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Job 22-24
The Message
Job 22-24
The Message
Eliphaz Attacks Job—The Third Round
Come to Terms with God
22 1-11 Once again Eliphaz the Temanite took up his theme:
“Are any of us strong enough to give God a hand,
or smart enough to give him advice?
So what if you were righteous—would God Almighty even notice?
Even if you gave a perfect performance, do you think
he’d applaud?
Do you think it’s because he cares about your purity
that he’s disciplining you, putting you on the spot?
Hardly! It’s because you’re a first-class moral failure,
because there’s no end to your sins.
When people came to you for help,
you took the shirts off their backs, exploited their helplessness.
You wouldn’t so much as give a drink to the thirsty,
or food, not even a scrap, to the hungry.
And there you sat, strong and honored by everyone,
surrounded by immense wealth!
You turned poor widows away from your door;
heartless, you crushed orphans.
Now you’re the one trapped in terror, paralyzed by fear.
Suddenly the tables have turned!
How do you like living in the dark, sightless,
up to your neck in flood waters?
12-14 “You agree, don’t you, that God is in charge?
He runs the universe—just look at the stars!
Yet you dare raise questions: ‘What does God know?
From that distance and darkness, how can he judge?
He roams the heavens wrapped in clouds,
so how can he see us?’
15-18 “Are you going to persist in that tired old line
that wicked men and women have always used?
Where did it get them? They died young,
flash floods sweeping them off to their doom.
They told God, ‘Get lost!
What good is God Almighty to us?’
And yet it was God who gave them everything they had.
It’s beyond me how they can carry on like this!
19-20 “Good people see bad people crash, and call for a celebration.
Relieved, they crow,
‘At last! Our enemies—wiped out.
Everything they had and stood for is up in smoke!’
21-25 “Give in to God, come to terms with him
and everything will turn out just fine.
Let him tell you what to do;
take his words to heart.
Come back to God Almighty
and he’ll rebuild your life.
Clean house of everything evil.
Relax your grip on your money
and abandon your gold-plated luxury.
God Almighty will be your treasure,
more wealth than you can imagine.
26-30 “You’ll take delight in God, the Mighty One,
and look to him joyfully, boldly.
You’ll pray to him and he’ll listen;
he’ll help you do what you’ve promised.
You’ll decide what you want and it will happen;
your life will be bathed in light.
To those who feel low you’ll say, ‘Chin up! Be brave!’
and God will save them.
Yes, even the guilty will escape,
escape through God’s grace in your life.”
Job’s Defense
I’m Completely in the Dark
23 1-7 Job replied:
“I’m not letting up—I’m standing my ground.
My complaint is legitimate.
God has no right to treat me like this—
it isn’t fair!
If I knew where on earth to find him,
I’d go straight to him.
I’d lay my case before him face-to-face,
give him all my arguments firsthand.
I’d find out exactly what he’s thinking,
discover what’s going on in his head.
Do you think he’d dismiss me or bully me?
No, he’d take me seriously.
He’d see a straight-living man standing before him;
my Judge would acquit me for good of all charges.
8-9 “I travel East looking for him—I find no one;
then West, but not a trace;
I go North, but he’s hidden his tracks;
then South, but not even a glimpse.
10-12 “But he knows where I am and what I’ve done.
He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors.
I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints,
not once swerving from his way.
I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken,
and not just obeyed his advice—I’ve treasured it.
13-17 “But he is singular and sovereign. Who can argue with him?
He does what he wants, when he wants to.
He’ll complete in detail what he’s decided about me,
and whatever else he determines to do.
Is it any wonder that I dread meeting him?
Whenever I think about it, I get scared all over again.
God makes my heart sink!
God Almighty gives me the shudders!
I’m completely in the dark,
I can’t see my hand in front of my face.”
An Illusion of Security
24 1-12 “But if Judgment Day isn’t hidden from the Almighty,
why are we kept in the dark?
There are people out there getting by with murder—
stealing and lying and cheating.
They rip off the poor
and exploit the unfortunate,
Push the helpless into the ditch,
bully the weak so that they fear for their lives.
The poor, like stray dogs and cats,
scavenge for food in back alleys.
They sort through the garbage of the rich,
eke out survival on handouts.
Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street;
they’ve no place to lay their heads.
Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen,
they huddle in makeshift shelters.
Nursing mothers have their babies snatched from them;
the infants of the poor are kidnapped and sold.
They go about patched and threadbare;
even the hard workers go hungry.
No matter how backbreaking their labor,
they can never make ends meet.
People are dying right and left, groaning in torment.
The wretched cry out for help
and God does nothing, acts like nothing’s wrong!
13-17 “Then there are those who avoid light at all costs,
who scorn the light-filled path.
When the sun goes down, the murderer gets up—
kills the poor and robs the defenseless.
Sexual predators can’t wait for nightfall,
thinking, ‘No one can see us now.’
Burglars do their work at night,
but keep well out of sight through the day.
They want nothing to do with light.
Deep darkness is morning for that bunch;
they make the terrors of darkness their companions in crime.
18-25 “They are scraps of wood floating on the water—
useless, cursed junk, good for nothing.
As surely as snow melts under the hot, summer sun,
sinners disappear in the grave.
The womb has forgotten them, worms have relished them—
nothing that is evil lasts.
Unscrupulous,
they prey on those less fortunate.
However much they strut and flex their muscles,
there’s nothing to them. They’re hollow.
They may have an illusion of security,
but God has his eye on them.
They may get their brief successes,
but then it’s over, nothing to show for it.
Like yesterday’s newspaper,
they’re used to wrap up the garbage.
You’re free to try to prove me a liar,
but you won’t be able to do it.”
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)
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.