Chapter 22

  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,  

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  Can a man be profitable to God, as he that is wise may be profitable to 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 thy iniquities infinite?  

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  For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for naught, and stripped the naked of their clothing.  

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  Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withheld bread from the hungry.  

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  But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honorable 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 around 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 hight of heaven? and behold the hight 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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  Who were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood!  

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  Who said to 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 deride them.  

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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: by this good shall come to thee.  

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

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  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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  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 defense 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 to God.  

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  Thou shalt make thy prayer to 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 to thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.  

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  When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is exaltation; 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 thy hands.  

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