Job 22:1-30
22 Elʹi·phaz+ the Teʹman·ite said in reply:
2 “Can a man be of use to God?
Can anyone with insight be of benefit to him?+
3 Does the Almighty care* that you are righteous,Or does he gain anything because you follow the course of integrity?+
4 Will he punish youAnd enter into judgment with you for your reverence?
5 Is it not because your own wickedness is so greatAnd there is no end to your errors?+
6 For you seize a pledge from your brothers for no reason,And you strip people of their garments, leaving them naked.*+
7 You do not give the tired one a drink of water,And you hold back food from the hungry.+
8 The land belongs to the powerful man,+And the favored one dwells in it.
9 But you sent away widows empty-handed,And you crushed the arms of fatherless children.*
10 That is why you are surrounded by traps,*+And sudden terrors frighten you;
11 That is why it is so dark that you cannot see,And a flood of water covers you.
12 Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how high all the stars are.
13 But you have said: ‘What does God really know?
Can he judge through thick gloom?
14 Clouds screen him off so that he does not seeAs he walks about on the vault* of heaven.’
15 Will you follow the ancient pathThat wicked men have walked,
16 Men who have been snatched away* before their time,Whose foundation was washed away by a flood?*+
17 They were saying to the true God: ‘Leave us alone!’
And ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
18 Yet, he is the One who filled their houses with good things.
(Such wicked thinking is far from my own.)
19 The righteous will see this and rejoice,And the innocent will mock them and say:
20 ‘Our opponents have been destroyed,And a fire will consume what is left of them.’
21 Get to know Him, and you will be at peace;Then good things will come your way.
22 Accept the law from his mouth,And keep his sayings in your heart.+
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored;+If you remove unrighteousness from your tent,
24 If you would throw your gold* into the dustAnd the gold of Oʹphir+ into the rocky ravines,*
25 Then the Almighty will become your gold,*And he will be your choicest silver.
26 For then your delight will be in the Almighty,And you will lift up your face to God.
27 You will entreat him, and he will hear you;And your vows you will pay.
28 Whatever you decide to do will succeed,And light will shine upon your path.
29 For you will be humiliated when you speak arrogantly,But he will save the humble.*
30 He will rescue those who are innocent;So if your hands are clean, you will certainly be rescued.”
Footnotes
^ Or “Does it delight the Almighty.”
^ Lit., “strip off garments of the naked.”
^ Or “of orphans.”
^ Lit., “bird traps.”
^ Or “circle.”
^ Or “whose lives were cut short.”
^ Lit., “river.”
^ Or “gold nuggets.”
^ Or “wadis.”
^ Or “gold nuggets.”
^ Or “the one with downcast eyes.”