Job 22:1–23:17
22 Thena Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 “Can a man be of use to God?
Yes, can the wise be of use to him?
3 Is it a pleasure to Shaddai if you are righteous,
orb a gain if you make your ways blameless?
4 Does he reprove you because of your reverence
or enter into judgment with you?
5 Is not your wickedness great,
and there is no end to your iniquities?
6 “Indeed, you have required a pledge from your family for nothing,
and you have stripped off the clothes of the naked.
7 You have given no water for the weary to drink,
and you withheld food from the hungry.
8 And the land ⌊belongs to the man of power⌋,c
and ⌊the favored⌋d lives in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms of orphans were crushed.
10 Therefore trapping nets are all around you,
and panic suddenly terrifies you,
11 or it is so dark you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.
12 “Is not God in the height of the heavens?
Bute see how lofty are ⌊the highest stars⌋.f
13 And you ask, ‘What does God know?
Can he judge through deep gloom?
14 Thick clouds are a covering for him, so that he does not see;
and he walks about on the dome of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the way of old
that the people of mischief have trod,
16 who were snatched away ⌊before their time⌋,g
whose foundation was washed away by a current?
17 Those who said to God, ‘Turn away from us,’
and ‘What can Shaddai do to us?’
18 Yeth he himselfi filled up their houses with good things,
butj the schemes of the wicked are repugnant to me.
19 The righteous see, and they rejoice,
butk the innocent one mocks at them.
20 ⌊Surely⌋l our foe perishes,
and fire has consumed their remainder.m
21 “Please reconcile yourself with him,
and be at peace; ⌊in this way⌋,n good will come to you.
22 Please receive instruction from his mouth,
and place his words in your heart.
23 If you return to Shaddai, you will be restored;
if you remove wickedness from your tent,
24 and if you put gold ore in the dust,
and the gold of Ophir in the rock of wadis,
25 theno Shaddai will be your gold ore
and ⌊your precious silver⌋.p
26 Indeed, then you will delight yourself in Shaddai,
and ⌊you will expect that God will be good to you⌋.q
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.
28 And you will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When they are humiliated, ⌊you say⌋,r ‘It is pride,’
30 He will deliver the guilty,
and he will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.”
Job’s Eighth Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
23 Thena Job answered and said,
2 “Even today my complaint is bitter;
my hand is heavy in addition to my groaning.
3 ⌊O that⌋b I knew and that I might find him;
O that I might come to his dwelling.
4 I would lay my case ⌊before him⌋,c
and I would fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I want to know the words with which he would answer me,
and I want to understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his strength?
No, but he himselfd would give heed to me.
7 There an upright person could reason with him,
and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 “When I go forward, ⌊he is not there⌋,e
orf backward, I cannot see him.g
9 ⌊When he works⌋h on the left, ⌊I cannot perceive⌋i him;
he turns to the right, butj I cannot see him.
10 But he knows ⌊the way that I take⌋;k
he tests me—I shall come out like gold.
11 My foot has held on to his steps;
I have kept his way, and I have not turned aside.
12 From the commandment of his lips, indeedl I have not departed;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily food.
13 “Butm he is ⌊alone⌋,n and who can dissuade him?
And ⌊whatever he desires⌋,o ⌊indeed⌋,p he does it.
14 For he will carry out ⌊what he appoints for me⌋,q
and many things like these are with him.
15 Therefore, I am horrified because of his presence;
when I consider, I trembler because of him.
16 Indeed,s God has made my heart faint,
and Shaddai has terrified me.
17 Indeed, I have not been silenced ⌊because of darkness⌋,t
and because of me heu conceals thick darkness.