Job 22 English Standard Version

Eliphaz Speaks: Job's Wickedness Is Great

22 Then ^(A)Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

²^(B)“Can a man be profitable to God?
    Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
³Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right,
    or is it gain to him if you ^(C)make your ways blameless?
⁴Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you
    and ^(D)enters into judgment with you?
⁵Is not your evil abundant?
    There is no end to your iniquities.
⁶For you have ^(E)exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing
    ^(F)and stripped the naked of their clothing.
⁷You have given no water to the weary to drink,
    and you have ^(G)withheld bread from the hungry.
⁸^(H)The man with power possessed the land,
    and ^(I)the favored man lived in it.
⁹You have ^(J)sent widows away empty,
    and ^(K)the arms of ^(L)the fatherless were crushed.
¹⁰Therefore ^(M)snares are all around you,
    and sudden terror overwhelms you,
¹¹or ^(N)darkness, so that you cannot see,
    and a ^(O)flood of ^(P)water covers you.

¹²“Is not God high in the heavens?
    See ^(Q)the highest stars, how lofty they are!
¹³But you say, ^(R)‘What does God know?
    Can he judge through ^(S)the deep darkness?
¹⁴^(T)Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see,
    and he walks on the vault of heaven.’
¹⁵Will you keep to the old way
    that wicked men have trod?
¹⁶They were snatched away ^(U)before their time;
    their foundation was washed away.^[a]
¹⁷They said to God, ^(V)‘Depart from us,’
    and ^(W)‘What can the Almighty do to us?’^[b]
¹⁸Yet he filled their houses with good things—
    but ^(X)the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
¹⁹^(Y)The righteous see it and are glad;
    the innocent one ^(Z)mocks at them,
²⁰saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
    and what they left ^(AA)the fire has consumed.’

²¹^(AB)“Agree with God, and ^(AC)be at peace;
    thereby good will come to you.
²²Receive instruction from ^(AD)his mouth,
    and ^(AE)lay up his words in your heart.
²³If you ^(AF)return to the Almighty you will be ^(AG)built up;
    if you ^(AH)remove injustice far from your tents,
²⁴if you lay gold in ^(AI)the dust,
    and gold of ^(AJ)Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed,
²⁵then the Almighty will be your gold
    and your precious silver.
²⁶For then you ^(AK)will delight yourself in the Almighty
    and ^(AL)lift up your face to God.
²⁷You will ^(AM)make your prayer to him, and he will hear you,
    and you will ^(AN)pay your vows.
²⁸You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
    and ^(AO)light will shine on your ways.
²⁹For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’;^[c]
    but he saves ^(AP)the lowly.
³⁰He ^(AQ)delivers even the one who is not innocent,
    who will be delivered through ^(AR)the cleanness of your hands.”