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Job 22-24
Easy-to-Read Version
Job 22-24
Easy-to-Read Version
Eliphaz Answers Job
22 Then Eliphaz from Teman answered:
2 “Does God need our help?
Even the wisest of us is not really useful to him.
3 Does your living right benefit him?
Does God All-Powerful gain anything if you follow him?
4 Why does God blame and punish you?
Is it because you worship him?
5 No, it is because you sin so much.
You never stop sinning.
6 Maybe to guarantee loans you took things from people for no reason.
Maybe you took a poor man’s clothes to make sure he paid you back.[a]
7 Maybe you failed to give water or food
to people who were tired or hungry.
8 You have a lot of farmland,
and people respect you.
9 But maybe you sent widows away without giving them anything.
And maybe you took advantage of orphans.
10 That is why traps are all around you,
and sudden trouble makes you afraid.
11 That is why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.
12 “God lives in the highest part of heaven
and looks down on the highest stars.
13 But you might say, ‘What does God know?
Can he see through the dark clouds to judge us?
14 Thick clouds hide us from his eyes,
so he cannot see us as he walks around the edge of the sky.’
15 “Job, you are walking on the old path
that evil people walked on long ago.
16 They were destroyed before it was their time to die.
They were washed away by the flood.
17 They told God, ‘Leave us alone!’
and said, ‘God All-Powerful cannot do anything to us!’
18 And it was God who filled their houses with good things.
No, I would never follow the advice of evil people.
19 Those who do what is right are happy to see them destroyed.
The innocent laugh at them and say,
20 ‘Surely our enemies are destroyed!
Their wealth burned up in the fire!’
21 “Now, Job, give yourself to God and make peace with him.
Do this, and you will get many good things.
22 Accept his teaching.
Pay attention to what he says.
23 If you return to God All-Powerful, you will be restored.
But remove the evil from your house.
24 Think of your gold as nothing but dirt.
Think of your finest gold as rocks from a stream.
25 And let God All-Powerful be your gold.
Let him be your pile of silver.
26 Then you will enjoy God All-Powerful,
and you will look up to him.
27 When you pray, he will hear you.
And you will be able to do all that you promised him.
28 If you decide to do something, it will be successful.
And your future will be very bright!
29 When people are brought down and you ask God to help them,
he will rescue those who have been humbled.
30 Even those who are guilty will be forgiven.
They will be saved because you did what was right.”
Job Answers
23 Then Job answered:
2 “I am still complaining today.
I groan because God is still making me suffer.
3 I wish I knew where to find him.
I wish I knew how to go to where he lives.
4 I would present my case to him.
I would make my arguments to show that I am innocent.
5 He could give his response, and I would understand.
I would listen closely to what he says.
6 Would God use his power against me?
No, he would listen to me!
7 Since I am an honest man, he would let me tell my story.
Then my Judge would set me free!
8 “If I go to the east, God is not there.
If I go to the west, I still don’t see him.
9 When he is working in the north, I don’t see him.
When he turns to the south, I still don’t see him.
10 But God knows me.
He is testing me and will see that I am as pure as gold.
11 I have always lived the way God wants.
I have never stopped following him.
12 I always obey his commands.
I love the words from his mouth more than I love my food.
13 “But God never changes,
and who can stand against him?
He does anything he wants.
14 He will do to me what he planned,
and he has many other plans for me.
15 That is why I am terrified to stand before him.
Just thinking about it makes me afraid.
16 The fear of God has made me lose my courage.
God All-Powerful makes me afraid.
17 What has happened to me is like a dark cloud over my face.
But the darkness will not keep me quiet.
24 “Why doesn’t God All-Powerful set times for judgment?
And why can’t his followers know when those times will be?
2 “People move property markers to get more of their neighbor’s land.
People steal flocks and lead them to other grasslands.
3 They steal a donkey that belongs to an orphan.
They take a widow’s cow until she pays what she owes them.
9 [b] They take a nursing baby from its mother.
They take a poor person’s child to guarantee a loan.
4 They force the poor to move out of their way
and to get off the road.
5 “The poor are like wild donkeys that go out to the desert to find food.
From morning to night they work to gather food for their children.
6 They have to work in the fields, harvesting grain.
They work for the rich,[c] gathering grapes in their vineyards.
7 They must sleep all night without clothes.
They have no covers to protect them from the cold.
8 They are soaked with rain in the mountains.
They stay close to the large rocks for shelter.
10 They have no clothes, so they work naked.
They carry piles of grain for others, but they go hungry.
11 They press out olive oil
and walk on grapes in the winepress, but they have nothing to drink.
12 In the city you can hear the sad sounds of dying people.
Those who are hurt cry out for help, but God does not listen.
13 “Some people rebel against the light.
They don’t know what God wants.
They don’t live the way he wants.
14 A murderer gets up at dawn and kills poor, helpless people.
And at night he becomes a thief.
15 A man who commits adultery waits for the night to come.
He thinks, ‘No one will see me,’ but still, he covers his face.
16 When it is dark, evil people go out and break into houses.
But during the day they lock themselves in their homes to avoid the light.
17 The darkest night is their morning.
They are friends with the terrors of darkness.
18 “You say, ‘Evil people are taken away like things carried away in a flood.
The land they own is cursed, so no one goes to work in their vineyards.
19 As hot, dry weather melts away the winter snows,
so the grave takes away those who have sinned.
20 Their own mothers will forget them.
Only the worms will want them.
No one will remember them.
They will be broken like a rotten stick!
21 These evil people hurt women who have no children to protect them,
and they refuse to help widows.
22 By his power God removes the powerful.
Even if they have a high position, they cannot be sure of their lives.
