1: Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, |
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2: Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be
profitable unto himself? |
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3:
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous?
or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect? |
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4: Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee
into judgment? |
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5: Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?
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6: For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and
stripped the naked of their clothing. |
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7: Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast
withholden bread from the hungry. |
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8: But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the
honourable man dwelt in it. |
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9: Thou has sent widows away empty, and the arms of the
fatherless have been broken. |
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10: Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear
troubleth thee; |
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11: Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters
cover thee. |
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12: Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of
the stars, how high they are! |
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13: And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the
dark cloud? |
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14: Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he
walketh in the circuit of heaven. |
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15: Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
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16: Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was
overflown with a flood: |
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17: Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the
Almighty do for them? |
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18: Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel
of the wicked is far from me. |
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19: The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh
them to scorn. |
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20: Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of
them the fire consumeth. |
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21: Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good
shall come unto thee. |
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22: Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his
words in thine heart. |
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23: If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou
shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. |
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24: Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as
the stones of the brooks. |
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25: Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have
plenty of silver. |
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26: For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and
shalt lift up thy face unto God. |
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27: Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee,
and thou shalt pay thy vows. |
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28: Thou alt also decree a thing, and it shall be established
unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. |
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29: When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting
up; and he shall save the humble person. |
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30: He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is
delivered by the pureness of thine hands. |