Job 22 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Then Eliphaz from Teman answered:

² “Does God need our help? No!\par Even a very wise person\par isn’t really useful to God.\par

³ Does your living right help God? No!\par Does God All-Powerful gain anything\par if you follow him? No!\par

⁴ “Job, why does God punish\par and blame you?\par Is it because you worship him?\par

⁵ No, it is because you have sinned much.\par Job, you never stop sinning!\par

⁶ Maybe you loaned a brother some money\par and forced him to give you something\par to prove he would pay it back.\par Maybe you took some poor man’s clothes\par as collateral {\cf2\super [34]} for a loan.\par Maybe you did that for no reason.\par

⁷ Maybe you didn’t give water and food\par to tired, hungry people.\par

⁸ Job, you have a lot of farm land.\par And people respect you.\par

⁹ But maybe you sent widows {\cf2\super [35]} away\par without giving them anything.\par Job, maybe you cheated orphans. {\cf2\super [36]} \par

¹⁰ That is why traps are all around you,\par and sudden trouble makes you afraid.\par

¹¹ That is why it is so dark you can’t see,\par and why a flood of water covers you.\par

¹² “God lives in the highest part of heaven.\par See how high the stars are.\par God looks down on the highest stars.\par

¹³ But Job, you might say,\par ‘What does God know?\par Can God see through the dark clouds\par and judge us?\par

¹⁴ Thick clouds hide him from us,\par so he can’t see us as he walks\par beyond the edge of the sky.’\par

¹⁵ “Job, you are walking on the old path\par that evil people walked on long ago.\par

¹⁶ Those evil people were destroyed\par before it was their time to die.\par They were washed away by the flood.\par

¹⁷ Those people told God,\par ‘Leave us alone!\par God All-Powerful can’t do anything to us!’\par

¹⁸ And it was God who filled their houses\par with good things!\par No, I can’t follow the advice of evil people.\par

¹⁹ Good people will see them destroyed\par and those good people will be happy.\par Innocent people laugh at the evil people.\par

²⁰ ‘Truly our enemies are destroyed!\par Fire burns up their wealth!’\par

²¹ “Now, Job, give yourself to God\par and make peace with him.\par Do this, and you will get many good things.\par

²² Accept his teaching.\par Pay attention to what he says.\par

²³ Job, come back to God All-Powerful,\par and you will be restored.\par But, you must remove the evil\par from your house.\par

²⁴ Think of your gold as nothing but dirt,\par Think of your best gold {\cf2\super [37]} \par as pebbles from a stream.\par

²⁵ And let God All-Powerful be your gold.\par Let him be your pile of silver.\par

²⁶ Then you will enjoy God All-Powerful.\par Then you will look up to God.\par

²⁷ You will pray to him,\par and he will hear you.\par And you will be able to do the things\par you promised to do.\par

²⁸ If you decide to do something,\par it will be successful.\par And your future will be bright indeed!\par

²⁹ God makes proud people ashamed.\par But God helps humble people.\par

³⁰ Then you can help people\par who make mistakes.\par You will pray to God\par and he will forgive those people.\par Why? Because you will be so pure.”\par