73 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
73 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 15
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1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
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2 “Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge,
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And fill himself with the east wind?
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3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk,
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Or by speeches with which he can do no good?
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4 Yes, you cast off fear,
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And restrain prayer before God.
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5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
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And you choose the tongue of the crafty.
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6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
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Yes, your own lips testify against you.
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7 “Are you the first man who was born?
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Or were you made before the hills?
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8 Have you heard the counsel of God?
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Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
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9 What do you know that we do not know?
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What do you understand that is not in us?
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10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
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Much older than your father.
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11 Are the consolations of God too small for you,
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And the word spoken gently with you?
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12 Why does your heart carry you away,
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And what do your eyes wink at,
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13 That you turn your spirit against God,
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And let such words go out of your mouth?
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14 “What is man, that he could be pure?
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And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?
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15 If God puts no trust in His saints,
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And the heavens are not pure in His sight,
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16 How much less man, who is abominable and filthy,
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Who drinks iniquity like water!
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17 “I will tell you, hear me;
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What I have seen I will declare,
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18 What wise men have told,
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Not hiding anything received from their fathers,
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19 To whom alone the land was given,
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And no alien passed among them:
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20 The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
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And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.
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21 Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
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In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.
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22 He does not believe that he will return from darkness,
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For a sword is waiting for him.
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23 He wanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
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He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.
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24 Trouble and anguish make him afraid;
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They overpower him, like a king ready for battle.
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25 For he stretches out his hand against God,
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And acts defiantly against the Almighty,
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26 Running stubbornly against Him
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With his strong, embossed shield.
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27 “Though he has covered his face with his fatness,
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And made his waist heavy with fat,
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28 He dwells in desolate cities,
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In houses which no one inhabits,
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Which are destined to become ruins.
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29 He will not be rich,
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Nor will his wealth continue,
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Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.
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30 He will not depart from darkness;
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The flame will dry out his branches,
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And by the breath of His mouth he will go away.
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31 Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself,
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For futility will be his reward.
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32 It will be accomplished before his time,
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And his branch will not be green.
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33 He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine,
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And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.
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34 For the company of hypocrites will be barren,
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And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
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35 They conceive trouble and bring forth futility;
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Their womb prepares deceit.” |