Job 22:1–24:25
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanitec replied:
2 “Can a man be of benefit to God?d
Can even a wise person benefit him?e
3 What pleasuref would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?g
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?h
4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?i
5 Is not your wickedness great?
6 You demanded securityl from your relatives for no reason;m
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.n
7 You gave no watero to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,p
8 though you were a powerful man, owning landq—
an honored man,r living on it.s
9 And you sent widowst away empty-handedu
and broke the strength of the fatherless.v
10 That is why snaresw are all around you,x
why sudden peril terrifies you,y
11 why it is so darkz you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.a
12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven?b
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?c
Does he judge through such darkness?d
14 Thick cloudse veil him, so he does not see usf
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’g
15 Will you keep to the old path
16 They were carried off before their time,j
their foundationsk washed away by a flood.l
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’m
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,n
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.o
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;p
the innocent mockq them, saying,
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,r
and fires devours their wealth.’
21 “Submit to God and be at peacet with him;u
in this way prosperity will come to you.v
22 Accept instruction from his mouthw
and lay up his wordsx in your heart.y
23 If you returnz to the Almighty, you will be restored:a
If you remove wickedness far from your tentb
24 and assign your nuggetsc to the dust,
your goldd of Ophire to the rocks in the ravines,f
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,g
the choicest silver for you.h
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almightyi
and will lift up your facej to God.k
27 You will pray to him,l and he will hear you,m
and you will fulfill your vows.n
28 What you decide on will be done,o
and lightp will shine on your ways.q
29 When people are brought lowr and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.s
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,t
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”u
23 Then Job replied:
2 “Even today my complaintv is bitter;w
his handa is heavy in spite ofb my groaning.x
3 If only I knew where to find him;
if only I could go to his dwelling!y
4 I would state my casez before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.a
5 I would find out what he would answer me,b
and consider what he would say to me.
6 Would he vigorously oppose me?c
No, he would not press charges against me.d
7 There the uprighte can establish their innocence before him,f
and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.g
8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there;
if I go to the west, I do not find him.
9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.h
10 But he knows the way that I take;i
when he has tested me,j I will come forth as gold.k
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;l
I have kept to his way without turning aside.m
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;n
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.o
13 “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?p
He does whatever he pleases.q
14 He carries out his decree against me,
and many such plans he still has in store.r
15 That is why I am terrified before him;s
when I think of all this, I fear him.t
16 God has made my heart faint;u
the Almightyv has terrified me.w
17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,x
by the thick darkness that covers my face.
24 “Why does the Almighty not set timesy for judgment?z
Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?a
2 There are those who move boundary stones;b
they pasture flocks they have stolen.c
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey
and take the widow’s ox in pledge.d
4 They thrust the needye from the path
and force all the poorf of the land into hiding.g
5 Like wild donkeysh in the desert,
the poor go about their labori of foraging food;
the wastelandj provides food for their children.
6 They gather fodderk in the fields
and glean in the vineyardsl of the wicked.m
7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.n
8 They are drenchedo by mountain rains
and hugp the rocks for lack of shelter.q
9 The fatherlessr child is snatcheds from the breast;
the infant of the poor is seizedt for a debt.u
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;v
they carry the sheaves,w but still go hungry.
11 They crush olives among the terracesa;
they tread the winepresses,x yet suffer thirst.y
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.z
But God charges no one with wrongdoing.a
13 “There are those who rebel against the light,b
who do not know its ways
or stay in its paths.c
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
and in the night steals forth like a thief.f
15 The eye of the adultererg watches for dusk;h
he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’i
and he keeps his face concealed.
16 In the dark, thieves break into houses,j
but by day they shut themselves in;
they want nothing to do with the light.k
17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;
they make friends with the terrorsl of darkness.m
18 “Yet they are foamn on the surface of the water;o
their portion of the land is cursed,p
so that no one goes to the vineyards.q
19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,r
so the graves snatches away those who have sinned.
the wicked are no longer rememberedv
but are broken like a tree.w
21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,
and to the widow they show no kindness.x
22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;y
though they become established,z they have no assurance of life.a
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,b
but his eyesc are on their ways.d
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;e
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;f
they are cut off like heads of grain.g
25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false
and reduce my words to nothing?”h