Job 22

Job Chapter 22 ESV

1Eliphaz sheweth that man's goodness profiteth not God: 5he accuseth Job of various sins, to which he imputeth his calamities: 15he bringeth evidence of the example of wicked men to shew that God's judgments at length overtake them: 21and exhorteth Job to repentance with promises of mercy.
1 Then 1Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 1“Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right, or is it gain to him if you 1make your ways blameless?
4 Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you and 1enters into judgment with you?
5 Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities.
6 For you have 1exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing 2and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have 1withheld bread from the hungry.
8 1The man with power possessed the land, and 2the favored man lived in it.
9 You have 1sent widows away empty, and 2the arms of 3the fatherless were crushed.
10 Therefore 1snares are all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you,
11 or 1darkness, so that you cannot see, and a 2flood of 3water covers you.
12 “Is not God high in the heavens? See 1the highest stars, how lofty they are!
13 But you say, 1‘What does God know? Can he judge through 2the deep darkness?
14 1Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.’
15 Will you keep to the old way that wicked men have trod?
16 They were snatched away 1before their time; their foundation was washed away.a
17 They said to God, 1‘Depart from us,’ and 2‘What can the Almighty do to us?’a
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things— but 1the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19 1The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent one 2mocks at them,
20 saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off, and what they left 1the fire has consumed.’
21 1“Agree with God, and 2be at peace; thereby good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from 1his mouth, and 2lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you 1return to the Almighty you will be 2built up; if you 3remove injustice far from your tents,
24 if you lay gold in 1the dust, and gold of 2Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed,
25 then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.
26 For then you 1will delight yourself in the Almighty and 2lift up your face to God.
27 You will 1make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, and you will 2pay your vows.
28 You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and 1light will shine on your ways.
29 For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’;a but he saves 1the lowly.
30 He 1delivers even the one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through 2the cleanness of your hands.”
Job 22

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