Job:11-20
Seeker Overlay ON
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Then answered Zophar the Naamathite ,
and said ,
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Should not the multitude of words be answered ?
and should a man full of talk be justified ?
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Should thy lies make men hold their peace ?
and when thou mockest ,
shall no man make thee ashamed ?
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For thou hast said ,
My doctrine is pure ,
and I am clean in thine eyes .
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But oh that God would speak ,
and open his lips against thee ;
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And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom ,
that they are double to that which is !
Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth .
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Canst thou by searching find out God ?
canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection ?
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It is as high as heaven ;
what canst thou do ?
deeper than hell ;
what canst thou know ?
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The measure thereof is longer than the earth ,
and broader than the sea .
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If he cut off ,
and shut up ,
or gather together ,
then who can hinder him ?
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For he knoweth vain men :
he seeth wickedness also ;
will he not then consider it ?
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For vain man would be wise ,
though man be born like a wild ass '
s colt .
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If thou prepare thine heart ,
and stretch out thine hands toward him ;
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If iniquity be in thine hand ,
put it far away ,
and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles .
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For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot ;
yea ,
thou shalt be stedfast ,
and shalt not fear :
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Because thou shalt forget thy misery ,
and remember it as waters that pass away :
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And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday ;
thou shalt shine forth ,
thou shalt be as the morning .
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And thou shalt be secure ,
because there is hope ;
yea ,
thou shalt dig about thee ,
and thou shalt take thy rest in safety .
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Also thou shalt lie down ,
and none shall make thee afraid ;
yea ,
many shall make suit unto thee .
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But the eyes of the wicked shall fail ,
and they shall not escape ,
and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost .
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And Job answered and said ,
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No doubt but ye are the people ,
and wisdom shall die with you .
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But I have understanding as well as you ;
I am not inferior to you :
yea ,
who knoweth not such things as these ?
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I am as one mocked of his neighbour ,
who calleth upon God ,
and he answereth him :
the just upright man is laughed to scorn .
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He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease .
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The tabernacles of robbers prosper ,
and they that provoke God are secure ;
into whose hand God bringeth abundantly .
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But ask now the beasts ,
and they shall teach thee ;
and the fowls of the air ,
and they shall tell thee :
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Or speak to the earth ,
and it shall teach thee :
and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee .
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Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this ?
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In whose hand is the soul of every living thing ,
and the breath of all mankind .
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Doth not the ear try words ?
and the mouth taste his meat ?
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With the ancient is wisdom ;
and in length of days understanding .
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With him is wisdom and strength ,
he hath counsel and understanding .
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Behold ,
he breaketh down ,
and it cannot be built again :
he shutteth up a man ,
and there can be no opening .
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Behold ,
he withholdeth the waters ,
and they dry up :
also he sendeth them out ,
and they overturn the earth .
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With him is strength and wisdom :
the deceived and the deceiver are his .
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He leadeth counsellors away spoiled ,
and maketh the judges fools .
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He looseth the bond of kings ,
and girdeth their loins with a girdle .
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He leadeth princes away spoiled ,
and overthroweth the mighty .
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He removeth away the speech of the trusty ,
and taketh away the understanding of the aged .
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He poureth contempt upon princes ,
and weakeneth the strength of the mighty .
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He discovereth deep things out of darkness ,
and bringeth out to light the shadow of death .
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He increaseth the nations ,
and destroyeth them :
he enlargeth the nations ,
and straiteneth them again .
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He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth ,
and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way .
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They grope in the dark without light ,
and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man .
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Lo ,
mine eye hath seen all this ,
mine ear hath heard and understood it .
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What ye know ,
the same do I know also :
I am not inferior unto you .
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Surely I would speak to the Almighty ,
and I desire to reason with God .
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But ye are forgers of lies ,
ye are all physicians of no value .
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O that ye would altogether hold your peace !
and it should be your wisdom .
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Hear now my reasoning ,
and hearken to the pleadings of my lips .
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Will ye speak wickedly for God ?
and talk deceitfully for him ?
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Will ye accept his person ?
will ye contend for God ?
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Is it good that he should search you out ?
or as one man mocketh another ,
do ye so mock him ?
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He will surely reprove you ,
if ye do secretly accept persons .
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Shall not his excellency make you afraid ?
and his dread fall upon you ?
