Job 22:20-30

20 'Surely our adversaries are cut down, And the fire consumes their remnant.'
21 "Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace; Thereby good will come to you.
22 Receive, please, instruction from His mouth, And lay up His words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; You will remove iniquity far from your tents.
24 Then you will lay your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.
25 Yes, the Almighty will be your gold And your precious silver;
26 For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, And lift up your face to God.
27 You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you, And you will pay your vows.
28 You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways.
29 When they cast you down, and you say, 'Exaltation will come!' Then He will save the humble person.
30 He will even deliver one who is not innocent; Yes, he will be delivered by the purity of your hands."

Job 22:20-30 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 22

This chapter contains the third and last reply of Eliphaz to Job, in which he charges him with having too high an opinion of himself, of his holiness and righteousness, as if God was profited by it, and laid thereby under obligation to him, whereas he was not, Job 22:1-3; and as if he reproved and chastised him, because of his fear of him, whereas it was because of his sins, Job 22:4,5; an enumeration of which he gives, as of injustice, oppression, cruelty to the poor, and even of atheism and infidelity, for which snares and fears were around him, and various calamities, Job 22:6-14; and compares his way and course of life to that of the men of the old world, and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and suggests that his end would be like theirs, unless he repented, Job 22:15-20; and then concludes with an exhortation to him to return to God by repentance, and to reform, when he should see happy times again, and enjoy much outward and inward prosperity, and be an instrument of doing much good to many, Job 22:21-30.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Septuagint reads substance.
  • [b]. The ancient versions suggest defense; Hebrew reads gold as in Job 22:24.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.