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. |