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 Isnt 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 havent 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 Isnt 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 doesnt 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.