Eliphaz Speaks: Job's Wickedness Is Great

Job 22

1 Then z Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

2 a "Can a man be profitable to God?
Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
 3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right,
or is it gain to him if you b make your ways blameless?
 4 Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you
and c enters into judgment with you?
 5 Is not your evil abundant?
There is no end to your iniquities.
 6 For you have d exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing
e and stripped the naked of their clothing.
 7 You have given no water to the weary to drink,
and you have f withheld bread from the hungry.
 8 g The man with power possessed the land,
and h the favored man lived in it.
 9 You have i sent widows away empty,
and j the arms of k the fatherless were crushed.
 10 Therefore l snares are all around you,
and sudden terror overwhelms you,
 11 or m darkness, so that you cannot see,
and a n flood of o water covers you.

12 "Is not God high in the heavens?
See p the highest stars, how lofty they are!
 13 But you say, q 'What does God know?
Can he judge through r the deep darkness?
 14 s Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see,
and he walks on the vault of heaven.'
 15 Will you keep to the old way
that wicked men have trod?
 16 They were snatched away t before their time;
their foundation was washed away.
 17 They said to God, u 'Depart from us,'
and v 'What can the Almighty do to us?' 1
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things -
but w the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
 19 x The righteous see it and are glad;
the innocent one y mocks at them,
 20 saying, 'Surely our adversaries are cut off,
and what they left z the fire has consumed.'

21 a "Agree with God, and b be at peace;
thereby good will come to you.
 22 Receive instruction from c his mouth,
and d lay up his words in your heart.
 23 If you e return to the Almighty you will be f built up;
if you g remove injustice far from your tents,
 24 if you lay gold in h the dust,
and gold of i Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed,
 25 then the Almighty will be your gold
and your precious silver.
 26 For then you j will delight yourself in the Almighty
and k lift up your face to God.
 27 You will l make your prayer to him, and he will hear you,
and you will m pay your vows.
 28 You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
and n light will shine on your ways.
 29 For when they are humbled you say, 'It is because of pride'; 2
but he saves o the lowly.
 30 He p delivers even the one who is not innocent, 3
who will be delivered through q the cleanness of your hands."

