| Chapter 15 |
1 |
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, --
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2 |
'Should a wise man answer with vain knowledge, And fill himself with the east wind? --
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3 |
Should he reason with unprofitable talk, Or with speeches with which he can do no good? --
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4 |
Yes, you do away with fear, And hinder devotion before God. --
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5 |
For your iniquity teaches your mouth, And you choose the language of the crafty. --
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6 |
Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; Yes, your own lips testify against you. --
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7 |
'Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills? --
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8 |
Have you heard the secret counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? --
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9 |
What do you know, that we don't know? What do you understand, which is not in us? --
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10 |
With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men, Much elder than your father. --
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11 |
Are the consolations of God too small for you, Even the word that is gentle toward you? --
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12 |
Why does your heart carry you away? Why do your eyes flash, --
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13 |
That you turn your spirit against God, And let such words go out of your mouth? --
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14 |
What is man, that he should be clean? He who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? --
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15 |
Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones; Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight: --
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16 |
How much less one who is abominable and corrupt, A man who drinks iniquity like water! --
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17 |
'I will show you, listen to me; That which I have seen I will declare: --
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18 |
(Which wise men have told From their fathers, and have not hidden it; --
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19 |
To whom alone the land was given, And no stranger passed among them): --
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20 |
The wicked man travails with pain all his days, Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor. --
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21 |
A sound of terrors is in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer shall come on him. --
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22 |
He doesn't believe that he shall return out of darkness, He is waited for by the sword. --
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23 |
He wanders abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?' He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. --
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24 |
Distress and anguish make him afraid; They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. --
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25 |
Because he has stretched out his hand against God, And behaves himself proudly against the Almighty; --
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26 |
He runs at him with a stiff neck, With the thick shields of his bucklers; --
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27 |
Because he has covered his face with his fatness, And gathered fat on his loins. --
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28 |
He has lived in desolate cities, In houses which no one inhabited, Which were ready to become heaps. --
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29 |
He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, Neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth. --
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30 |
He shall not depart out of darkness; The flame shall dry up his branches, By the breath of God's mouth shall he go away. --
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31 |
Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; For emptiness shall be his reward. --
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32 |
It shall be accomplished before his time. His branch shall not be green. --
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33 |
He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, And shall cast off his flower as the olive-tree. --
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34 |
For the company of the godless shall be barren, And fire shall consume the tents of bribery. --
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35 |
They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. Their heart prepares deceit.' --
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