Chapter 22

  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,  

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  Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?  

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  [Is it] any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or [is it] gain [to him], that thou makest thy ways perfect?  

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  Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?  

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  [Is] not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?  

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  For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.  

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  Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.  

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  But [as for] the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.  

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  Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.  

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  Therefore snares [are] round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;  

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  Or darkness, [that] thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.  

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  [Is] not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!  

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  And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?  

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  Thick clouds [are] a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.  

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  Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?  

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  Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:  

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  Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?  

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  Yet he filled their houses with good [things]: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.  

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  The righteous see [it], and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.  

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  Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.  

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  Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.  

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  Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.  

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  If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.  

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  Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the [gold] of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.  

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  Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.  

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  For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.  

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  Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.  

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  Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.  

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  When [men] are cast down, then thou shalt say, [There is] lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.  

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  He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.  

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