Job 22

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

²Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? ^†

³Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

⁴Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

⁵Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

⁶For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. ^†

⁷Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

⁸But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it. ^{† †}

⁹Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

¹⁰Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

¹¹Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

¹²Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! ^†

¹³And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? ^†

¹⁴Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

¹⁵Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

¹⁶Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood: ^†

¹⁷Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? ^†

¹⁸Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁹The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

²⁰Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth. ^{† †}

²¹Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. ^†

²²Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.

²³If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

²⁴Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. ^†

²⁵Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. ^{† †}

²⁶For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

²⁷Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.

²⁸Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

²⁹When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. ^†

³⁰He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands. ^†