2.0 KiB
Eliphaz Says the Innocent Do Not Suffer
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Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
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"If one tries a word with you, will you become weary? But who can hold back from speaking?
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Behold, you have disciplined many, And you have strengthened limp hands.
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Your words have helped the stumbling to stand, And you have encouraged feeble knees.
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But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; It touches you, and you are dismayed.
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Is not your fear of God your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope?
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"Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright wiped out?
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According to what I have seen, those who plow wickedness And those who sow trouble harvest it.
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By the breath of God they perish, And by the wind of His anger they come to an end.
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The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, And the teeth of the young lions are broken.
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The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the whelps of the lioness are scattered.
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"Now a word was brought to me stealthily, And my ear received a whisper of it.
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Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on men,
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Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made the multitude of my bones shake in dread.
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Then a spirit swept by my face; The hair of my flesh bristled up.
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It stood still, but I could not recognize its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, then I heard a voice:
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'Can mankind be right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?
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He puts no trust even in His slaves; And against His angels He charges error.
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How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!
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Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces; Unobserved, they perish forever.
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Is not their tent-cord pulled up within them? They die, yet without wisdom.'