61 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
61 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 22
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1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
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2 “Can a person do anything to help God?
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Can even a wise person be helpful to him?
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3 Is it any advantage to the Almighty if you are righteous?
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Would it be any gain to him if you were perfect?
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4 Is it because you’re so pious that he accuses you
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and brings judgment against you?
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5 No, it’s because of your wickedness!
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There’s no limit to your sins.
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6 “For example, you must have lent money to your friend
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and demanded clothing as security.
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Yes, you stripped him to the bone.
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7 You must have refused water for the thirsty
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and food for the hungry.
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8 You probably think the land belongs to the powerful
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and only the privileged have a right to it!
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9 You must have sent widows away empty-handed
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and crushed the hopes of orphans.
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10 That is why you are surrounded by traps
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and tremble from sudden fears.
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11 That is why you cannot see in the darkness,
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and waves of water cover you.
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12 “God is so great—higher than the heavens,
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higher than the farthest stars.
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13 But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing!
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How can he judge through the thick darkness?
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14 For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us.
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He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.’
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15 “Will you continue on the old paths
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where evil people have walked?
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16 They were snatched away in the prime of life,
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the foundations of their lives washed away.
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17 For they said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
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What can the Almighty do to us?’
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18 Yet he was the one who filled their homes with good things,
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so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.
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19 “The righteous will be happy to see the wicked destroyed,
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and the innocent will laugh in contempt.
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20 They will say, ‘See how our enemies have been destroyed.
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The last of them have been consumed in the fire.’
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21 “Submit to God, and you will have peace;
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then things will go well for you.
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22 Listen to his instructions,
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and store them in your heart.
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23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored—
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so clean up your life.
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24 If you give up your lust for money
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and throw your precious gold into the river,
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25 the Almighty himself will be your treasure.
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He will be your precious silver!
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26 “Then you will take delight in the Almighty
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and look up to God.
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27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
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and you will fulfill your vows to him.
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28 You will succeed in whatever you choose to do,
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and light will shine on the road ahead of you.
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29 If people are in trouble and you say, ‘Help them,’
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God will save them.
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30 Even sinners will be rescued;
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they will be rescued because your hands are pure.” |