Job 22
BRG Bible
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?
4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?
5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?
6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;
11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.
12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:
17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
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: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.
20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.
Job 22
EasyEnglish Bible
Eliphaz speaks to Job a third time[a]
22 Then Eliphaz, the man from Teman, replied. This is what he said:
2 ‘Nothing that a man can do will help God.
Even a wise man cannot help God.
3 If you are a righteous person,
it does nothing to help Almighty God.
If you live a completely good life,
it still does not help him.
4 It is not because you respect and obey God
that he punishes you.
It is not because you are a good person
that he accuses you.
5 No! It is because you are a very wicked person.
You have done too many evil things for anyone to count them.
That is why he is punishing you.
6 You took things from your friends when you lent money to them.
You had no reason to do that.
You even took away the only clothes that poor people were wearing.[b]
7 When you met people who were weak and tired,
you did not give them any water to drink.
You refused to feed hungry people.
8 You were a powerful man,
with land that belonged to you.
People respected you.
Your land gave you a good life.
9 But you refused to help widows.
You were cruel to children who have no family.
10 That is why you have so many troubles.
That is why you shake with fear.
11 It seems to you that you are in the dark
and you cannot see.
You feel as if a flood of deep water covers you.
12 God lives high above us in heaven.
Look up at the stars and see how high they are!
13 So you say, “God does not know about us.
He cannot judge us,
because darkness hides us from him.
14 Thick clouds cover him,
so that he does not see us.
He moves around high above the sky.”
15 Job, you must not continue to turn against God.
That is the way that evil people lived long ago.
16 Those people died before they should have done.
A great flood of water took them away.
They had no safe place to stand.[c]
17 They said to God, “Leave us alone!”
They thought that Almighty God could not hurt them.
18 But it was God who gave them many good things to enjoy.
So I cannot accept the ideas of wicked people.
19 God punishes wicked people.
When righteous people see that happen,
they are happy.
Good people then laugh at wicked people.
20 They say, “God has destroyed our enemies.
He has burned all their valuable things in a fire.”
21 So, Job, agree to accept God's ways.
Have peace in your mind about him.
Then you will again have good success.
22 Listen to his teaching.
Remember carefully what he tells you.
23 Turn back to the Almighty God,
so that you become strong again.
Stop all the evil things that happen in your house.
24 Throw away your gold things.
Throw your pure gold among the rocks in the streams.
25 Then the Almighty God will be like gold for you.
He will be like your valuable silver.[d]
26 You will be happy that Almighty God is your friend.
You will look up to him to help you.
27 You will pray to him, and he will answer you.
You will do the things that you have promised to him.
28 You will be able to do everything that you decide to do.
Light from God will show you the right way to go.
29 You will pray for God to help people who are in trouble.
God will save those people who are humble.
30 God will rescue even people who are guilty.
Because you do what is right,
God will save those people.’
Footnotes
- 22:1 In this chapter, Eliphaz says three things to Job. First, we cannot give to God anything that he needs. But second, he says that Job must have done many wrong things. That is why God has punished him. Third, he says that Job should not argue with God. Instead Job should obey God. Then his life will be better and God will be kind to him again.
- 22:6 When people lent money to others, they took something that belonged to the other person. It was to make sure that the person paid the money back to them.
- 22:16 Long ago, a flood of water destroyed people who had turned against God. See Genesis 6:5-22.
- 22:25 This verse is about the things that are most important in Job's life. He may have valuable things like silver and gold. But if he obeys God, then God will be more valuable to him than his silver and gold.
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