Job 22
Christian Standard Bible
Third Series of Speeches
Eliphaz Speaks
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 Can a man be of any use to God?
Can even a wise man be of use to him?
3 Does it delight the Almighty if you are righteous?
Does he profit if you perfect your behavior?(A)
4 Does he correct you and take you to court
because of your piety?(B)
5 Isn’t your wickedness abundant
and aren’t your iniquities endless?
6 For you took collateral(C) from your brothers without cause,
stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the thirsty
and withheld food from the famished,(D)
8 while the land belonged to a powerful man
and an influential man lived on it.
9 You sent widows away empty-handed,
and the strength of the fatherless(E) was[a] crushed.
10 Therefore snares surround you,
and sudden dread terrifies(F) you,
11 or darkness, so you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.(G)
12 Isn’t God as high as the heavens?
And look at the highest stars—how lofty they are!
13 Yet you say, “What does God know?
Can he judge through total darkness?(H)
14 Clouds(I) veil him so that he cannot see,
as he walks on the circle of the sky.”
15 Will you continue on the ancient path
that wicked men have walked?
16 They were snatched away before their time,
and their foundations(J) were washed away by a river.
17 They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!”
and “What can the Almighty do to us?” [b](K)
18 But it was he who filled their houses with good things.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
19 The righteous see this and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,(L)
20 “Surely our opponents are destroyed,
and fire has consumed what they left behind.”(M)
21 Come to terms with God and be at peace;(N)
in this way[c] good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from his mouth,(O)
and place his sayings(P) in your heart.
23 If you return(Q) to the Almighty, you will be renewed.
If you banish injustice from your tent
24 and consign your gold to the dust,
the gold of Ophir(R) to the stones in the wadis,
25 the Almighty will be your gold
and your finest silver.
26 Then you will delight(S) in the Almighty
and lift up your face to God.(T)
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,(U)
and you will fulfill your vows.
28 When you make a decision, it will be carried out,[d]
and light will shine on your ways.(V)
29 When others are humiliated and you say, “Lift them up,”
God will save the humble.[e](W)
30 He will even rescue the guilty one,
who will be rescued by the purity of your hands.(X)
Job 22
Common English Bible
Job’s sins
22 Then Eliphaz from Teman answered:
2 Can a human being be useful to God?
Can an intelligent person bring profit?
3 Does the Almighty delight in your innocence?
Does he gain when you perfect your ways?
4 Does he rebuke you for your piety,
bring you in for judgment?
5 Isn’t your wickedness massive,
your iniquity endless?
6 You have taken payments from your family for no reason;
stripped the naked, leaving no clothes;
7 denied water to the thirsty,
withheld bread from the starving.
(8 The powerful own land;
the favored live in it.)
9 You have sent widows away empty;
crushed orphans’ resources.
10 For this reason, snares surround you;
sudden dread brings panic to you
11 or a darkness that you can’t see;
rushing water will cover you.
God’s activity
12 Isn’t God in the heights of heaven;
see how high the topmost stars are?
13 You say: “What does God know?
Can he judge through thick clouds?
14 Clouds conceal him so he can’t see
while he walks on heaven’s rim.”
15 Will you keep the ancient way
traveled by sinful persons,
16 who were snatched prematurely
when a river flooded their foundations,
17 who say to God, “Turn away from us;
what can the Almighty do to us?”
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things;
a sinner’s logic is beyond me.
19 The righteous see and rejoice;
the innocent mock them:
20 our enemies are certainly cut off;
fire will devour what’s left of them.
Turn to God
21 Get along well with God and be at peace;
from this something good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from his mouth;
put his words in your mind.
23 If you return to the Almighty,[a] you will be restored;
if you keep wrongdoing out of your tent.
24 Lay your prized possession in the dust,
your gold from Ophir on a rock in a desert streambed.
25 The Almighty will be your prized possession,
silver piled up for you.
26 Then you will take pleasure in the Almighty;
lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you;
you will fulfill your solemn promises.
28 If you decree something, it will stand;
light will shine on your ways.
29 When they’re humbled, you will say: “Cheer up;
God will rescue the lowly.
30 He will deliver the guilty;
they will be saved by your pure hands.”
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