Job 22-23

English Standard Version

^2 (B)“Can a man be profitable to God?
    Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
³ Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right,
    or is it gain to him if you ^(C)make your ways blameless?
⁴ Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you
    and ^(D)enters into judgment with you?
⁵ Is not your evil abundant?
    There is no end to your iniquities.
⁶ For you have ^(E)exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing
    ^(F)and stripped the naked of their clothing.
⁷ You have given no water to the weary to drink,
    and you have ^(G)withheld bread from the hungry.
^8 (H)The man with power possessed the land,
    and ^(I)the favored man lived in it.
⁹ You have ^(J)sent widows away empty,
    and ^(K)the arms of ^(L)the fatherless were crushed.
¹⁰ Therefore ^(M)snares are all around you,
    and sudden terror overwhelms you,
¹¹ or ^(N)darkness, so that you cannot see,
    and a ^(O)flood of ^(P)water covers you.

¹² “Is not God high in the heavens?
    See ^(Q)the highest stars, how lofty they are!
¹³ But you say, ^(R)‘What does God know?
    Can he judge through ^(S)the deep darkness?
^14 (T)Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see,
    and he walks on the vault of heaven.’
¹⁵ Will you keep to the old way
    that wicked men have trod?
¹⁶ They were snatched away ^(U)before their time;
    their foundation was washed away.^[a]
17 They said to God, ^(V)‘Depart from us,’
    and ^(W)‘What can the Almighty do to us?’^[b]
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things—
    but ^(X)the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
^19 (Y)The righteous see it and are glad;
    the innocent one ^(Z)mocks at them,
²⁰ saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
    and what they left ^(AA)the fire has consumed.’

^21 (AB)“Agree with God, and ^(AC)be at peace;
    thereby good will come to you.
²² Receive instruction from ^(AD)his mouth,
    and ^(AE)lay up his words in your heart.
²³ If you ^(AF)return to the Almighty you will be ^(AG)built up;
    if you ^(AH)remove injustice far from your tents,
²⁴ if you lay gold in ^(AI)the dust,
    and gold of ^(AJ)Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed,
²⁵ then the Almighty will be your gold
    and your precious silver.
²⁶ For then you ^(AK)will delight yourself in the Almighty
    and ^(AL)lift up your face to God.
²⁷ You will ^(AM)make your prayer to him, and he will hear you,
    and you will ^(AN)pay your vows.
²⁸ You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
    and ^(AO)light will shine on your ways.
²⁹ For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’;^[c]
    but he saves ^(AP)the lowly.
³⁰ He ^(AQ)delivers even the one who is not innocent,
    who will be delivered through ^(AR)the cleanness of your hands.”

² “Today also my ^(AS)complaint is bitter;^[d]
    my ^(AT)hand is heavy on account of my groaning.
³ Oh, ^(AU)that I knew where I might find him,
    that I might come even to his ^(AV)seat!
⁴ I would ^(AW)lay my case before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.
⁵ I would know what he would answer me
    and understand what he would say to me.
⁶ Would he ^(AX)contend with me in the greatness of his power?
    No; he would pay attention to me.
⁷ There an upright man could argue with him,
    and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

⁸ “Behold, ^(AY)I go forward, but he is not there,
    and backward, but I do not perceive him;
⁹ on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
    he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
¹⁰ But he ^(AZ)knows ^(BA)the way that I ^(BB)take;
    when he has ^(BC)tried me, I shall come out as gold.
¹¹ My foot ^(BD)has held fast to his steps;
    I have kept his way and have ^(BE)not turned aside.
¹² I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
    I have ^(BF)treasured the words of his mouth more than my ^(BG)portion of food.
¹³ But he is unchangeable,^[e] and ^(BH)who can turn him back?
    What he ^(BI)desires, that he does.
¹⁴ For he will complete what he ^(BJ)appoints for me,
    and many such things are ^(BK)in his mind.
¹⁵ Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
    when I consider, I am in dread of him.
¹⁶ God has made my ^(BL)heart faint;
    the Almighty has terrified me;
¹⁷ yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
    nor because thick darkness covers my face.