Job 22:1-16 ▼

1 Then Eliphaz from Teman replied [to Job],

2 |Can a human be of any use to God when even a wise person is only useful to himself?

3 Is the Almighty pleased when you are righteous? Does he gain anything when you follow the path of integrity?

4 Does God correct you and bring you into a court of law because you fear him?

5 |Aren't you really very wicked? Is there no end to your wrongdoing?

6 For no reason you take your brothers' goods as security for a loan and strip them of their clothes.

7 You don't even give a tired person a drink of water, and you take food away from hungry people.

8 A strong person owns the land. A privileged person lives in it.

9 You send widows away empty-handed, and the arms of orphans are broken.

10 That is why traps are all around you and great fear suddenly grips you.

11 [That is why] darkness surrounds you and you cannot see and a flood of water covers you.

12 |Isn't God high above in the heavens? Look how high the highest stars are!

13 You ask, 'What does God know? Can he judge [anything] from behind a dark cloud?

14 Thick clouds surround him so that he cannot see. He walks above the clouds.'

15 |Are you following the old path that wicked people have taken?

16 They are snatched up before their time. A river washes their foundation away.