Sermon Central
Job 22-23
Eliphaz 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2“Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person benefit him?
3What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
4“Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?
5Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?
6You demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry,
8though you were a powerful man, owning land— an honored man, living on it.
9And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.
10That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you,
11why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.
12“Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!
13Yet you say, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?
14Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
15Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?
16They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.
17They said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’
18Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
19The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,
20‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.’
21“Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.
22Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.
23If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent
24and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
25then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.
26Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God.
27You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.
28What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.
29When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then he will save the downcast. 30He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Job 1Then Job replied:
2“Even today my complaint is bitter; his hand
3If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!
4I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
5I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say to me.
6Would he vigorously oppose me? No, he would not press charges against me.
7There the upright can establish their innocence before him, and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.
8“But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him.
9When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
10But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
11My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.
12I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
13“But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases.
14He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store.
15That is why I am terrified before him; when I think of all this, I fear him.
16God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me. 17Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.