Job 22:1-30 - Eliphaz's Third Speech

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said, ² Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself. ³ Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou are righteous? Or is it gain [to him] that thou make thy ways perfect?

⁴ Is it for thy fear [of him] that he reproves thee, that he enters with thee into judgment? ⁵ Is not thy wickedness great? Neither is there any end to thine iniquities. ⁶ For thou have taken pledges from thy brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing. ⁷ Thou have not given water to the weary to drink, and thou have withheld bread from the hungry. ⁸ But as for the mighty man, he had the land. And the honorable man, he dwelt in it. ⁹ Thou have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. ¹⁰ Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubles thee, ¹¹ or darkness, so that thou cannot see, and abundance of waters cover thee.

¹² Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are! ¹³ And thou say, What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness? ¹⁴ Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven. ¹⁵ Will thou keep the old way which wicked men have trodden? ¹⁶ Who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream, ¹⁷ who said to God, Depart from us, and, What can the Almighty do for us? ¹⁸ Yet he filled their houses with good things. But the counsel of the wicked is far from me. ¹⁹ The righteous see it, and are glad. And the innocent laugh them to scorn, ²⁰ [Saying], Surely those who rose up against us are cut off, and the remnant of them, the fire has consumed.

²¹ Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace. By this good shall come to thee. ²² Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart. ²³ If thou return to the Almighty, thou shall be built up, thou put away unrighteousness far from thy tents. ²⁴ Then thou shall lay up gold as dust, and [the gold of] Ophir as the stones of the brooks. ²⁵ Yea, the Almighty will be thy treasure, and precious silver to thee. ²⁶ For then shall thou delight thyself in the Almighty, and shall lift up thy face to God. ²⁷ Thou shall make thy prayer to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shall pay thy vows. ²⁸ Thou shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to thee. And light shall shine upon thy ways. ²⁹ When they cast [thee] down, thou shall say, [There is] lifting up, and he will save the humble man. ³⁰ He will deliver [even] him who is not innocent. Yea, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thy hands.