Job 22 – read and compare multiple versions
Job 22
[1] Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
[2] “Can a man be profitable to God?
Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
[3] Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous?
Or does it benefit him that you make your ways perfect?
[4] Is it for your piety that he reproves you,
that he enters with you into judgment?
[5] Isn’t your wickedness great?
Neither is there any end to your iniquities.
[6] For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing,
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
[7] You haven’t given water to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
[8] But as for the mighty man, he had the earth.
The honorable man, he lived in it.
[9] You have sent widows away empty,
and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
[10] Therefore snares are around you.
Sudden fear troubles you,
[11] or darkness, so that you can not see,
and floods of waters cover you. [12] “Isn’t God in the heights of heaven?
See the height of the stars, how high they are!
[13] You say, ‘What does God know?
Can he judge through the thick darkness?
[14] Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he doesn’t see.
He walks on the vault of the sky.’
[15] Will you keep the old way,
which wicked men have trodden,
[16] who were snatched away before their time,
whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
[17] who said to God, ‘Depart from us!’
and, ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
[18] Yet he filled their houses with good things,
but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
[19] The righteous see it, and are glad.
The innocent ridicule them,
[20] saying, ‘Surely those who rose up against us are cut off.
The fire has consumed their remnant.’ [21] “Acquaint yourself with him now, and be at peace.
By it, good will come to you.
[22] Please receive instruction from his mouth,
and lay up his words in your heart.
[23] If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up,
if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.
[24] Lay your treasure in the dust,
the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.
[25] The Almighty will be your treasure,
and precious silver to you.
[26] For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,
and will lift up your face to God.
[27] You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you.
You will pay your vows.
[28] You will also decree a thing, and it will be established to you.
Light will shine on your ways.
[29] When they cast down, you will say, ‘be lifted up.’
He will save the humble person.
[30] He will even deliver him who is not innocent.
Yes, he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
[2] “Can a man be profitable to God?
Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
[3] Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous?
Or does it benefit him that you make your ways perfect?
[4] Is it for your piety that he reproves you,
that he enters with you into judgment?
[5] Isn’t your wickedness great?
Neither is there any end to your iniquities.
[6] For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing,
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
[7] You haven’t given water to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
[8] But as for the mighty man, he had the earth.
The honorable man, he lived in it.
[9] You have sent widows away empty,
and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
[10] Therefore snares are around you.
Sudden fear troubles you,
[11] or darkness, so that you can not see,
and floods of waters cover you. [12] “Isn’t God in the heights of heaven?
See the height of the stars, how high they are!
[13] You say, ‘What does God know?
Can he judge through the thick darkness?
[14] Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he doesn’t see.
He walks on the vault of the sky.’
[15] Will you keep the old way,
which wicked men have trodden,
[16] who were snatched away before their time,
whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
[17] who said to God, ‘Depart from us!’
and, ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
[18] Yet he filled their houses with good things,
but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
[19] The righteous see it, and are glad.
The innocent ridicule them,
[20] saying, ‘Surely those who rose up against us are cut off.
The fire has consumed their remnant.’ [21] “Acquaint yourself with him now, and be at peace.
By it, good will come to you.
[22] Please receive instruction from his mouth,
and lay up his words in your heart.
[23] If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up,
if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.
[24] Lay your treasure in the dust,
the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.
[25] The Almighty will be your treasure,
and precious silver to you.
[26] For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,
and will lift up your face to God.
[27] You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you.
You will pay your vows.
[28] You will also decree a thing, and it will be established to you.
Light will shine on your ways.
[29] When they cast down, you will say, ‘be lifted up.’
He will save the humble person.
[30] He will even deliver him who is not innocent.
Yes, he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”