Job 22
1 Then responded Eliphaz the Temanite, and said: —
Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
2 Unto GOD, can a man act as friend? Surely a discreet man befriendeth himself!
Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge?
3 Is it a pleasure to the Almighty, that thou shouldst be righteous? or any profit, that thou shouldst be blameless in thy ways?
What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou give him if thy way be unspotted?
4 Is it, for thy reverence, that he will accuse thee? will enter with thee into judgment?
Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment:
5 Is not, thy wickedness, great? and, without end, [are not] thine iniquities?
And not for thy manifold wickedness, and thy infinite iniquities?
6 Surely then hast been wont to put thy brother in pledge, for nothing, and, the garments of the ill-clad, hast thou stripped off:
For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 No water—to the weary, hast thou given to drink, and, from the hungry, thou hast withheld bread:
Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.
8 A man of might, to him, pertaineth the land, and, the favorite, dwelleth therein:
In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and being the most mighty thou holdest it.
9 Widows, thou hast sent away empty, and, the arms of the fatherless, thou dost crush.
Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.
10 For this cause, round about thee, are snares, and a dread startleth thee suddenly;
Therefore art thou surrounded with snares, and sudden fear troubleth thee.
11 Or darkness—thou canst not see, and, a flood of waters, covereth thee.
And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of overflowing waters?
12 Is not, GOD, [in] the height of the heavens? Behold, then, the head of the stars, that they are high.
Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars?
13 Wilt thou say then, What doth GOD know? Out through a thick cloud, can he judge?
And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist.
14 Dark clouds, are a veil to him, and he cannot see, or, the vault of the heavens, doth he walk?
The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven.
15 The path of the ancient time, wilt thou mark, which the men of iniquity trod?
Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden?
16 Who were snatched away before the time, and, a stream, washed away their foundation?
Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation.
17 Who had been saying unto GOD, Depart from us! and—What can the Almighty do for himself?
Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing:
18 Yet, he, had filled their houses with good! The counsel of the lawless, then, is far from me:
Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose way of thinking be far from me.
19 The righteous shall see and rejoice, and, the innocent, shall laugh them to scorn:
The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.
20 If our assailants do not vanish, then, their abundance, a fire consumeth!
Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them?
21 Shew thyself to be one with him—I pray thee—and prosper, thereby, shall there come on thee blessing.
Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits.
22 Accept, I beseech thee, from his mouth—instruction, —and lay up his sayings in thy heart.
Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
23 If thou return unto the Almighty and submit thyself, if thou far remove perversity from thy tent,
If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
24 Then lay up, in the dust, precious ore, and, among the stones of the torrent-beds, fine gold:
He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold.
25 So shall, the Almighty, become, thy precious ores, yea glittering silver unto thee!
And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee.
26 For, then, in the Almighty, shalt thou take exquisite delight, and shalt lift up—unto GOD—thy face;
Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.
27 Thou shalt make entreaty unto him, and he will hear thee, and, thy vows, shalt thou pay;
Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay vows.
28 And thou shalt decree a purpose, and it shall be fulfilled unto thee, and, upon thy ways, shall have shone a light;
Thou shalt decree a thing, and it I shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways.
29 When men cast themselves down, then thou shalt say: Up! And, him that is of downcast eyes, shall he save;
For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved.
30 He shall deliver the innocent, and thou shalt escape by the pureness of thy hands.
The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands.
