Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz replied,
Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite, and said,
2 “(Can anyone be useful to God?/Certainly no one can be useful to God.) [RHQ] Even people who are wise cannot be helpful to God.
Can a man be serviceable unto God? Truly the intelligent is serviceable unto himself.
3 If you were righteous, (would that benefit Almighty [God]?/that certainly would not benefit Almighty [God].) [RHQ] If you had (lived a perfect life/never done anything that is wrong), would that help him?
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous? or is it any gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?
4 “Is it because you have an awesome respect for God that he punishes you? Is that the reason that he puts you on trial?
Is it out of fear of thee that he will reproach thee? or go with thee into judgment?
5 No, it certainly must be [RHQ] because you are extremely wicked. It must be that the evil things that you have done are so many that no one can count them!
Is not thy evil great? and no end to thy iniquities?
6 You must have lent money to others and wrongly forced them to give you things to guarantee that they would pay that money back to you; you must have taken all their clothes and left them with nothing to wear.
For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brothers for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You must not have given water to those who were thirsty, and you must have refused to give food to those who were hungry.
Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and from the hungry thou hast withholden bread.
8 Because you were very powerful, you [must have] taken over all the people’s land, and then, being very respected, you have begun to live on that land.
But as for the man of a strong arm, he obtained the land, and the highly honored could dwell therein.
9 [When] widows [came to you for help], you [must have] sent [them] away without giving them anything, and you must have oppressed orphans.
Widows hast thou sent away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
10 Because of all that, now there are pits around you for you to fall into, and suddenly there are things that terrify you and cause you to tremble.
Therefore are snares round about thee, and sudden dread terrifieth thee.
11 [It is as though] it has become very dark, with the result that you cannot see anything, and [it is as though] [MET] a flood covers you.
Or seest thou not the darkness? and the abundance of water which covereth thee?
12 “[But consider this, Job]: God lives [RHQ] high up in the heavens. From there he [RHQ] looks down on the highest stars.
Is not God in the height of heaven? and beholding the highest elevation of the stars, however high they are?
13 So why do you say, ‘What does God know [about what we are doing]? [He is hidden from us by] dark clouds, so ([how] can he judge us?/he certainly cannot judge us.) [RHQ]’
But thou sayest, “What doth God know? can he judge behind the darkness?
14 [Do you think that] while he walks on the dome that covers the sky, there are thick clouds around him, with the result that he cannot see [what we do]?
Thick clouds are a covering for him, so that he will not see; and he walketh along on the circle of heaven.”
15 Will you continue to conduct your life the old way that evil people have done [for many years]?
Wilt thou [thus] observe the path of ancient times which the men of injustice have trodden?
16 They suddenly died while they were still young; they disappeared [like everything disappears when there is] a flood [MET].
Who were shrivelled up before their time, whose foundation was flooded away like a river;
17 They kept saying to God, ‘Do not bother us,’ and they also said [defiantly], ‘Almighty [God] can do nothing [RHQ] to [harm] us!’
Who said unto God, “'Depart from us:” and what wrought the Almighty for them?
18 But it was God who filled their houses with good things, so I cannot at all understand why wicked people think like they do.
And yet it was he that filled their houses with good things; but the counsel of the wicked be [still] far from me.
19 “But when God punishes wicked people, and righteous people see that, they are glad, and they laugh, ridiculing the wicked people.
The righteous will see it, and be glad; and the innocent will laugh them to scorn.
20 They say, ‘Now our enemies have been destroyed, and all [their possessions] that were left have been burned in a fire.’
“Is not he destroyed that rose up against us, and hath not the fire consumed what they had left?”
21 “So, [Job, ] be reconciled to God and make peace with him; if you do that, good things will happen to you.
Do but become acquainted with him, and be at peace: thereby will happiness come unto thee.
22 Allow him to teach you, and keep thinking about what he has told you.
Do but accept instruction from his mouth, and lay up his saying in thy heart.
23 If you humble yourself and return to God, if you stop doing all the evil things that you have been doing in your house,
If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, so thou wilt but remove wrong-doing far away from thy tents.
24 if you throw away your gold, even the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir [land],
And throw down in the dust precious metals, and [the gold of] Ophir to the stones of the brooks:
25 and if you allow Almighty [God] to be [as precious to you as] your gold and your silver [have been],
Then will the Almighty be thy precious metal, and brightly-shining silver unto thee.
26 you will be happy because of your close relationship with God, and you will be able to approach him [IDM] [confidently].
For then wilt thou have in the Almighty thy delight, and thou canst lift up unto God thy face.
27 You will pray to him, and he will do what you request him to do; you will do the things that you promised him that you would do.
Thou wilt make entreaty unto him, and he will hear thee, and thy vows wilt thou pay.
28 Everything that you decide to do will be successful; [it] will [be as though] a light [is] shining on the road in front of you.
And if thou decree a thing, it will be fulfilled unto thee; and upon thy ways the light will shine.
29 God humbles those who are proud, but he saves those who are downcast/discouraged.
For when men are brought low, thou wilt say, Pride [hath done it]; but those of lowly eyes [God] will help.
30 God rescues those who (are innocent/have not done things that are wrong), so he will rescue you if you (start doing things that are right/are not guilty [IDM] of doing things that are wrong).”
He will even deliver him who is not guiltless: and thou wilt be delivered by the purity of thy hands.
