| Chapter 22 |
1 | Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
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2 | Can a man be profitable to God, as he that is wise may be profitable to himself?
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3 | 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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4 | Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?
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5 | Is not thy wickedness great? and thy iniquities infinite?
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6 | For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for naught, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
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7 | Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withheld bread from the hungry.
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8 | But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honorable man dwelt in it.
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9 | Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
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10 | Therefore snares are around thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;
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11 | Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.
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12 | Is not God in the hight of heaven? and behold the hight of the stars, how high they are!
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13 | And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
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14 | Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
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15 | Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
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16 | Who were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood!
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17 | Who said to God, depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them!
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18 | Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
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19 | The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent deride them.
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20 | Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
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21 | Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: by this good shall come to thee.
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22 | Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
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23 | If thou shalt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
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24 | Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
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25 | Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defense and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
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26 | For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.
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27 | Thou shalt make thy prayer to him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
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28 | Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established to thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
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29 | When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is exaltation; and he shall save the humble person.
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30 | He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thy hands.
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