Job 22
22
Third Series of Speeches
Eliphaz Speaks
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2Can a man be of any use to God?
Can even a wise man be of use to Him?
3Does it delight the Almighty if you are righteous?
Does He profit if you perfect your behavior? # Jb 35:7; Ps 16:2; Lk 17:10
4Does He correct you and take you to court
because of your piety? # Jb 14:3; Ps 143:2
5Isn’t your wickedness abundant
and aren’t your iniquities endless?
6For you took collateral # Ex 22:26; Dt 24:6,17; Ezk:12,16 from your brothers without cause,
stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.
7You gave no water to the thirsty
and withheld food from the famished, # Jb 31:17; Is 58:7; Mt 25:42
8while the land belonged to a powerful man
and an influential man lived on it.
9You sent widows away empty-handed,
and the strength of the fatherless # Jb 24:3; Is 10:2; Ezk 22:7 was # LXX, Syr, Vg, Tg read you have crushed.
10Therefore snares surround you,
and sudden dread terrifies # Jb 3:25; 23:15; 31:23 you,
11or darkness, so you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you. # Jb 38:34; Ps 69:1-2; Lm 3:54
12Isn’t God as high as the heavens?
And look at the highest stars — how lofty they are!
13Yet you say: “What does God know?
Can He judge through thick darkness? # Ps 73:11; Is 29:15; Ezk 8:12
14Clouds # 2Sm 22:12; Jb 26:8; 37:11 veil Him so that He cannot see,
as He walks on the circle of the sky.”
15Will you continue on the ancient path
that wicked men have walked?
16They were snatched away before their time,
and their foundations # Jb 4:19; Lm 4:11; Ezk 30:4 were washed away by a river.
17They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone! ”
and “What can the Almighty do to us? ” # LXX, Syr; MT reads him # Jb 21:14; Ps 95:10; 107:42
18But it was He who filled their houses with good things.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
19The righteous see this and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying, # Ps 52:6; 58:10; Pr 1:26-27
20“Surely our opponents are destroyed,
and fire has consumed what they left behind.” # Jb 1:16; 4:9; 15:30
21Come to terms with God and be at peace; # Ps 119:165; Pr 3:2; Is 27:5
in this way # Lit peace; by them good will come to you.
22Receive instruction from His mouth, # Dt 8:3; Pr 2:6; Mal 2:7
and place His sayings # Jb 6:10; 23:12; Ps 119:102 in your heart.
23If you return # Is 31:6; 55:7; Mal 3:7 to the Almighty, you will be renewed.
If you banish injustice from your tent
24and consign your gold to the dust,
the gold of Ophir # 1Kg 9:28; Jb 28:16; Is 13:12 to the stones in the wadis,
25the Almighty will be your gold
and your finest silver.
26Then you will delight # Jb 27:10; Ps 37:4; Is 55:2 in the Almighty
and lift up your face to God. # Jb 11:15; 27:10; Is 58:14
27You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, # Jb 33:26; Ps 50:14; Is 58:9
and you will fulfill your vows.
28When you make a decision, it will be carried out, # Lit out for you
and light will shine on your ways. # Pr 4:18; Is 60:3; Dn 12:3
29When others are humiliated and you say, “Lift them up,”
God will save the humble. # Lit bowed of eyes # Ps 18:27; Mt 23:12; 1Pt 5:5
30He will even rescue the guilty one,
who will be rescued by the purity of your hands. # 2Sm 22:21; Jb 17:9; Ps 24:4
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Job 22: HCSB
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© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Job 22
22
Eliphaz
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2“Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise person benefit him?
3What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
4“Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
5Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
6You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
8though you were a powerful man, owning land—
an honored man, living on it.
9And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
11why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
12“Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13Yet you say, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
14Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked have trod?
16They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
17They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
18Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
20‘Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.’
21“Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.
22Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
23If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
26Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
27You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
28What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
29When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.
30He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
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