Job 22:22-30

22 Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty and humble yourself, if you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,
24 if you lay gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent bed,
25 and if the Almighty is your gold, and your precious silver;
26 then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and lift up your face to God.
27 You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you; and you will pay your vows.
28 You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.
29 For God abases the proud, but he saves the lowly.
30 He delivers the innocent man; you will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."

Job 22:22-30 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.

Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.