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."

World English Bible WEB

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

2 "Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.

3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous? Or does it benefit him, that you make your ways perfect?

4 Is it for your piety that he reproves you, That he enters with you into judgment?

5 Isn't your wickedness great? Neither is there any end to your iniquities.

6 For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, And stripped the naked of their clothing.

7 You haven't given water to the weary to drink, And you have withheld bread from the hungry.

8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth. The honorable man, he lived in it.

9 You have sent widows away empty, And the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

10 Therefore snares are round about you. Sudden fear troubles you,

11 Or darkness, so that you can not see, And floods of waters cover you.

12 "Isn't God in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high they are!

13 You say, 'What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?

14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he doesn't see. He walks on the vault of the sky.'

15 Will you keep the old way Which wicked men have trodden,

16 Who were snatched away before their time, Whose foundation was poured out as a stream,

17 Who said to God, 'Depart from us;' And, 'What can the Almighty do for us?'

18 Yet he filled their houses with good things, But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

19 The righteous see it, and are glad; The innocent laugh them to scorn,

20 Saying, 'Surely those who rose up against us are cut off, The fire has consumed the remnant of them.'

21 "Acquaint yourself with him, now, and be at peace. Thereby good shall come to you.

22 Please receive instruction from his mouth, And lay up his words in your heart.

23 If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, If you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.

24 Lay your treasure in the dust, The gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.

25 The Almighty will be your treasure, Precious silver to you.

26 For then shall you delight yourself in the Almighty, And shall lift up your face to God.

27 You shall make your prayer to him, and he will hear you. You shall pay your vows.

28 You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you. Light shall shine on your ways.

29 When they cast down, you shall say, 'be lifted up.' He will save the humble person.

30 He will even deliver him who is not innocent; Yes, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."