Job 22

The Third Dialogue

22Is there anyone, even the wisest,

who could ever be of use to God?

^3*Does your doing right benefit God,

or does your being good help him at all?

⁴It is not because you stand in awe of God

that he reprimands you and brings you to trial.

⁵No, it’s because you have sinned so much;

it’s because of all the evil you do.

⁶To make your brother repay you the money he owed,

you took away his clothes and left him nothing to wear.

⁷You refused water to those who were tired,

and refused to feed those who were hungry.

⁸You used your power and your position

to take over the whole land.

⁹You not only refused to help widows,

but you also robbed and ill-treated orphans.

¹⁰So now there are pitfalls all round you,

and suddenly you are full of fear.

¹¹It has grown so dark that you cannot see,

and a flood overwhelms you.

¹²Doesn’t God live in the highest heavens

and look down on the stars, even though they are high?

¹³And yet you ask, “What does God know?

He is hidden by clouds—how can he judge us?”

¹⁴You think the thick clouds keep him from seeing,

as he walks on the dome of the sky.

¹⁵Are you determined to walk in the paths

that evil people have always followed?

¹⁶Even before their time had come,

they were washed away by a flood.

¹⁷These are the ones who rejected God

and believed that he could do nothing to them.

¹⁸And yet it was God who made them prosperous—

I can’t understand the thoughts of the wicked.

¹⁹Good people are glad and the innocent laugh

when they see the wicked punished.

²⁰All

that the wicked own is destroyed,

and fire burns up anything that is left.

²¹Now, Job, make peace with God

and stop treating him like an enemy;

if you do, then he will bless you.

²²Accept the teaching he gives;

keep his words in your heart.

²³Yes, you must humbly^s return to God

and put an end to all the evil

that is done in your house.

²⁴Throw away your gold;

dump your finest gold in the dry stream bed.

²⁵Let Almighty God be your gold,

and let him be silver, piled high for you.

²⁶Then you will always trust in God

and find that he is the source of your joy.

²⁷When you pray, he will answer you,

and you will keep the vows you made.

²⁸You will succeed in all you do,

and light will shine on your path.

²⁹God brings down the proud^t

and saves the humble.

³⁰He will rescue you if you are innocent,^u

if what you do is right.^v