22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
22:2 “Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
22:3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous? Or does it benefit him, that you make your ways perfect?
22:4 Is it for your piety that he reproves you, that he enters with you into judgment?
22:5 Isn’t your wickedness great? Neither is there any end to your iniquities.
22:6 For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
22:7 You haven’t given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
22:8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth. The honorable man, he lived in it.
22:9 You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
22:10 Therefore snares are around you. Sudden fear troubles you,
22:11 or darkness, so that you can not see, and floods of waters cover you.
22:12 “Isn’t God in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high they are!
22:13 You say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?
22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he doesn’t see. He walks on the vault of the sky.’
22:15 Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden,
22:16 who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
22:17 who said to God, ‘Depart from us;’ and, ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
22:18 Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
22:19 The righteous see it, and are glad. The innocent ridicule them,
22:20 saying, ‘Surely those who rose up against us are cut off. The fire has consumed their remnant.’
22:21 “Acquaint yourself with him, now, and be at peace. Thereby good shall come to you.
22:22 Please receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.
22:24 Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.
22:25 The Almighty will be your treasure, and precious silver to you.
22:26 For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and shall lift up your face to God.
22:27 You shall make your prayer to him, and he will hear you. You shall pay your vows.
22:28 You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you. Light shall shine on your ways.
22:29 When they cast down, you shall say, ‘be lifted up.’ He will save the humble person.
22:30 He will even deliver him who is not innocent. Yes, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
23:1 Then Job answered,
23:2 “Even today my complaint is rebellious. His hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.
23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!
23:4 I would set my cause in order before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
23:5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would tell me.
23:6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No, but he would listen to me.
23:7 There the upright might reason with him, so I should be delivered forever from my judge.
23:8 “If I go east, he is not there; if west, I can’t find him;
23:9 He works to the north, but I can’t see him. He turns south, but I can’t catch a glimpse of him.
23:10 But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I shall come forth like gold.
23:11 My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned aside.
23:12 I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
23:13 But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? What his soul desires, even that he does.
23:14 For he performs that which is appointed for me. Many such things are with him.
23:15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence. When I consider, I am afraid of him.
23:16 For God has made my heart faint. The Almighty has terrified me.
23:17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.