| 22:1 |
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, |
| 22:2 |
"Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself. |
| 22:3 |
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous? Or does it benefit him, that you make your ways perfect? |
| 22:4 |
Is it for your piety that he reproves you, that he enters with you into judgment? |
| 22:5 |
Isn't your wickedness great? Neither is there any end to your iniquities. |
| 22:6 |
For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing. |
| 22:7 |
You haven't given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. |
| 22:8 |
But as for the mighty man, he had the earth. The honorable man, he lived in it. |
| 22:9 |
You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. |
| 22:10 |
Therefore snares are round about you. Sudden fear troubles you, |
| 22:11 |
or darkness, so that you can not see, and floods of waters cover you. |
| 22:12 |
"Isn't God in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high they are! |
| 22:13 |
You say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness? |
| 22:14 |
Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he doesn't see. He walks on the vault of the sky.' |
| 22:15 |
Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden, |
| 22:16 |
who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream, |
| 22:17 |
who said to God, 'Depart from us;' and, 'What can the Almighty do for us?' |
| 22:18 |
Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. |
| 22:19 |
The righteous see it, and are glad. The innocent ridicule them, |
| 22:20 |
saying, 'Surely those who rose up against us are cut off. The fire has consumed the remnant of them.' |
| 22:21 |
"Acquaint yourself with him, now, and be at peace. Thereby good shall come to you. |
| 22:22 |
Please receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. |
| 22:23 |
If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents. |
| 22:24 |
Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks. |
| 22:25 |
The Almighty will be your treasure, and precious silver to you. |
| 22:26 |
For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and shall lift up your face to God. |
| 22:27 |
You shall make your prayer to him, and he will hear you. You shall pay your vows. |
| 22:28 |
You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you. Light shall shine on your ways. |
| 22:29 |
When they cast down, you shall say, 'be lifted up.' He will save the humble person. |
| 22:30 |
He will even deliver him who is not innocent. Yes, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of your hands." |
