Job 22
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 1
2“Can a man be useful to God? 1 Can a wise man be useful to him? 1
3Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous? 1 Is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless? 1
4Is it because of your reverence for him that he rebukes you 1 and takes you to judgment? 1
5Is not your wickedness great? 1 Is there no end to your iniquities? 1
6For you have demanded guarantee of a loan from your brother for no reason, 1 and you have stripped away clothing from the naked. 1
7You have not given water to weary people to drink; 1 you have withheld bread from hungry people 1
8although you, a mighty man, possessed the earth, 1 although you, an honored man, lived in it. 1
9You have sent widows away empty; 1 the arms of the fatherless have been broken. 1
10Therefore, snares are all around you, 1 and sudden fear troubles you. 1
11There is darkness, so that you cannot see; 1 an abundance of waters covers you. 1
12Is not God in the heights of heaven? 1 Look at the height of the stars, how high they are! 1
13You say, 'What does God know? 1 Can he judge through the thick darkness? 1
14Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he does not see us; 1 he walks on the vault of heaven.' 1
15Will you keep the old way 1 that wicked men have walked— 1
16those who were snatched away before their time, 1 those whose foundations have washed away like a river, 1
17those who said to God, 'Depart from us'; 1 those who said, 'What can the Almighty do to us?' 1
18Yet he filled their houses with good things; 1 the plans of wicked people are far from me. 1
19Righteous people see their fate and are glad; 1 innocent people laugh them to scorn. 1
20They say, 'Surely those who rose up against us are cut off; 1 fire has consumed their possessions.' 1
21Now agree with God and be at peace with him; 1 in that way, good will come to you. 1
22Receive, I beg you, instruction from his mouth; 1 store up his words in your heart. 1
23If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up, 1 if you put unrighteousness far away from your tents. 1
24Lay your treasure down in the dust, 1 the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks, 1
25and the Almighty will be your treasure, 1 precious silver to you. 1
26For then you will take pleasure in the Almighty; 1 you will lift up your face to God. 1
27You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you; 1 you will pay your vows to him. 1
28You will also decree anything, and it will be confirmed for you; 1 light will shine on your paths. 1
29God humbles a proud man, 1 and he saves the one with lowered eyes. 1
30He will rescue even the man who is not innocent; 1 who will be rescued through the cleanness of your hands.”