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Your remembrances are like unto ashes ,
your bodies to bodies of clay .
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Hold your peace ,
let me alone ,
that I may speak ,
and let come on me what will .
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Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth ,
and put my life in mine hand ?
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Though he slay me ,
yet will I trust in him :
but I will maintain mine own ways before him .
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He also shall be my salvation :
for an hypocrite shall not come before him .
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Hear diligently my speech ,
and my declaration with your ears .
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Behold now ,
I have ordered my cause ;
I know that I shall be justified .
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Who is he that will plead with me ?
for now ,
if I hold my tongue ,
I shall give up the ghost .
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Only do not two things unto me :
then will I not hide myself from thee .
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Withdraw thine hand far from me :
and let not thy dread make me afraid .
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Then call thou ,
and I will answer :
or let me speak ,
and answer thou me .
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How many are mine iniquities and sins ?
make me to know my transgression and my sin .
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Wherefore hidest thou thy face ,
and holdest me for thine enemy ?
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Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro ?
and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble ?
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For thou writest bitter things against me ,
and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth .
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Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks ,
and lookest narrowly unto all my paths ;
thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet .
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And he ,
as a rotten thing ,
consumeth ,
as a garment that is moth eaten .
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Man that is born of a woman is of few days ,
and full of trouble .
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He cometh forth like a flower ,
and is cut down :
he fleeth also as a shadow ,
and continueth not .
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And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one ,
and bringest me into judgment with thee ?
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Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ?
not one .
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Seeing his days are determined ,
the number of his months are with thee ,
thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass ;
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Turn from him ,
that he may rest ,
till he shall accomplish ,
as an hireling ,
his day .
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For there is hope of a tree ,
if it be cut down ,
that it will sprout again ,
and that the tender branch thereof will not cease .
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Though the root thereof wax old in the earth ,
and the stock thereof die in the ground ;
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Yet through the scent of water it will bud ,
and bring forth boughs like a plant .
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But man dieth ,
and wasteth away :
yea ,
man giveth up the ghost ,
and where is he ?
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As the waters fail from the sea ,
and the flood decayeth and drieth up :
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So man lieth down ,
and riseth not :
till the heavens be no more ,
they shall not awake ,
nor be raised out of their sleep .
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O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave ,
that thou wouldest keep me secret ,
until thy wrath be past ,
that thou wouldest appoint me a set time ,
and remember me !
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If a man die ,
shall he live again ?
all the days of my appointed time will I wait ,
till my change come .
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Thou shalt call ,
and I will answer thee :
thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands .
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For now thou numberest my steps :
dost thou not watch over my sin ?
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My transgression is sealed up in a bag ,
and thou sewest up mine iniquity .
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And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought ,
and the rock is removed out of his place .
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The waters wear the stones :
thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth ;
and thou destroyest the hope of man .
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Thou prevailest for ever against him ,
and he passeth :
thou changest his countenance ,
and sendest him away .
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His sons come to honour ,
and he knoweth it not ;
and they are brought low ,
but he perceiveth it not of them .
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But his flesh upon him shall have pain ,
and his soul within him shall mourn .
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Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite ,
and said ,
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Should a wise man utter vain knowledge ,
and fill his belly with the east wind ?
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Should he reason with unprofitable talk ?
or with speeches wherewith he can do no good ?
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Yea ,
thou castest off fear ,
and restrainest prayer before God .
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For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity ,
and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty .
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Thine own mouth condemneth thee ,
and not I :
yea ,
thine own lips testify against thee .
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Art thou the first man that was born ?
or wast thou made before the hills ?
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Hast thou heard the secret of God ?
and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself ?
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What knowest thou ,
that we know not ?
what understandest thou ,
which is not in us ?
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With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men ,
much elder than thy father .
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Are the consolations of God small with thee ?
is there any secret thing with thee ?
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Why doth thine heart carry thee away ?
and what do thy eyes wink at ,
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That thou turnest thy spirit against God ,
and lettest such words go out of thy mouth ?
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What is man ,
that he should be clean ?
and he which is born of a woman ,
that he should be righteous ?
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Behold ,
he putteth no trust in his saints ;
yea ,
the heavens are not clean in his sight .
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How much more abominable and filthy is man ,
which drinketh iniquity like water ?
