Job 22

Eliphaz: Can a Man Be of Use to God?

^{verse 1}Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

^{verse 2}“Can a man be of use to God?

Can even a wise man benefit Him?

^{verse 3}Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous?

Does He profit if your ways are blameless?

^{verse 4}Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you

and enters into judgment against you?

^{verse 5}Is not your wickedness great?

Are not your iniquities endless?

^{verse 6}For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers

and deprived the naked of their clothing.

^{verse 7}You gave no water to the weary

and withheld food from the famished,

^{verse 8}while the land belonged to a mighty man,

and a man of honor lived on it.

^{verse 9}You sent widows away empty-handed,

and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

^{verse 10}Therefore snares surround you,

and sudden peril terrifies you;

^{verse 11}it is so dark you cannot see,

and a flood of water covers you.

^{verse 12}Is not God as high as the heavens?

Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!

^{verse 13}Yet you say: ‘What does God know?

Does He judge through thick darkness?

^{verse 14}Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us

as He traverses the vault of heaven.^a’

^{verse 15}Will you stay on the ancient path

that wicked men have trod?

^{verse 16}They were snatched away before their time,

and their foundations were swept away by a flood.

^{verse 17}They said to God, ‘Depart from us.

What can the Almighty do to us?’

^{verse 18}But it was He who filled their houses with good things;

so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

^{verse 19}The righteous see it and are glad;

the innocent mock them:

^{verse 20}‘Surely our foes are destroyed,

and fire has consumed their excess.’

^{verse 21}Reconcile now and be at peace with Him;

thereby good will come to you.

^{verse 22}Receive instruction from His mouth,

and lay up His words in your heart.

^{verse 23}If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored.

If you remove injustice from your tents

^{verse 24}and consign your gold to the dust

and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,

^{verse 25}then the Almighty will be your gold

and the finest silver for you.

^{verse 26}Surely then you will delight in the Almighty

and lift up your face to God.

^{verse 27}You will pray to Him, and He will hear you,

and you will fulfill your vows.

^{verse 28}Your decisions will be carried out,

and light will shine on your ways.

^{verse 29}When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’

then He will save the lowly.

^{verse 30}He will deliver even one who is not innocent,

rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”