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Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, |
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Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? |
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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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Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? |
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Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? |
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For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. |
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Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. |
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But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it. |
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Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. |
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Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; |
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Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee. |
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Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! |
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And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? |
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Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven. |
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Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? |
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Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood: |
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Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? |
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Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. |
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The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn. |
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Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth. |
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Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. |
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Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. |
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If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. |
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Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. |
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Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. |
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For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. |
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Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. |
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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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When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. |
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He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands. |