22:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

22:2  "Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise man benefit him?

22:3  What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

22:4  "Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?

22:5  Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?

22:6  You demanded security from your brothers for no reason;
you stripped men of their clothing, leaving them naked.

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

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

22:9  And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.

22:10  That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril 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 in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!

22:13  Yet you say, 'What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?

22:14  Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.'

22:15  Will you keep to the old path
that evil men have trod?

22:16  They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.

22:17  They said to God, 'Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?'

22:18  Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.

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

22:20  'Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.'

22:21  "Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.

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

22:23  If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent

22:24  and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

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

22:26  Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.

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

22:28  What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.

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

22:30  He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."