23 They might feel safe and secure,
but God is watching how they live.
24 They might be successful for a while, but then they will be gone.
Like everyone else, they will be cut down like grain.’
25 “I swear these things are true!
Who can prove that I lied?
Who can show that I am wrong?”
Job 22-24
New International Version
Job 22-24
New International Version
Eliphaz
22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite(A) replied:
2 “Can a man be of benefit to God?(B)
Can even a wise person benefit him?(C)
3 What pleasure(D) would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?(E)
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?(F)
4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?(G)
5 Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins(H) endless?(I)
6 You demanded security(J) from your relatives for no reason;(K)
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.(L)
7 You gave no water(M) to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,(N)
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land(O)—
an honored man,(P) living on it.(Q)
9 And you sent widows(R) away empty-handed(S)
and broke the strength of the fatherless.(T)
10 That is why snares(U) are all around you,(V)
why sudden peril terrifies you,(W)
11 why it is so dark(X) you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.(Y)
12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven?(Z)
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?(AA)
Does he judge through such darkness?(AB)
14 Thick clouds(AC) veil him, so he does not see us(AD)
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’(AE)
15 Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked(AF) have trod?(AG)
16 They were carried off before their time,(AH)
their foundations(AI) washed away by a flood.(AJ)
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’(AK)
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,(AL)
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.(AM)
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;(AN)
the innocent mock(AO) them, saying,
20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,(AP)
and fire(AQ) devours their wealth.’
21 “Submit to God and be at peace(AR) with him;(AS)
in this way prosperity will come to you.(AT)
22 Accept instruction from his mouth(AU)
and lay up his words(AV) in your heart.(AW)
23 If you return(AX) to the Almighty, you will be restored:(AY)
If you remove wickedness far from your tent(AZ)
24 and assign your nuggets(BA) to the dust,
your gold(BB) of Ophir(BC) to the rocks in the ravines,(BD)
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,(BE)
the choicest silver for you.(BF)
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty(BG)
and will lift up your face(BH) to God.(BI)
27 You will pray to him,(BJ) and he will hear you,(BK)
and you will fulfill your vows.(BL)
28 What you decide on will be done,(BM)
and light(BN) will shine on your ways.(BO)
29 When people are brought low(BP) and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.(BQ)
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,(BR)
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”(BS)
Job
23 Then Job replied:
2 “Even today my complaint(BT) is bitter;(BU)
his hand[a] is heavy in spite of[b] my groaning.(BV)
3 If only I knew where to find him;
if only I could go to his dwelling!(BW)
4 I would state my case(BX) before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.(BY)
5 I would find out what he would answer me,(BZ)
and consider what he would say to me.
6 Would he vigorously oppose me?(CA)
No, he would not press charges against me.(CB)
7 There the upright(CC) can establish their innocence before him,(CD)
and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.(CE)
8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there;
if I go to the west, I do not find him.
9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.(CF)
10 But he knows the way that I take;(CG)
when he has tested me,(CH) I will come forth as gold.(CI)
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;(CJ)
I have kept to his way without turning aside.(CK)
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;(CL)
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.(CM)
13 “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?(CN)
He does whatever he pleases.(CO)
14 He carries out his decree against me,
and many such plans he still has in store.(CP)
15 That is why I am terrified before him;(CQ)
when I think of all this, I fear him.(CR)
16 God has made my heart faint;(CS)
the Almighty(CT) has terrified me.(CU)
17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,(CV)
by the thick darkness that covers my face.
24 “Why does the Almighty not set times(CW) for judgment?(CX)
Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?(CY)
2 There are those who move boundary stones;(CZ)
they pasture flocks they have stolen.(DA)
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey
and take the widow’s ox in pledge.(DB)
4 They thrust the needy(DC) from the path
and force all the poor(DD) of the land into hiding.(DE)
5 Like wild donkeys(DF) in the desert,
the poor go about their labor(DG) of foraging food;
the wasteland(DH) provides food for their children.
6 They gather fodder(DI) in the fields
and glean in the vineyards(DJ) of the wicked.(DK)
7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.(DL)
8 They are drenched(DM) by mountain rains
and hug(DN) the rocks for lack of shelter.(DO)
9 The fatherless(DP) child is snatched(DQ) from the breast;
the infant of the poor is seized(DR) for a debt.(DS)
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;(DT)
they carry the sheaves,(DU) but still go hungry.
11 They crush olives among the terraces[c];
they tread the winepresses,(DV) yet suffer thirst.(DW)
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.(DX)
But God charges no one with wrongdoing.(DY)
13 “There are those who rebel against the light,(DZ)
who do not know its ways
or stay in its paths.(EA)
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
kills(EB) the poor and needy,(EC)
and in the night steals forth like a thief.(ED)
15 The eye of the adulterer(EE) watches for dusk;(EF)
he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’(EG)
and he keeps his face concealed.
16 In the dark, thieves break into houses,(EH)
but by day they shut themselves in;
they want nothing to do with the light.(EI)
17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;
they make friends with the terrors(EJ) of darkness.(EK)
18 “Yet they are foam(EL) on the surface of the water;(EM)
their portion of the land is cursed,(EN)
so that no one goes to the vineyards.(EO)
19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,(EP)
so the grave(EQ) snatches away those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them,
the worm(ER) feasts on them;(ES)
the wicked are no longer remembered(ET)
but are broken like a tree.(EU)
21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,
and to the widow they show no kindness.(EV)
22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;(EW)
though they become established,(EX) they have no assurance of life.(EY)
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,(EZ)
but his eyes(FA) are on their ways.(FB)
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;(FC)
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;(FD)
they are cut off like heads of grain.(FE)
25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false
and reduce my words to nothing?”(FF)
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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