1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: 2 “Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him? 3 Does it delight the Almighty that you are righteous? Does He profit if your ways are blameless? 4 Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you? 5 Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless? 6 For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing. 7 You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished, 8 while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it. 9 You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed. 10 Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you; 11 it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you. 12 Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are! 13 Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness? 14 Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’ 15 Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod? 16 They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood. 17 They said to God, ‘Depart from us. What can the Almighty do to us?’ 18 But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked. 19 The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them: 20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’ 21 Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you. 22 Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart. 23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove injustice from your tents 24 and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines, 25 then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you. 26 Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. 27 You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. 28 Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways. 29 When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly. 30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”
Job 22:1–30
Semantically similar passages
Job 8:5–7
5 But if you would earnestly seek God and ask the Almighty for mercy, 6 if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse Himself on your behalf and restore your righteous estate. 7 Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish.
Job 31:2–4
2 For what is the allotment of God from above, or the heritage from the Almighty on high? 3 Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity? 4 Does He not see my ways and count my every step?
Job 35:6–8
6 If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him? 7 If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand? 8 Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousn…
Job 11:4–6
4 You have said, ‘My doctrine is sound, and I am pure in Your sight.’ 5 But if only God would speak and open His lips against you, 6 and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity d…
Job 11:13–15
13 As for you, if you direct your heart and lift up your hands to Him, 14 if you put away the iniquity in your hand, and allow no injustice to dwell in your tents, 15 then indeed you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and unafraid.
Job 36:16–18
16 Indeed, He drew you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and broad place, to a table full of richness. 17 But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have seized you. 18 Be careful that no one lures you with riches; do not let a la…
Job 8:19–21
19 Surely this is the joy of his way; yet others will spring from the dust. 20 Behold, God does not reject the blameless, nor will He strengthen the hand of evildoers. 21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with a shout of joy.
Job 21:18–20
18 Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm? 19 It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it. 20 Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of…
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