Job 22
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
Then Eliphaz replied,
2 “Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
“(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.
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or does it benefit him that you make your ways perfect?
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?
4 Is it for your piety that he reproves you, that he enters with you into judgement?
“Is it because you have an awesome respect for God that he punishes you? Is that the reason that he puts you on trial?
5 Isn’t your wickedness great? Neither is there any end to your iniquities.
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!
6 For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
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.
7 You haven’t given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
You must not have given water to those who were thirsty, and you must have refused to give food to those who were hungry.
8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth. The honourable man, he lived in it.
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.
9 You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
[When] widows [came to you for help], you [must have] sent [them] away without giving them anything, and you must have oppressed orphans.
10 Therefore snares are around you. Sudden fear troubles you,
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.
11 or darkness, so that you can not see, and floods of waters cover you.
[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.
12 “Isn’t God in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high they are!
“[But consider this, Job]: God lives [RHQ] high up in the heavens. From there he [RHQ] looks down on the highest stars.
13 You say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?
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]’
14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he doesn’t see. He walks on the vault of the sky.’
[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]?
15 Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden,
Will you continue to conduct your life the old way that evil people have done [for many years]?
16 who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
They suddenly died while they were still young; they disappeared [like everything disappears when there is] a flood [MET].
17 who said to God, ‘Depart from us!’ and, ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
They kept saying to God, ‘Do not bother us,’ and they also said [defiantly], ‘Almighty [God] can do nothing [RHQ] to [harm] us!’
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
But it was God who filled their houses with good things, so I cannot at all understand why wicked people think like they do.
19 The righteous see it, and are glad. The innocent ridicule them,
“But when God punishes wicked people, and righteous people see that, they are glad, and they laugh, ridiculing the wicked people.
20 saying, ‘Surely those who rose up against us are cut off. The fire has consumed their remnant.’
They say, ‘Now our enemies have been destroyed, and all [their possessions] that were left have been burned in a fire.’
21 “Acquaint yourself with him now, and be at peace. By it, good will come to you.
“So, [Job, ] be reconciled to God and make peace with him; if you do that, good things will happen to you.
22 Please receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
Allow him to teach you, and keep thinking about what he has told you.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.
If you humble yourself and return to God, if you stop doing all the evil things that you have been doing in your house,
24 Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir amongst the stones of the brooks.
if you throw away your gold, even the fine gold from the dry stream beds in Ophir [land],
25 The Almighty will be your treasure, and precious silver to you.
and if you allow Almighty [God] to be [as precious to you as] your gold and your silver [have been],
26 For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and will lift up your face to God.
you will be happy because of your close relationship with God, and you will be able to approach him [IDM] [confidently].
27 You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you. You will pay your vows.
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.
28 You will also decree a thing, and it will be established to you. Light will shine on your ways.
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.
29 When they cast down, you will say, ‘be lifted up.’ He will save the humble person.
God humbles those who are proud, but he saves those who are downcast/discouraged.
30 He will even deliver him who is not innocent. Yes, he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
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).”
