Job 22

Job 22:2-30 [2]Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he that is wise is profitable to himself. [Ps. 16:2; Luke 17:10.] [3]Is it any pleasure or advantage to the Almighty that you are righteous (upright and in right standing with Him)? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways perfect? [Isa. 62:3; Zech. 2:8; Mal. 3:17; Acts 20:28.] [4]Is it for your [reverential] fear of Him that He [thus] reproves you, that He enters with you into judgment? [5]Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities. [6]For you have taken pledges of your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing. [7]You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. [Matt. 25:42.] [8]But [you, Job] the man with power possessed the land, and the favored and accepted man dwelt in it. [9]You have sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. [10]Therefore snares are round about you, and sudden fear troubles and overwhelms you; [11]Your light is darkened, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you. [12]Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are! [13]Therefore you say, How and what does God know [about me]? Can He judge through the thick darkness? [14]Thick clouds are a covering to Him, so that He does not see, and He walks on the vault of the heavens. [15]Will you pay attention and keep to the old way that wicked men trod [in Noah’s time], [II Pet. 2:5.] [16]Men who were snatched away before their time, whose foundations were poured out like a stream [during the flood]? [17]They said to God, Depart from us, and, What can the Almighty do for or to us? [18]Yet He filled their houses with good [things]. But the counsel of the ungodly is far from me. [19]The righteous see it and are glad; and the innocent laugh them to scorn [saying], [20]Surely those who rose up against us are cut off, and that which remained to them the fire has consumed. [21]Acquaint now yourself with Him [agree with God and show yourself to be conformed to His will] and be at peace; by that [you shall prosper and great] good shall come to you. [22]Receive, I pray you, the law and instruction from His mouth and lay up His words in your heart. [Ps. 119:11.] [23]If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up; if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents, [24]If you lay gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brook [considering them of little worth], [25]And make the Almighty your gold and [the Lord] your precious silver treasure, [26]Then you will have delight in the Almighty, and you will 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 shall also decide and decree a thing, and it shall be established for you; and the light [of God’s favor] shall shine upon your ways. [29]When they make [you] low, you will say, [There is] a lifting up; and the humble person He lifts up and saves. [30]He will even deliver the one [for whom you intercede] who is not innocent; yes, he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands. [Job 42:7, 8.]