  1. Cross References
    Job 2:11
    Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.
  2. Cross References
    Job 35:7
    If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand?
  3. Cross References
    Psalms 18:32
    The God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.
  4. Cross References
    Job 14:3
    And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you?
    Psalms 143:2
    Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
  5. Cross References
    Job 24:3
    They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; t...
    Job 24:9
    (There are those who snatch the fatherless chil...
    Exodus 22:26
    If ever you take your neighbor's cloak in pledg...
    Deuteronomy 24:6
    No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone ...
    Deuteronomy 24:17
    You shall not pervert the justice due to the so...
    Ezekiel 18:12
    Oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, ...
    Ezekiel 18:16
    Does not oppress anyone, exacts no pledge, comm...
  6. Cross References
    Job 31:16
    If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail.
  7. Cross References
    Job 31:17
    Or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it
    Isaiah 58:7
    Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
    Ezekiel 18:7
    Does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment.
    Ezekiel 18:16
    Does not oppress anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment.
    Matthew 25:42
    For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.
  8. Cross References
    Job 35:9
    Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.
  9. Cross References
    2 Kings 5:1
    Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
    Isaiah 9:15
    The elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.
  10. Cross References
    Luke 1:53
    He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
  11. Cross References
    Job 38:15
    From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken.
  12. Cross References
    Job 31:21
    If I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate.
    Isaiah 10:2
    To turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
    Ezekiel 22:7
    Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.
  13. Cross References
    Job 18:8 - 10
    For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks on its mesh.
  14. Cross References
    Exodus 10:22 - 23
    So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.
  15. Cross References
    Job 38:34
    Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you?
  16. Cross References
    Job 27:20
    Terrors overtake him like a flood; in the night...
    Psalms 69:1 - 2
    Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to ...
    Psalms 69:14 - 15
    Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be ...
    Psalms 124:5
    Then over us would have gone the raging waters.
    Lamentations 3:54
    Water closed over my head; I said, 'I am lost.
    Jonah 2:3
    For you cast me into the deep, into the heart o...
    Jonah 2:5
    The waters closed in over me to take my life; t...
  17. Cross References
    Job 11:8
    It is higher than heaven - what can you do? Deeper than Sheol - what can you know?
  18. Cross References
    Psalms 73:11
    And they say, "How can God know? Is there knowl...
    Psalms 10:11
    He says in his heart, "God has forgotten, he ha...
    Psalms 59:7
    There they are, bellowing with their mouths wit...
    Psalms 64:5
    They hold fast to their evil purpose; they talk...
    Psalms 94:7
    And they say, "The Lord does not see; the God o...
    Isaiah 29:15
    Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counse...
    Ezekiel 8:12
    Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen ...
    Ezekiel 9:9
    Then he said to me, "The guilt of the house of ...
  19. Cross References
    Job 38:9
    When I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band.
  20. Cross References
    Psalms 139:11 - 12
    If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night.
    Proverbs 8:27
    When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep.
    Isaiah 40:22
    It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in.
  21. Cross References
    Job 15:32
    It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green.
  22. Cross References
    Job 21:14
    They say to God, 'Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
  23. Cross References
    Psalms 4:6
    There are many who say, "Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!
  24. Cross References
    Job 21:16
    Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
  25. Cross References
    Psalms 52:6
    The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying.
    Psalms 58:10
    The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
    Psalms 107:42
    The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth.
    Psalms 64:10
    Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult!
  26. Cross References
    Psalms 2:4
    He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
  27. Cross References
    Job 1:16
    While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
  28. Cross References
    Psalms 119:45
    And I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts.
  29. Cross References
    Proverbs 3:2
    For length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.
  30. Cross References
    Proverbs 2:6
    For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
    Malachi 2:7
    For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
  31. Cross References
    Psalms 119:11
    I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
  32. Cross References
    Job 8:5 - 6
    If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy.
    Job 11:13 - 14
    If you prepare your heart, you will stretch out your hands toward him.
    Malachi 3:7
    From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?
  33. Cross References
    Jeremiah 24:6
    I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not uproot them.
    Jeremiah 33:7
    I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first.
  34. Cross References
    Job 11:14
    If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not injustice dwell in your tents.
  35. Cross References
    Job 20:11
    His bones are full of his youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in the dust.
    Job 21:26
    They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them.
  36. Cross References
    1 Kings 9:28
    And they went to Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.
  37. Cross References
    Job 27:10
    Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?
    Psalms 37:4
    Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
    Isaiah 58:14
    Then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
  38. Cross References
    Job 11:15
    Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure and will not fear.
  39. Cross References
    Job 33:26
    Then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness.
    Psalms 50:14 - 15
    Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High.
    Isaiah 58:9
    Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness.
  40. Cross References
    Psalms 50:14
    Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High.
  41. Cross References
    Proverbs 4:18
    But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
  42. Cross References
    Psalms 138:6
    For though the Lord is high, he regards the low...
    Proverbs 3:34
    Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the ...
    Proverbs 29:23
    One's pride will bring him low, but he who is l...
    Matthew 23:12
    Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and who...
    Luke 1:52
    He has brought down the mighty from their thron...
    James 4:6
    But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "Go...
    1 Peter 5:5
    Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to th...
  43. Cross References
    Genesis 18:26
    And the Lord said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.
  44. Cross References
    Job 17:9
    Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who ...
    Psalms 18:20
    The Lord dealt with me according to my righteou...
    Psalms 18:24
    So the Lord has rewarded me according to my rig...
    Psalms 24:4
    He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who do...
    Psalms 26:6
    I wash my hands in innocence and go around your...
    Job 9:30
    If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands...
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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