Chapter 22

¹And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, ²Can a man be profitable to God? surely it is unto himself that the wise man is profitable. ³Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if thou art righteous? And is it gain [to him] that thou makest thy ways perfect? ⁴Will he reason with thee for fear of thee? Will he enter with thee into judgment? ⁵Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities without end? ⁶For thou hast taken a pledge of thy brother for nought, and stripped off the clothing of the naked. ⁷Thou hast not given water to the fainting to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. ⁸But the powerful man, he had the land; and the man of high rank dwelt in it. ⁹Widows hast thou sent empty away, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. ¹⁰Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; ¹¹Or darkness, that thou canst not see, and floods of waters cover thee. ¹²Is not +God in the height of the heavens? And behold the summit of the stars: how exalted are they! ¹³And thou sayest, What doth God know? will he judge through the dark cloud? ¹⁴Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh on the vault of the heavens. ¹⁵Dost thou mark the ancient path which wicked men have trodden? ¹⁶Who were carried off before the time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood; ¹⁷Who said unto God, Depart from us! and what could the Almighty do to them? ¹⁸Yet he filled their houses with good. But the counsel of the wicked is far from me. ¹⁹The righteous see it, and are glad; and the innocent laugh them to scorn: ²⁰Is not he who rose against us destroyed, and doth not the fire consume his residue? ²¹Reconcile thyself now with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. ²²Receive, I pray thee, instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart. ²³If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up. If thou remove unrighteousness far from thy tents, ²⁴And put the precious ore with the dust, and [the gold of] Ophir among the stones of the torrents, ²⁵Then the Almighty will be thy precious ore, and silver heaped up unto thee; ²⁶Yea, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto +God: ²⁷Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows; ²⁸And thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; and light shall shine upon thy ways. ²⁹When they are made low, then thou shalt say, Rise up! and he shall save him that is of downcast eyes. ³⁰[Even] him that is not innocent shall he deliver; yea, he shall be delivered by the pureness of thy hands.