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1 THEN Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, | |
2 If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking? | |
3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. | |
4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. | |
5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. | |
6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? | |
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? | |
8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. | |
9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. | |
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. | |
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad. | |
12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof. | |
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, | |
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. | |
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up: | |
16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, | |
17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? | |
18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: | |
19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth? | |
20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it. | |
21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom. | |