Job 22–24

22Then ^aEliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

^2bCan a man be profitable unto God,

^||As he ^cthat is wise may be profitable unto himself?

³Is it any ^dpleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous?

Or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

⁴Will he reprove thee for fear of thee?

Will he ^eenter with thee into judgment?

⁵Is not thy wickedness great?

And thine iniquities infinite?

⁶For thou hast ^ftaken a pledge from thy brother for nought,

And ^†stripped the ^gnaked of their clothing.

⁷Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink,

And thou ^hhast withholden bread from the hungry.

⁸But as for ^†the mighty man, ⁱhe had the earth;

And the ^†honourable man dwelt in it.

⁹Thou hast ^ksent widows away empty,

And ^lthe arms of ^mthe fatherless have been broken.

¹⁰Therefore ⁿsnares are round about thee,

And sudden fear troubleth thee;

¹¹Or darkness, that thou canst not see;

And ^oabundance of ^pwaters cover thee.

¹²Is not God in ^qthe height of heaven?

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

¹³And thou sayest, ^||rHow doth God know?

Can he judge through the ^sdark cloud?

^14tThick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not;

And he walketh in the ^ucircuit of heaven.

¹⁵Hast thou ^xmarked the old way

Which wicked men have trodden?

¹⁶Which were ^ycut down ^zout of time,

^†Whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

^17aWhich said unto God, Depart from us:

And ^bwhat can the Almighty do ^||cfor them?

¹⁸Yet he filled their houses with good things:

But ^dthe counsel of the wicked is far from me.

^19eThe righteous see it, and are glad:

And the innocent ^flaugh them to scorn.

²⁰Whereas our ^||substance is not cut down,

But ^||the remnant of them ^gthe fire consumeth.

^21hAcquaint now thyself ^||with him, and ⁱbe at peace:

Thereby good shall come unto thee.

²²Receive, I pray thee, the law from ^jhis mouth,

And lay up his words in thine heart.

^23kIf thou return to the Almighty, ^lthou shalt be built up,

Thou shalt put away ^miniquity far from thy ⁿtabernacles.

²⁴Then shalt thou lay up gold ^||as dust,

And the gold of ^oOphir as the stones of the brooks.

²⁵Yea, the Almighty shall be thy ^||defence,

And thou shalt have ^†plenty of silver.

²⁶For then shalt thou ^phave thy delight in the Almighty,

And ^qshalt lift up thy face unto God.

²⁷Thou shalt ^rmake thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee,

And thou shalt ^spay thy vows.

²⁸Thou shalt also ^tdecree a thing, and ^uit shall be established unto thee:

And ^xthe light shall shine upon thy ways.

²⁹When men ^yare cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up;

And ^zhe shall save ^†the humble person.

^30||He shall deliver the island of the innocent:

And it is delivered by ^athe pureness of thine hands.

23Then Job answered and said,

^2aEven to day is my ^bcomplaint bitter:

^†My stroke is heavier than my groaning.

^3cOh that I knew where I might find him!

That I might come even to his ^dseat!

⁴I would ^eorder my cause before him,

And fill my mouth with ^farguments.

⁵I would know the words which he would answer me,

And understand what he would say unto me.

⁶Will he plead against me ^gwith his great power?

No; but he would put strength in me.

⁷There the righteous might dispute with him;

So should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

^8hBehold, I go ⁱforward, but he is not there;

And ⁱbackward, ^hbut I cannot perceive him:

⁹On ^kthe left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him:

He hideth himself on ^lthe right hand, that I ^hcannot see him:

¹⁰But he ^mknoweth ^†the way that I take:

When ⁿhe hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

^11oMy foot hath held his steps,

His way have I kept, and not ^pdeclined.

¹²Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips;

^†I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than ^||my necessary food.

¹³But he is in one mind, and ^qwho can turn him?

And what ^rhis soul desireth, even that he doeth.

¹⁴For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me:

And many such things are ^swith him.

¹⁵Therefore am I troubled at his ^tpresence:

When I consider, I am afraid of him.

¹⁶For God ^umaketh my heart soft,

And the Almighty troubleth me:

¹⁷Because I was not cut off ^xbefore the darkness,

Neither hath he covered the ^ydarkness from ^zmy face.

24Why, seeing ^atimes are not ^bhidden from the Almighty,

Do they that ^cknow him not see his ^ddays?

²Some remove the ^elandmarks;

They violently take away flocks, and ^||feed thereof.

³They ^fdrive away the ass of the fatherless,

They ^gtake the widow’s ox for a pledge.

⁴They ^hturn the needy out of the way:

ⁱThe poor of the earth ^lhide themselves together.

⁵Behold, as ^mwild asses in the desert,

ⁿGo they forth to their work; ^orising betimes ^pfor a prey:

The wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

⁶They reap every one his ^†corn in the field:

And ^†they gather the vintage of the wicked.

⁷They cause the naked to lodge without clothing,

That they have no covering in the cold.

⁸They ^qare wet with the showers of the mountains,

And ^rembrace the rock for want of a shelter.

⁹They pluck the fatherless from the breast,

And ^gstake a pledge of the poor.

¹⁰They ^tcause him to go naked ^uwithout clothing,

And ^xthey take away the sheaf from the hungry;

^11xWhich make oil within their walls,

And ^ytread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.

¹²Men ^zgroan from out of the city,

And the soul of the ^zwounded crieth out:

Yet God layeth not ^afolly to them.

¹³They are of those ^bthat rebel against the light;

They know not the ways thereof,

Nor abide in the paths thereof.

¹⁴The murderer rising with the light

Killeth the poor and needy,

And in the night is as a thief.

¹⁵The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for ^cthe twilight,

^dSaying, No eye shall see me:

And ^†disguiseth his face.

¹⁶In the dark they ^dddig through houses,

Which they had marked for themselves in the daytime:

^bThey know not the light.

¹⁷For ^ethe morning is to them even as ^fthe shadow of death:

If one know them, they are in the terrors of ^fthe shadow of death.

^18gHe is swift ^has the waters;

Their portion is cursed in the earth:

He beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

¹⁹ⁱDrought and heat ^†consume the ^ksnow waters:

So doth the grave those which have sinned.

²⁰The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him;

He shall be no more remembered;

And wickedness shall be broken ^las a tree.

²¹He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not:

And doeth not good to the widow.

²²He draweth also the ^mmighty with his power:

He riseth up, and ^||no man is sure of life.

²³Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth;

Yet ⁿhis eyes are upon their ways.

²⁴They are exalted ^ofor a little while, but ^†are gone

And brought low; they are ^†taken out of the way as all other,

And ^pcut off as the tops of ^qthe ears of corn.

^25rAnd if it be not so now, who will make me a liar,

And make my speech nothing worth?