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22:1  Then Eliphaz from Teman answered:
22:2  “Does God need our help? Even the wisest of us is not really useful to him.
22:3  Does your living right benefit him? Does God All-Powerful gain anything if you follow him?
22:4  Why does God blame and punish you? Is it because you worship him?
22:5  No, it is because you sin so much. You never stop sinning.
22:6  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.
22:7  Maybe you failed to give water or food to people who were tired or hungry.
22:8  You have a lot of farmland, and people respect you.
22:9  But maybe you sent widows away without giving them anything. And maybe you took advantage of orphans.
22:10  That is why traps are all around you, and sudden trouble makes you afraid.
22:11  That is why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.
22:12  “God lives in the highest part of heaven and looks down on the highest stars.
22:13  But you might say, ‘What does God know? Can he see through the dark clouds to judge us?
22:14  Thick clouds hide us from his eyes, so he cannot see us as he walks around the edge of the sky.’
22:15  “Job, you are walking on the old path that evil people walked on long ago.
22:16  They were destroyed before it was their time to die. They were washed away by the flood.
22:17  They told God, ‘Leave us alone!’ and said, ‘God All-Powerful cannot do anything to us!’
22:18  And it was God who filled their houses with good things. No, I would never follow the advice of evil people.
22:19  Those who do what is right are happy to see them destroyed. The innocent laugh at them and say,
22:20  ‘Surely our enemies are destroyed! Their wealth burned up in the fire!’
22:21  “Now, Job, give yourself to God and make peace with him. Do this, and you will get many good things.
22:22  Accept his teaching. Pay attention to what he says.
22:23  If you return to God All-Powerful, you will be restored. But remove the evil from your house.
22:24  Think of your gold as nothing but dirt. Think of your finest gold as rocks from a stream.
22:25  And let God All-Powerful be your gold. Let him be your pile of silver.
22:26  Then you will enjoy God All-Powerful, and you will look up to him.
22:27  When you pray, he will hear you. And you will be able to do all that you promised him.
22:28  If you decide to do something, it will be successful. And your future will be very bright!
22:29  When people are brought down and you ask God to help them, he will rescue those who have been humbled.
22:30  Even those who are guilty will be forgiven. They will be saved because you did what was right.”