Job 22

Eliphaz’s Third Speech

1 Then ^{▼▼Hebrew “And”} 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,
or ^{▼▼Hebrew “and”} 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⌟, ^{▼▼Literally “man of power for him”}
and ⌞the favored⌟ ^{▼▼Literally “lifted up of face”} 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?
But ^{▼▼Hebrew “And”} see how lofty are ⌞the highest stars⌟. ^{▼▼Literally “top of stars,” or “head of stars”}
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⌟, ^{▼▼Literally “and not time”}
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 Yet ^{▼▼Hebrew “And”} he himself ^{▼▼Emphatic personal pronoun} filled up their houses with good things,
but ^{▼▼Hebrew “and”} the schemes of the wicked are repugnant to me.
19 The righteous see, and they rejoice,
but ^{▼▼Hebrew “and”} the innocent one mocks at them.
20 ⌞Surely⌟ ^{▼▼Literally “If not”} our foe perishes,
and fire has consumed their remainder. ^{▼▼Or “their wealth”}
21 “Please reconcile yourself with him,
and be at peace; ⌞in this way⌟, ^{▼▼Literally “by them”} 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 then ^{▼▼Hebrew “And”} Shaddai will be your gold ore
and ⌞your precious silver⌟. ^{▼▼Literally “silver of the best for you,” or “silver of the best belonging to you”}
26 Indeed, then you will delight yourself in Shaddai,
and ⌞you will expect that God will be good to you⌟. ^{▼▼Literally “you will lift up to God your face”}
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⌟, ^{▼▼Literally “and you say,” or “then you say”} ‘It is pride,’
for ^{▼▼Hebrew “and”} he saves ⌞the humble⌟. ^{▼▼Literally “downward of eyes”}
30 He will deliver the guilty,
and he will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.”