| Chapter 4 |
1 |
Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said: -
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2 |
If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill, but who can withhold the words he hath conceived? -
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3 |
Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the weary hands: -
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4 |
Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees: -
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5 |
But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: it hath touched thee, and thou art troubled. -
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6 |
Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways? -
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7 |
Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed? -
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8 |
On the contrary I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them, -
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9 |
Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath. -
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10 |
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of lions are broken: -
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11 |
The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad. -
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12 |
Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth as it were received the veins of its whisper. -
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13 |
In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men, -
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14 |
Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted: -
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15 |
And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up. -
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16 |
There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice as it were of a gentle wind: -
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17 |
Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker? -
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18 |
Behold they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness: -
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19 |
How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth? -
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20 |
From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever. -
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21 |
And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom. -
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