Job 22:12–20

“Is not God high in the heavens?

See the highest stars, how lofty they are!

But you say, ‘What does God know?

Can he judge through the deep darkness?

Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see,

and he walks on the vault of heaven.’

Will you keep to the old way

that wicked men have trod?

They were snatched away before their time;

their foundation was washed away.

They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’

and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’

Yet he filled their houses with good things—

but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

The righteous see it and are glad;

the innocent one mocks at them,

saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,

and what they left the fire has consumed.’

“Is not God in the heights of heaven?

And see how lofty are the highest stars!

Yet you say, ‘What does God know?

Does he judge through such darkness?

Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us

as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’

Will you keep to the old path

that the wicked have trod?

They were carried off before their time,

their foundations washed away by a flood.

They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!

What can the Almighty do to us?’

Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,

so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;

the innocent mock them, saying,

‘Surely our foes are destroyed,

and fire devours their wealth.’

“God is so great—higher than the heavens,

higher than the farthest stars.

But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing!

How can he judge through the thick darkness?

For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us.

He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.’

“Will you continue on the old paths

where evil people have walked?

They were snatched away in the prime of life,

the foundations of their lives washed away.

For they said to God, ‘Leave us alone!

What can the Almighty do to us?’

Yet he was the one who filled their homes with good things,

so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.

“The righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed,

and the innocent will laugh in contempt.

They will say, ‘See how our enemies have been destroyed.

The last of them have been consumed in the fire.’

“Is not God in the height of the heavens?

But see how lofty are the highest stars.

And you ask, ‘What does God know?

Can he judge through deep gloom?

Thick clouds are a covering for him, so that he does not see;

and he walks about on the dome of heaven.’

Will you keep to the way of old

that the people of mischief have trod,

who were snatched away before their time,

whose foundation was washed away by a current?

Those who said to God, ‘Turn away from us,’

and ‘What can Shaddai do to us?’

Yet he himself filled up their houses with good things,

but the schemes of the wicked are repugnant to me.

The righteous see, and they rejoice,

but the innocent one mocks at them.

Surely our foe perishes,

and fire has consumed their remainder.

Is not God in the height of heaven?

And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

And thou sayest, How doth God know?

Can he judge through the dark cloud?

Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not;

And he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

Hast thou marked the old way

Which wicked men have trodden?

Which were cut down out of time,

Whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

Which said unto God, Depart from us:

And what can the Almighty do for them?

Yet he filled their houses with good things:

But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

The righteous see it, and are glad:

And the innocent laugh them to scorn.

Whereas our substance is not cut down,

But the remnant of them the fire consumeth.