22:1  THEN ELIPHAZ the Temanite answered [Job],

22:2  Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he that is wise is profitable to himself.

22:3  Is it any pleasure {or} advantage to the Almighty that you are righteous (upright and in right standing with Him)? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways perfect?

22:4  Is it for your [reverential] fear of Him that He [thus] reproves you, that He enters with you into judgment?

22:5  Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities.

22:6  For you have taken pledges of your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

22:7  You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

22:8  But [you, Job] the man with power possessed the land, and the favored {and} accepted man dwelt in it.

22:9  You have sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

22:10  Therefore snares are round about you, and sudden fear troubles {and} overwhelms you;

22:11  Your light is darkened, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

22:12  Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

22:13  Therefore you say, How {and} what does God know [about me]? Can He judge through the thick darkness?

22:14  Thick clouds are a covering to Him, so that He does not see, and He walks on the vault of the heavens.

22:15  Will you pay attention {and} keep to the old way that wicked men trod [in Noah's time],

22:16  Men who were snatched away before their time, whose foundations were poured out like a stream [during the flood]?

22:17  They said to God, Depart from us, and, What can the Almighty do for {or} to us?

22:18  Yet He filled their houses with good [things]. But the counsel of the ungodly is far from me.

22:19  The righteous see it and are glad; and the innocent laugh them to scorn [saying],

22:20  Surely those who rose up against us are cut off, and that which remained to them the fire has consumed.

22:21  Acquaint now yourself with Him [agree with God and show yourself to be conformed to His will] and be at peace; by that [you shall prosper and great] good shall come to you.

22:22  Receive, I pray you, the law {and} instruction from His mouth and lay up His words in your heart.

22:23  If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up; if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents,

22:24  If you lay gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brook [considering them of little worth],

22:25  And make the Almighty your gold and [the Lord] your precious silver treasure,

22:26  Then you will have delight in the Almighty, and you will lift up your face to God.

22:27  You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you, and you will pay your vows.

22:28  You shall also decide {and} decree a thing, and it shall be established for you; and the light [of God's favor] shall shine upon your ways.

22:29  When they make [you] low, you will say, [There is] a lifting up; and the humble person He lifts up {and} saves.

22:30  He will even deliver the one [for whom you intercede] who is not innocent; yes, he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.