Parallel Bible results for "Job 22"

Job 22

The Message Bible MSG

1 Once again Eliphaz the Temanite took up his theme:

2 "Are any of us strong enough to give God a hand, or smart enough to give him advice?

3 So what if you were righteous - would God Almighty even notice? Even if you gave a perfect performance, do you think he'd applaud?

4 Do you think it's because he cares about your purity that he's disciplining you, putting you on the spot?

5 Hardly! It's because you're a first-class moral failure, because there's no end to your sins.

6 When people came to you for help, you took the shirts off their backs, exploited their helplessness.

7 You wouldn't so much as give a drink to the thirsty, or food, not even a scrap, to the hungry.

8 And there you sat, strong and honored by everyone, surrounded by immense wealth!

9 You turned poor widows away from your door; heartless, you crushed orphans.

10 Now you're the one trapped in terror, paralyzed by fear. Suddenly the tables have turned!

11 How do you like living in the dark, sightless, up to your neck in flood waters?

12 "You agree, don't you, that God is in charge? He runs the universe - just look at the stars!

13 Yet you dare raise questions: 'What does God know? From that distance and darkness, how can he judge?

14 He roams the heavens wrapped in clouds, so how can he see us?'

15 "Are you going to persist in that tired old line that wicked men and women have always used?

16 Where did it get them? They died young, flash floods sweeping them off to their doom.

17 They told God, 'Get lost! What good is God Almighty to us?'

18 And yet it was God who gave them everything they had. It's beyond me how they can carry on like this!

19 "Good people see bad people crash, and call for a celebration. Relieved, they crow,

20 'At last! Our enemies - wiped out. Everything they had and stood for is up in smoke!'

21 "Give in to God, come to terms with him and everything will turn out just fine.

22 Let him tell you what to do; take his words to heart.

23 Come back to God Almighty and he'll rebuild your life. Clean house of everything evil.

24 Relax your grip on your money and abandon your gold-plated luxury.

25 God Almighty will be your treasure, more wealth than you can imagine.

26 "You'll take delight in God, the Mighty One, and look to him joyfully, boldly.

27 You'll pray to him and he'll listen; he'll help you do what you've promised.

28 You'll decide what you want and it will happen; your life will be bathed in light.

29 To those who feel low you'll say, 'Chin up! Be brave!' and God will save them.

30 Yes, even the guilty will escape, escape through God's grace in your life."

New International Version NIV

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 “Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person benefit him?

3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?

5 Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?

6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.

7 You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry,

8 though you were a powerful man, owning land— an honored man, living on it.

9 And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.

10 That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you,

11 why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.

12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!

13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?

14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’

15 Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?

16 They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.

17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’

18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,

20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.’

21 “Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.

22 Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.

23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent

24 and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

25 then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.

26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God.

27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.

28 What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.

29 When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then he will save the downcast.

30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”