Job 22, side by side

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

²“Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?

²Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

³Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless?

³Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

⁴Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you?

⁴Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

⁵Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless?

⁵Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

⁶For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.

⁶For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

⁷You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished,

⁷Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

⁸while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it.

⁸But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.

⁹You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

⁹Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

¹⁰Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you;

¹⁰Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

¹¹it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

¹¹Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

¹²Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!

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

¹³Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness?

¹³And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

¹⁴Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’

¹⁴Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

¹⁵Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod?

¹⁵Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

¹⁶They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.

¹⁶Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

¹⁷They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’

¹⁷Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?

¹⁸But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

¹⁸Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁹The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them:

¹⁹The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

²⁰‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’

²⁰Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

²¹Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you.

²¹Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

²²Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.

²²Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.

²³If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents

²³If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

²⁴and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,

²⁴Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

²⁵then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you.

²⁵Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.

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

²⁶For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

²⁷You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.

²⁷Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.

²⁸Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.

²⁸Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

²⁹When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly.

²⁹When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

³⁰He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”

³⁰He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.