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And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: --
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Doth a wise man answer with vain knowledge? And fill with an east wind his belly?
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To reason with a word not useful? And speeches--no profit in them?
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Yea, thou dost make reverence void, And dost diminish meditation before God.
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For thy mouth teacheth thine iniquity, And thou chooseth the tongue of the subtile.
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Thy mouth declareth thee wicked, and not I, And thy lips testify against thee.
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The first man art thou born? And before the heights wast thou formed?
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Of the secret counsel of God dost thou hear? And withdrawest thou unto thee wisdom?
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What hast thou known, and we know not? Understandest thou--and it is not with us?
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Both the gray-headed And the very aged are among us--Greater than thy father in days.
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Too few for thee are the comforts of God? And a gentle word is with thee,
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What--doth thine heart take thee away? And what--are thine eyes high?
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For thou turnest against God thy spirit? And hast brought out words from thy mouth:
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What is man that he is pure, And that he is righteous, one born of woman?
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Lo, in His holy ones He putteth no credence, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.
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Also--surely abominable and filthy Is man drinking as water perverseness.
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I shew thee--hearken to me--And this I have seen and declare:
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Which the wise declare--And have not hid--from their fathers.
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To them alone was the land given, And a stranger passed not over into their midst:
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`All days of the wicked he is paining himself, And few years have been laid up for the terrible one.
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A fearful voice is in his ears, In peace doth a destroyer come to him.
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He believeth not to return from darkness, And watched is he for the sword.
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He is wandering for bread--`Where is it?' He hath known that ready at his hand Is a day of darkness.
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Terrify him do adversity and distress, They prevail over him As a king ready for a boaster.
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For he stretched out against God his hand, And against the Mighty he maketh himself mighty.
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He runneth unto Him with a neck, With thick bosses of his shields.
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For he hath covered his face with his fat, And maketh vigour over his confidence.
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And he inhabiteth cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.
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He is not rich, nor doth his wealth rise, Nor doth he stretch out on earth their continuance.
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He turneth not aside from darkness, His tender branch doth a flame dry up, And he turneth aside at the breath of His mouth!
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Let him not put credence in vanity, He hath been deceived, For vanity is his recompence.
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Not in his day is it completed, And his bending branch is not green.
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He shaketh off as a vine his unripe fruit, And casteth off as an olive his blossom.
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For the company of the profane is gloomy, And fire hath consumed tents of bribery.
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To conceive misery, and to bear iniquity, Even their heart doth prepare deceit.