Job 22

₂Can a man be profitable unto God,

As he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

₃Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous?

Or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

₄Will he reprove thee for fear of thee?

Will he enter with thee into judgment?

₅Is not thy wickedness great?

And thine iniquities infinite?

₆For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought,

And stripped the naked of their clothing.

₇Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink,

And thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

₈But as for the mighty man, he had the earth;

And the honourable man dwelt in it.

₉Thou hast sent widows away empty,

And the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

₁₀Therefore snares are round about thee,

And sudden fear troubleth thee;

₁₁Or darkness, that thou canst not see;

And abundance of waters cover thee.

₁₂Is not God in the height of heaven?

And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

₁₃And thou sayest, How doth God know?

Can he judge through the dark cloud?

₁₄Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not;

And he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

₁₅Hast thou marked the old way

Which wicked men have trodden?

₁₆Which were cut down out of time,

Whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

₁₇Which said unto God, Depart from us:

And what can the Almighty do for them?

₁₈Yet he filled their houses with good things:

But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

₁₉The righteous see it, and are glad:

And the innocent laugh them to scorn.

₂₀Whereas our substance is not cut down,

But the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

₂₁Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace:

Thereby good shall come unto thee.

₂₂Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth,

And lay up his words in thine heart.

₂₃If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up,

Thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

₂₄Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust,

And the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

₂₅Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence,

And thou shalt have plenty of silver.

₂₆For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty,

And shalt lift up thy face unto God.

₂₇Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee,

And thou shalt pay thy vows.

₂₈Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee:

And the light shall shine upon thy ways.

₂₉When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, there is lifting up;

And he shall save the humble person.

₃₀He shall deliver the island of the innocent:

And it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.