Job 22:1-30
22 And Elʹi·phaz the Teʹman·ite proceeded to answer and say:
2 “Can an able-bodied man* be of use to God* himself,+That anyone having insight should be of use toward him?
3 Does the Almighty have any delight in that you are righteous,+Or any gain in that you make your way blameless?+
4 For your reverence will he reprove you,Will he come with you into the judgment?+
5 Is not your own badness too much already,+And will there be no end to your errors?
6 For you seize a pledge from your brothers without cause,+And you strip off even the garments of naked people.
7 You do not give the tired one a drink of water,And from the hungry one you hold back bread.+
8 As for a man* of strength,* the land is his,+And one who is treated with partiality himself dwells in it.
9 Widows you have sent away empty-handed,And the arms of fatherless boys are crushed.*+
10 That is why bird traps are all around you,+And sudden dread disturbs you;
11 Or darkness, [so that] you cannot see,And a heaving mass of water itself covers you.
12 Is not God* the height of heaven?+Also see* the sum total of the stars,*+ that they are high.
13 And yet you have said: ‘What does God* really know?Through thick gloom can he judge?
14 Clouds are a concealment place for him so that he does not see,And on the vault of heaven he walks about.’
15 Will you keep to the very way of long agoThat hurtful men* have trodden,
16 [Men] who have been snatched away before their time,+Whose foundation+ is poured away just as a river,
17 Who are saying to the [true] God:* ‘Turn away from us!+And what can the Almighty accomplish against us?’*
18 Yet he himself has filled their houses with good things;+And the very counsel of wicked ones has kept far from me.+
19 The righteous ones will see and rejoice,+And the innocent one himself will hold them in derision:
20 ‘Truly our antagonists* have been effaced;And what is left of them a fire will certainly eat up.’
21 Acquaint yourself, please, with him, and keep peace;Thereby good things will come to you.
22 Take, please, the law from his own mouth,And put his sayings in your heart.+
23 If you return to the Almighty,+ you will be built up;[If] you will keep unrighteousness far from your tent,
24 And [if] there is a placing of precious ore in the dustAnd gold of Oʹphir+ in the rock of torrent valleys,
25 The Almighty also will indeed become your precious ores,And silver, the choicest, to you.+
26 For then in the Almighty you will find your exquisite delight,+And you will raise your face to God* himself.+
27 You will make entreaty to him, and he will hear you;+And your vows you will pay.+
28 And you will decide on something, and it will stand for you;And upon your ways light will certainly shine.+
29 For there must be a humiliation when you speak arrogantly;+But one with downcast eyes he will save.+
30 He will rescue an innocent man,*+And you will certainly be rescued for the cleanness of your hands.”*+
Footnotes
^ “An able-bodied man.” Heb., gaʹver.
^ “To God.” Heb., hal·ʼElʹ. Here ha is an interrogative particle introducing a question.
^ “As for a man.” Heb., weʼishʹ.
^ Lit., “arm.”
^ “Are crushed,” M; TLXXSyVg, “you crush.”
^ “God.” Heb., ʼElohʹah.
^ “See,” M; LXXSy, “he sees.”
^ Or, “the head of the stars,” that is, the highest star.
^ “God.” Heb., ʼEl.
^ Lit., “men of hurtfulness.” Heb., metheh-ʼaʹwen.
^ “To the [true] God.” Heb., la·ʼElʹ; LXX, “Jehovah.” See App 1G.
^ “Against us,” LXXSy; M, “against him.”
^ “Our antagonists,” M; by a correction, “their property.”
^ “God.” Heb., ʼElohʹah.
^ Possibly, “God will rescue the innocent one.” Lit., “He will rescue one not innocent.” M appears defective here.
^ Lit., “palms.”
