Job 22 New American Standard Bible

Eliphaz Accuses and Exhorts Job

22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

²“Can a strong ^(A)man be of use to God,
Or a wise one be useful to himself?
³Is it any pleasure to ^[a]the Almighty if you are righteous,
Or gain if you make your ways blameless?
⁴Is it because of your ^[b]reverence that He punishes you,
That He ^(B)enters into judgment against you?
⁵Is ^(C)your wickedness not abundant,
And is there no end to your guilty deeds?
⁶For you have ^(D)seized pledges from your brothers without cause,
And ^[c]^(E)stripped people naked.
⁷You have ^(F)given the weary no water to drink,
And you have ^(G)withheld bread from the hungry.
⁸But the earth ^(H)belongs to the ^(I)powerful man,
And ^(J)the one who is honorable dwells on it.
⁹You have sent ^(K)widows away empty,
And the ^[d]strength of ^(L)orphans has been crushed.
¹⁰Therefore ^(M)traps surround you,
And sudden ^(N)dread terrifies you,
¹¹Or ^(O)darkness, so that you cannot see,
And a ^(P)flood of water covers you.

¹²“Is God not ^(Q)in the height of heaven?
Look also at the ^[e]highest stars, how high they are!
¹³But you say, ‘^(R)What does God know?
Can He judge through the thick darkness?
¹⁴^(S)Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see;
And He walks on the ^[f]vault of heaven.’
¹⁵Will you keep to the ancient path
Which ^(T)wicked people have walked,
¹⁶Who were snatched away ^(U)before their time,
Whose ^(V)foundations were ^[g]washed away by a river?
¹⁷They ^(W)said to God, ‘Go away from us!’
And ‘What can ^[h]the Almighty do to them?’
¹⁸Yet He ^(X)filled their houses with good things;
But ^(Y)the advice of the wicked is far from me.
¹⁹The ^(Z)righteous see and are glad,
And the innocent mock them, saying,
²⁰‘Truly our enemies are eliminated,
And ^(AA)fire has consumed their ^[i]abundance.’

²¹“^(AB)Be reconciled with Him, and be at peace;
Thereby good will come to you.
²²Please receive ^[j]^(AC)instruction from His mouth,
And put His words in your heart.
²³If you ^(AD)return to ^[k]the Almighty, you will be ^[l]restored;
If you ^(AE)remove injustice far from your tent,
²⁴And ^(AF)put your ^[m]gold in the dust,
And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,
²⁵Then ^[n]the Almighty will be your ^[o]gold
And abundant silver to you.
²⁶For then you will ^(AG)take pleasure in ^[p]the Almighty
And lift up your face to God.
²⁷You will ^(AH)pray to Him, and ^(AI)He will hear you;
And you will pay your vows.
²⁸You will also decide something, and it will be established for you;
And ^(AJ)light will shine on your ways.
²⁹When ^[q]they have brought you low, you will speak with ^[r]confidence,
And He will save the ^[s]^(AK)humble person.
³⁰He will rescue one who is not innocent,
And he will be ^(AL)rescued due to the cleanness of your hands.”