NET Bible

Eliphaz’s Third Speech1

^22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

^22:2 “Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit? Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable? ^22:3 Is it of any special benefit to the Almighty that you should be righteous, or is it any gain to him that you make your ways blameless? ^22:4 Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you and goes to judgment with you? ^22:5 Is not your wickedness great and is there no end to your iniquity? ^22:6 “For you took pledges from your brothers for no reason, and you stripped the clothing from the naked. ^22:7 You gave the weary no water to drink and from the hungry you withheld food. ^22:8 Although you were a powerful man, owning land, an honored man living on it, ^22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the orphans you crushed. ^22:10 That is why snares surround you, and why sudden fear terrifies you, ^22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you. ^22:12 “Is not God on high in heaven? And see the lofty stars, how high they are! ^22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such deep darkness? ^22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, as he goes back and forth in the vault of heaven.’ ^22:15 Will you keep to the old path that evil men have walked— ^22:16 men who were carried off before their time, when the flood was poured out on their foundations? ^22:17 They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’ and, ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’ ^22:18 But it was he who filled their houses with good things— yet the counsel of the wicked was far from me. ^22:19 The righteous see their destruction and rejoice; the innocent mock them scornfully, saying, ^22:20 ‘Surely our enemies are destroyed, and fire consumes their wealth.’ ^22:21 “Reconcile yourself with God, and be at peace with him; in this way your prosperity will be good. ^22:22 Accept instruction from his mouth and store up his words in your heart. ^22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent, ^22:24 and throw your gold in the dust— your gold of Ophir among the rocks in the ravines— ^22:25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold, and the choicest silver for you. ^22:26 Surely then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and will lift up your face toward God. ^22:27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him. ^22:28 Whatever you decide on a matter, it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways. ^22:29 When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then he will save the downcast; ^22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, who will escape through the cleanness of your hands.”