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1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded and said, 2 “How can anyone be of help to God? Even wise people are only helpful to themselves. 3 Is it any benefit to the Almighty if you're a good person?* What does he gain if you do what's right? 4 Does he correct you and bring charges against you because of your reverence?† 5 No: it's because you're so wicked! Your sins are never-ending!
6 For no reason at all you took your brother's clothing as a security for a debt, and left them stripped naked. 7 You refused water to the thirsty; you denied food to the hungry. 8 Is it because the land belongs to the powerful, and only the privileged have a right to live there?‡ 9 You have sent widows away empty-handed; you have crushed the outstretched arms of orphans, begging for help.§ 10 That's why you're surrounded by traps to catch you, and why you suddenly panic in terror. 11 That's why it's so dark you cannot see, and why you feel like you're drowning.*
12 Doesn't God live high in heaven and looks down on even the highest stars? 13 But you ask, ‘What does God know? How can he see and judge what happens down here in darkness? 14 Thick clouds cover him so he can't see anything as he walks around in heaven.’†
15 Why do you insist on following the traditional thinking of the wicked?‡ 16 They were taken before their time; all they had built was washed away. 17 They had told God, ‘Get lost! What can the Almighty do to us?’ 18 And yet he was the one who had filled their homes with good things—but I don't accept their way of thinking.§
19 Those who do right rejoice when they see the destruction of the wicked,* and the innocent mock them, 20 saying, ‘Our enemies are destroyed, and fire has burned up all that's left of them.’
21 Come back to God and be reconciled to him, and you'll be prosperous again. 22 Listen to what he tells you and keep his words in mind. 23 If you return to God you will be restored. If you renounce your sinful life† 24 and give up your love of money and desire for possessions,‡ 25 then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.
26 Then you will find delight in the Almighty, and be able to face him without feeling ashamed. 27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will keep your promises to him. 28 Whatever you decide to do will be successful, and wherever you go, light will shine on you. 29 When others are humbled, and you say, ‘please help them,’ God will save them. 30 God saves those who are innocent, and you will be saved if you do what is right.”§
* 22:3 “Good person”: or “righteous.” † 22:4 Eliphaz is saying that if Job was truly innocent he wouldn't be suffering God's punishment. ‡ 22:8 Suggesting that this is Job's attitude. § 22:9 “Begging for help” implied. * 22:11 Literally, “the abundance of water covers you.” † 22:14 Eliphaz accuses Job of believing in a distant, uninterested God who is immune to what happens on earth. ‡ 22:15 Literally, “the old paths on which evil people walked.” § 22:18 Eliphaz uses exactly the same words as Job does in 21:16. * 22:19 Literally, “it,” referring back to verse 16. † 22:23 Literally, “remove wickedness from your tent.” ‡ 22:24 Literally, “throw your gold in the dust, the gold of Ophir in the riverbed.” Since Job has lost everything already, this needs to be seen figuratively. § 22:30 Literally, “if your hands are clean.”