Chapter 22

  And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,  

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  Can a man be profitable to ùGod? surely it is unto himself that the wise man is profitable.  

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  Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if thou art righteous? And is it gain [to him] that thou makest thy ways perfect?  

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  Will he reason with thee for fear of thee? Will he enter with thee into judgment?  

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  Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities without end?  

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  For thou hast taken a pledge of thy brother for nought, and stripped off the clothing of the naked.  

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  Thou hast not given water to the fainting to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.  

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  But the powerful man, he had the land; and the man of high rank dwelt in it.  

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  Widows hast thou sent empty away, 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 floods of waters cover thee.  

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  Is not +God in the height of the heavens? And behold the summit of the stars: how exalted are they!  

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  And thou sayest, What doth ùGod know? will he judge through the dark cloud?  

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  Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh on the vault of the heavens.  

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  Dost thou mark the ancient path which wicked men have trodden?  

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  Who were carried off before the time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood;  

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  Who said unto ùGod, Depart from us! and what could the Almighty do to them?  

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  Yet he filled their houses with good. 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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  Is not he who rose against us destroyed, and doth not the fire consume his residue?  

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  Reconcile thyself now with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.  

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  Receive, I pray thee, instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.  

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  If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up. If thou remove unrighteousness far from thy tents,  

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  And put the precious ore with the dust, and [the gold of] Ophir among the stones of the torrents,  

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  Then the Almighty will be thy precious ore, and silver heaped up unto thee;  

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  Yea, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto +God:  

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  Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows;  

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  And thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; and light shall shine upon thy ways.  

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  When they are made low, then thou shalt say, Rise up! and he shall save him that is of downcast eyes.  

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  [Even] him that is not innocent shall he deliver; yea, he shall be delivered by the pureness of thy hands.  

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