Does God need our help? Even the wisest of us is not really useful to Him.
Does your living right benefit Him? Does God gain anything if you follow Him?
Why does God blame and punish you? Is it because you worship Him?
No, it is because you sin so much. You never stop sinning.
Maybe to guarantee loans you took things from people.
Maybe you took a poor man's clothes to make sure he paid you back.
Maybe you failed to give water or food to people who were tired or hungry.
You have a lot of money and possessions, people respect you.
But maybe you sent widows away without giving them anything.
And maybe you took advantage of orphans.
That is why traps are all around you, and sudden trouble makes you afraid.
That is why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood covers you.
(Have you convinced yourself...)
God lives in the highest part of heaven and only looks down on the highest stars.
What does God know? Can He see through the dark clouds to judge us?
Thick clouds hide us from His eyes, so he cannot see us.
You are walking on the old path that evil people walked long ago.
They were destroyed before it was their time to die.
They were washed away by a flood. They told God, "Leave us alone!"
They said, "God cannot do anything to us! And it was God who filled our houses with good things."
(No, I would never follow the advice of evil people.)
Now, give yourself to God and make peace with Him.
Do this, and you will get many good things. Accept His teaching.
Pay attention to what He says. If you return to God you will be restored.
Remove the evil from your house. Think of gold as nothing but dirt. Think of your finest possessions as rocks from a stream.
Let God be your gold! Let His Words be your pile of silver!
Then you will enjoy God, and will look up to Him.
When you pray, He will hear you.
You will be able to do all that you promised Him.
If you decide to do something, it will be successful.
Your future will be very bright!
When people are brought down and you ask God to help them,
He will rescue those who have been humbled.
Even those who are guilty will be forgiven.
They will be saved because you did what was right.
Job 22 (emphasis added)
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