time], |
| 16 | Men who were snatched away before their time, whose foundations were poured out like a stream [during the flood]? |
| 17 | They said to God, Depart from us, and, What can the Almighty do for
or
to us? |
| 18 | Yet He filled their houses with good [things]. But the counsel of the ungodly is far from me. |
| 19 | The righteous see it and are glad; and the innocent laugh them to scorn [saying], |
| 20 | Surely those who rose up against us are cut off, and that which remained to them the fire has consumed. |
| 21 | Acquaint now yourself with Him [agree with God and show yourself to be conformed to His will] and be at peace; by that [you shall prosper and great] good shall come to you. |
| 22 | Receive, I pray you, the law
and
instruction from His mouth and lay up His words in your heart. |
| 23 | If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up; if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents, |
| 24 | If you lay gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brook [considering them of little worth], |
| 25 | And make the Almighty your gold and [the Lord] your precious silver treasure, |
| 26 | Then you will have delight in the Almighty, and you will lift up your face to God. |
| 27 | You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you, and you will pay your vows. |
| 28 | You shall also decide
and
decree a thing, and it shall be established for you; and the light [of God’s favor] shall shine upon your ways. |
| 29 | When they make [you] low, you will say, [There is] a lifting up; and the humble person He lifts up
and
saves. |
| 30 | He will even deliver the one [for whom you intercede] who is not innocent; yes, he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands. |
Cross references:
-
Job 22:2 : Ps. 16:2; Luke 17:10.
-
Job 22:3 : Isa. 62:3; Zech. 2:8; Mal. 3:17; Acts 20:28.
-
Job 22:7 : Matt. 25:42.
-
Job 22:15 : II Pet. 2:5.
-
Job 22:22 : Ps. 119:11.
-
Job 22:30 : Job 42:7, 8.
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