Job 22

Eliphaz

22Then Eliphaz the Temanite^c replied:

²“Can a man be of benefit to God?^d

Can even a wise person benefit him?^e

³What pleasure^f 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

⁵Is not your wickedness great?

Are not your sins^j endless?^k

⁶You demanded security^l from your relatives for no reason;^m

you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.ⁿ

⁷You gave no water^o to the weary

and you withheld food from the hungry,^p

⁸though you were a powerful man, owning land^q—

an honored man,^r living on it.^s

⁹And you sent widows^t away empty-handed^u

and broke the strength of the fatherless.^v

¹⁰That is why snares^w are all around you,^x

why sudden peril terrifies you,^y

¹¹why it is so dark^z 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!

¹³Yet you say, ‘What does God know?^c

Does he judge through such darkness?^d

¹⁴Thick clouds^e veil him, so he does not see us^f

as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’^g

¹⁵Will you keep to the old path

that the wicked^h have trod?ⁱ

¹⁶They were carried off before their time,^j

their foundations^k washed away by a flood.^l

¹⁷They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!

What can the Almighty do to us?’^m

¹⁸Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,ⁿ

so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.^o

¹⁹The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;^p

the innocent mock^q them, saying,

²⁰‘Surely our foes are destroyed,^r

and fire^s devours their wealth.’

²¹“Submit to God and be at peace^t with him;^u

in this way prosperity will come to you.^v

²²Accept instruction from his mouth^w

and lay up his words^x in your heart.^y

²³If you return^z to the Almighty, you will be restored:^a

If you remove wickedness far from your tent^b

²⁴and assign your nuggets^c to the dust,

your gold^d of Ophir^e to the rocks in the ravines,^f

²⁵then the Almighty will be your gold,^g

the choicest silver for you.^h

²⁶Surely then you will find delight in the Almightyⁱ

and will lift up your face^j to God.^k

²⁷You will pray to him,^l and he will hear you,^m

and you will fulfill your vows.ⁿ

²⁸What you decide on will be done,^o

and light^p will shine on your ways.^q

²⁹When people are brought low^r and you say, ‘Lift them up!’

then he will save the downcast.^s

³⁰He will deliver even one who is not innocent,^t

who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”^u