98 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
98 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
Eliphaz Speaks
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# Chapter 22
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1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
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2. Can a man be of any use to God?
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Can even a wise man be of use to him?
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3. Does it delight the Almighty if you are righteous?
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Does he profit if you perfect your behavior?
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4. Does he correct you and take you to court
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because of your piety?
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5. Isn't your wickedness abundant
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and aren't your iniquities endless?
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6. For you took collateral from your brothers without cause,
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stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.
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7. You gave no water to the thirsty
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and withheld food from the famished,
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8. while the land belonged to a powerful man
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and an influential man lived on it.
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9. You sent widows away empty-handed,
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and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
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10. Therefore snares surround you,
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and sudden dread terrifies you,
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11. or darkness, so you cannot see,
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and a flood of water covers you.
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12. Isn't God as high as the heavens?
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And look at the highest stars--how lofty they are!
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13. Yet you say, "What does God know?
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Can he judge through total darkness?
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14. Clouds veil him so that he cannot see,
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as he walks on the circle of the sky."
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15. Will you continue on the ancient path
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that wicked men have walked?
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16. They were snatched away before their time,
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and their foundations were washed away by a river.
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17. They were the ones who said to God, "Leave us alone!"
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and "What can the Almighty do to us?"
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18. But it was he who filled their houses with good things.
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The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
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19. The righteous see this and rejoice;
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the innocent mock them, saying,
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20. "Surely our opponents are destroyed,
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and fire has consumed what they left behind."
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21. Come to terms with God and be at peace;
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in this way good will come to you.
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22. Receive instruction from his mouth,
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and place his sayings in your heart.
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23. If you return to the Almighty, you will be renewed.
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If you banish injustice from your tent
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24. and consign your gold to the dust,
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the gold of Ophir to the stones in the wadis,
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25. the Almighty will be your gold
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and your finest silver.
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26. Then you will delight in the Almighty
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and lift up your face 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.
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28. When you make a decision, it will be carried out,
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and light will shine on your ways.
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29. When others are humiliated and you say, "Lift them up,"
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God will save the humble.
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30. He will even rescue the guilty one,
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who will be rescued by the purity of your hands.
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