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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 hast 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 shalt 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. |
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