Round Three: Eliphaz’s Speech
22 Eliphaz the Temanite responded:
2 Can a man benefit God?
Can even a wise man be of any use to him?
3 Should the Almighty be delighted if you are righteous?
Does he gain any advantage if your ways are blameless?
4 Is it because of your reverence that he rebukes you
and comes against you in judgment?
5 Isn’t your wickedness great?
Isn’t your guilt endless?
6 You have seized collateral from your brothers without cause,
and you have stripped off clothing from the naked.
7 You have not given water to the weary,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8 The earth belongs to a forceful man,
and a well-respected man dwells in it.[a]
9 You send widows away empty-handed.
You crush the arms of the fatherless.
10 That is why snares are all around you,
and sudden fear overwhelms you.
11 That is why you cannot see in the darkness,
and floodwaters cover you.
12 Is not God in the heights of heaven?
Look at[b] the highest stars, so high above!
13 But you say, “What does God know?
Can he judge through the thick darkness?
14 Dark clouds are a veil around him,
so he does not see us
as he walks back and forth in heaven’s dome.”
15 Are you the guardian of the ancient way,
the one traveled by wicked men?
16 They were snatched away before their time.[c]
Their foundation was washed away by a river.
17 They said to God, “Keep away from us,”
and “What can the Almighty do to us?”[d]
18 even though he had filled their houses with good.
That is why the way of life of the wicked is far from me.
19 The righteous see this and are glad.
The innocent mock them, saying,
20 “Surely our adversaries have been erased!
Fire has eaten up their abundance.”
21 Be reconciled with God.
Be at peace with him.
Then good will come to you.
22 Accept teaching from his mouth,
and set his words in your heart.
23 If you turn to the Almighty, you will be built up.
If you want to put injustice far from your tent,
24 throw your purest gold[e] into the dust
and your gold from Ophir upon the rocks in the ravines.
25 Then the Almighty will be your purest gold
and your most precious silver.
26 Then you will find pleasure in the Almighty,
and you will lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to God, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 You will decide on a matter, and it will be done for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When people are brought low,
and you say, “Lift them up,”
God will save the downcast.
30 He will deliver even the person who is not innocent,
who will escape by the purity of your hands.
Footnotes
- Job 22:8 The connection of this verse to the context is unclear. It may be an excuse that greedy rich people use for not helping the poor or an indirect accusation of Job.
- Job 22:12 Or he sees
- Job 22:16 Or with no time to get away
- Job 22:17 The reading us follows the ancient versions. The Hebrew reads them.
- Job 22:24 Or gold nuggets