Job 22
English Standard Version
Eliphaz Speaks: Job's Wickedness Is Great
22 Then (A)Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
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.”
Job 22
1599 Geneva Bible
22 2 Eliphaz affirmeth that Job is punished for his sins. 6 He accuseth him of unmercifulness. 13 And that he denied God’s providence. 21 He exhorteth to repentance.
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said,
2 May a man be [a]profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable to himself?
3 (A)Is it anything unto the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it profitable to him, that thou makest thy ways upright?
4 Is it for fear [b]of thee that he will accuse thee? or go with thee into judgment?
5 Is not thy wickedness great, and thine iniquities innumerable?
6 For thou hast taken the [c]pledge from thy brother for nought, and spoiled the clothes of the naked.
7 To such as were weary, thou hast not given water to drink, and hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.
8 But the mighty man [d]had the earth, and he that was in authority, dwelt in it.
9 Thou hast cast out widows empty, and the arms of the [e]fatherless were broken.
10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and fear shall suddenly trouble thee.
11 Or darkness that thou shouldest not see, and [f]abundance of waters shall cover thee.
12 Is not God on [g]high in the heaven? and behold the height of the [h]stars how high they are.
13 But thou sayest, How should God [i]know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
14 The clouds hide him that he cannot see, and he walketh in the circle of heaven.
15 Hast thou marked the way of the world, [j]wherein wicked men have walked?
16 Which were [k]cut down before the time, whose foundation was as a river that overflowed:
17 Which said unto God, Depart from us, and asked what the Almighty could do for them.
18 Yet he [l]filled their houses with good things: but let the counsel of the wicked be far from me.
19 The righteous shall see them, and shall rejoice, [m]and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.
20 Surely [n]our substance is hid: but the fire hath devoured the remnant of [o]them.
21 Therefore acquaint thyself, I pray thee, [p]with him, and make peace: thereby thou shalt have prosperity.
22 Receive, I pray thee, the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt [q]be built up, and thou shalt put iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
24 Thou shalt lay up gold for [r]dust, and the gold of Ophir, as the flints of the rivers.
25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defense, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
26 And thou shalt then delight in the Almighty, and lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt render thy vows.
28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and he shall establish it unto thee, and the [s]light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 [t]When others are cast down, then shalt thou say, I am lifted up: and God shall save the humble person.
30 The innocent shall deliver the [u]island, and it shall be preserved by the pureness of thine hands.
Footnotes
- Job 22:2 Though man were just, yet God could have no profit of this his justice: and therefore when he punished him, he hath no regard to his justice, but to his sin.
- Job 22:4 Lest thou shouldest reprove or hurt him?
- Job 22:6 Thou hast been cruel and without charity, and wouldest do nothing for the poor, but for thine own advantage.
- Job 22:8 When thou wast in power and authority, thou didst not justice but wrong.
- Job 22:9 Thou hast not only not showed pity, but oppressed them.
- Job 22:11 That is, manifold afflictions.
- Job 22:12 He accuseth Job of impiety and contempt of God, as though he would say, If thou pass not for men, yet consider the height of God’s majesty.
- Job 22:12 That so much the more by that excellent work thou mayest fear God, and reverence him.
- Job 22:13 He reproveth Job, as though he denied God’s providence and that he could not see the things that were done in this world.
- Job 22:15 How God hath punished them from the beginning?
- Job 22:16 He proveth God’s providence by the punishment of the wicked, whom he taketh away before they can bring their wicked purposes to pass.
- Job 22:18 He answereth to that which Job had said, Job 21:7, that the wicked have prosperity in this world: desiring that he might not be partaker of the like.
- Job 22:19 The just rejoice at the destruction of the wicked for two causes: first, because God showeth himself judge of the world and by this means continueth his honor and glory: secondly, because God showeth that he hath care over his in that he punished their enemies.
- Job 22:20 That is, the state and preservation of the godly, is hid under God’s wings.
- Job 22:20 Meaning, of the wicked.
- Job 22:21 He exhorteth Job to repentance, and to return to God.
- Job 22:23 God will restore unto thee all thy substance.
- Job 22:24 Which shall be in abundance like dust.
- Job 22:28 That is, the favor of God.
- Job 22:29 God will deliver his when the wicked are destroyed round about them, as in the flood and in Sodom.
- Job 22:30 God will deliver a whole country from peril, even for the just man’s sake.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
