Eliphaz Speaks Again
Eliphaz finally invents charges: stripping the poor of clothing, refusing water to the weary, sending widows away empty. He tells Job to submit, to lay his gold in the dust and let the Almighty be his gold. The counsel sounds beautiful and the accusation is false.
22 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered: 2"Can a man be of any benefit to God? Surely the wise man benefits only himself. 3Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, or any gain to him if you live blamelessly? 4Is it for your reverence that he rebukes you and brings you to judgment? 5Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless? 6For you demanded collateral from your brothers for no reason and stripped the clothing from the naked. 7You gave no water to the weary to drink, and you withheld bread from the hungry. 8The man of power owned the land, and the favored one lived in it. a a v8 Eliphaz implies Job treated land as belonging only to the powerful, leaving the poor with nothing. 9You sent widows away empty-handed and crushed the arms of orphans. 10That is why snares surround you, and sudden terror overwhelms you; 11or darkness, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you. 12Is not God in the heights of heaven? See how high the highest stars are! 13Yet you say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through such deep darkness? 14Thick clouds veil him so that he cannot see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.' 15Will you keep to the ancient path that wicked men have walked? 16They were snatched away before their time, their foundation washed away by a flood. 17They said to God, 'Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?' 18Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things—so I want nothing to do with the plans of the wicked. 19The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock the wicked, saying, 20'Surely our enemies are destroyed, and the fire has consumed what they left behind.' 21Submit to God now and be at peace with him; in this way good will come to you. 22Receive instruction from his mouth, and store up his words in your heart. 23If you return to the Almighty you will be restored; if you drive injustice far from your home, 24and lay your gold in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the streambed, b b v24 Ophir was famous in the ancient world as a source of the finest gold. 25then the Almighty himself will be your gold, your precious silver. 26Then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. 27You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. 28What you decide will be done, and light will shine on your ways. 29When others are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!', he will save the downcast. 30He will deliver even the one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."
