NETtext - Job - 22

22:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

22:2  "Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit? Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable?

22:3  Is it of any special benefit to the Almighty that you should be righteous, or is it any gain to him that you make your ways blameless?

22:4  Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you and goes to judgment with you?

22:5  Is not your wickedness great and is there no end to your iniquity?

22:6  "For you took pledges from your brothers for no reason, and you stripped the clothing from the naked.

22:7  You gave the weary no water to drink and from the hungry you withheld food.

22:8  Although you were a powerful man, owning land, an honored man living on it,

22:9  you sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the orphans you crushed.

22:10  That is why snares surround you, and why sudden fear terrifies you,

22:11  why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.

22:12  "Is not God on high in heaven? And see the lofty stars, how high they are!

22:13  But you have said, 'What does God know? Does he judge through such deep darkness?

22:14  Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, as he goes back and forth in the vault of heaven.'

22:15  Will you keep to the old path that evil men have walked -

22:16  men who were carried off before their time, when the flood was poured out on their foundations?

22:17  They were saying to God, 'Turn away from us,' and 'What can the Almighty do to us?'

22:18  But it was he who filled their houses with good things - yet the counsel of the wicked was far from me.

22:19  The righteous see their destruction and rejoice; the innocent mock them scornfully, saying,

22:20  'Surely our enemies are destroyed, and fire consumes their wealth.'

22:21  "Reconcile yourself with God, and be at peace with him; in this way your prosperity will be good.

22:22  Accept instruction from his mouth and store up his words in your heart.

22:23  If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,

22:24  and throw your gold in the dust - your gold of Ophir among the rocks in the ravines -

22:25  then the Almighty himself will be your gold, and the choicest silver for you.

22:26  Surely then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and will lift up your face toward God.

22:27  You will pray to him and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him.

22:28  Whatever you decide on a matter, it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.

22:29  When people are brought low and you say 'Lift them up!' then he will save the downcast;

22:30  he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, who will escape through the cleanness of your hands."