022:001
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

022:002
Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

022:003
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

022:004
Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

022:005
Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

022:006
For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

022:007
Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

022:008
But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.

022:009
Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

022:010
Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

022:011
Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

022:012
Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

022:013
And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

022:014
Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

022:015
Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

022:016
Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

022:017
Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?

022:018
Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

022:019
The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

022:020
Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

022:021
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

022:022
Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.

022:023
If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

022:024
Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

022:025
Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.

022:026
For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

022:027
Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.

022:028
Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

022:029
When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

022:030
He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.