Job 22
Complete Jewish Bible
22 Next Elifaz the Teimani replied:
2 “Can a human be of advantage to God?
Can even the wisest benefit him?
3 Does Shaddai gain if you are righteous?
Does he profit if you make your ways blameless?
4 “Is he rebuking you because you fear him?
Is this why he enters into judgment with you?
5 Isn’t it because your wickedness is great?
Aren’t your iniquities endless?
6 “For you kept your kinsmen’s goods as collateral for no reason,
you stripped the poorly clothed of what clothing they have,
7 you didn’t give water to the weary to drink,
you withheld food from the hungry.
8 As a wealthy man, an owner of land,
and as a man of rank, who lives on it,
9 you sent widows away empty-handed
and left the arms of orphans crushed.
10 “No wonder there are snares all around you,
and sudden terror overwhelms you,
11 or darkness , so that you can’t see,
and a flood of water that covers you up!
12 “Isn’t God in the heights of heaven,
looking [down even] on the highest stars?
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
Can he see through thick darkness to judge?
14 The clouds veil him off, so that he can’t see;
he just wanders around in heaven.’
15 “Are you going to keep to the old way,
the one the wicked have trodden,
16 the ones snatched away before their time,
whose foundations a flood swept away?
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can Shaddai do to us?’
18 Yet he himself had filled their homes with good things!
(But the advice of the wicked is far away from me.)
19 The righteous saw this and rejoiced;
the innocent laughed them to scorn —
20 ‘Indeed, our substance has not been not cut off,
but the fire has consumed their wealth.’
21 “Learn to be at peace with [God];
in this way good will come [back] to you.
22 Please! Receive instruction from his mouth,
and take his words to heart.
23 If you return to Shaddai, you will be built up.
If you drive wickedness far from your tents,
24 if you lay your treasure down in the dust
and the gold of Ofir among the rocks in the vadis,
25 and let Shaddai be your treasure
and your sparkling silver;
26 then Shaddai will be your delight,
you will lift up your face to God;
27 you will entreat him, and he will hear you,
and you will pay what you vowed;
28 what you decide to do will succeed,
and light will shine on your path;
29 when someone is brought down, you will say, ‘It was pride,
because [God] saves the humble.’
30 “He delivers even the unclean;
so if your hands are clean, you will be delivered.”
Job 22
Revised Standard Version
Eliphaz Speaks: Job’s Wickedness Is Great
22 Then Eli′phaz the Te′manite answered:
2 “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 righteous,
or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
4 Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you,
and enters into judgment with you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
There is no end to your iniquities.
6 For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing,
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You have given no water to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8 The man with power possessed the land,
and the favored man dwelt in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty,
and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.
10 Therefore snares are round about you,
and sudden terror overwhelms you;
11 your light is darkened, so that[a] you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.
12 “Is not God high in the heavens?
See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
13 Therefore you say, ‘What does God know?
Can he judge through the deep darkness?
14 Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see,
and he walks on the vault of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the old way
which wicked men have trod?
16 They were snatched away before their time;
their foundation was washed away.
17 They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’
and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’[b]
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things—
but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19 The righteous see it and are glad;
the innocent laugh them to scorn,
20 saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
and what they left the fire has consumed.’
21 “Agree with God, and be at peace;
thereby good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from his mouth,
and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty and humble yourself,[c]
if you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,
24 if you lay gold in the dust,
and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent bed,
25 and if the Almighty is your gold,
and your precious silver;
26 then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,
and lift up your face to God.
27 You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you;
and you will pay your vows.
28 You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 For God abases the proud,[d]
but he saves the lowly.
30 He delivers the innocent man;[e]
you will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.