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I will shew thee ,
hear me ;
and that which I have seen I will declare ;
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Which wise men have told from their fathers ,
and have not hid it :
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Unto whom alone the earth was given ,
and no stranger passed among them .
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The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days ,
and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor .
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A dreadful sound is in his ears :
in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him .
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He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness ,
and he is waited for of the sword .
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He wandereth abroad for bread ,
saying ,
Where is it ?
he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand .
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Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid ;
they shall prevail against him ,
as a king ready to the battle .
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For he stretcheth out his hand against God ,
and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty .
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He runneth upon him ,
even on his neck ,
upon the thick bosses of his bucklers :
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Because he covereth his face with his fatness ,
and maketh collops of fat on his flanks .
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And he dwelleth in desolate cities ,
and in houses which no man inhabiteth ,
which are ready to become heaps .
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He shall not be rich ,
neither shall his substance continue ,
neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth .
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He shall not depart out of darkness ;
the flame shall dry up his branches ,
and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away .
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Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity :
for vanity shall be his recompence .
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It shall be accomplished before his time ,
and his branch shall not be green .
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He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine ,
and shall cast off his flower as the olive .
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For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate ,
and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery .
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They conceive mischief ,
and bring forth vanity ,
and their belly prepareth deceit .
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Then Job answered and said ,
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I have heard many such things :
miserable comforters are ye all .
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Shall vain words have an end ?
or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest ?
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I also could speak as ye do :
if your soul were in my soul '
s stead ,
I could heap up words against you ,
and shake mine head at you .
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But I would strengthen you with my mouth ,
and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief .
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Though I speak ,
my grief is not asswaged :
and though I forbear ,
what am I eased ?
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But now he hath made me weary :
thou hast made desolate all my company .
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And thou hast filled me with wrinkles ,
which is a witness against me :
and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face .
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He teareth me in his wrath ,
who hateth me :
he gnasheth upon me with his teeth ;
mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me .
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They have gaped upon me with their mouth ;
they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully ;
they have gathered themselves together against me .
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God hath delivered me to the ungodly ,
and turned me over into the hands of the wicked .
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I was at ease ,
but he hath broken me asunder :
he hath also taken me by my neck ,
and shaken me to pieces ,
and set me up for his mark .
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His archers compass me round about ,
he cleaveth my reins asunder ,
and doth not spare ;
he poureth out my gall upon the ground .
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He breaketh me with breach upon breach ,
he runneth upon me like a giant .
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I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin ,
and defiled my horn in the dust .
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My face is foul with weeping ,
and on my eyelids is the shadow of death ;
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Not for any injustice in mine hands :
also my prayer is pure .
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O earth ,
cover not thou my blood ,
and let my cry have no place .
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Also now ,
behold ,
my witness is in heaven ,
and my record is on high .
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My friends scorn me :
but mine eye poureth out tears unto God .
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O that one might plead for a man with God ,
as a man pleadeth for his neighbour !
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When a few years are come ,
then I shall go the way whence I shall not return .
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My breath is corrupt ,
my days are extinct ,
the graves are ready for me .
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Are there not mockers with me ?
and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation ?
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Lay down now ,
put me in a surety with thee ;
who is he that will strike hands with me ?
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For thou hast hid their heart from understanding :
therefore shalt thou not exalt them .
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He that speaketh flattery to his friends ,
even the eyes of his children shall fail .
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He hath made me also a byword of the people ;
and aforetime I was as a tabret .
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Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow ,
and all my members are as a shadow .
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Upright men shall be astonied at this ,
and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite .
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The righteous also shall hold on his way ,
and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger .
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But as for you all ,
do ye return ,
and come now :
for I cannot find one wise man among you .
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My days are past ,
my purposes are broken off ,
even the thoughts of my heart .
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They change the night into day :
the light is short because of darkness .
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If I wait ,
the grave is mine house :
I have made my bed in the darkness .
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I have said to corruption ,
Thou art my father :
to the worm ,
Thou art my mother ,
and my sister .
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And where is now my hope ?
as for my hope ,
who shall see it ?
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They shall go down to the bars of the pit ,
when our rest together is in the dust .
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Then answered Bildad the Shuhite ,
and said ,
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How long will it be ere ye make an end of words ?
mark ,
and afterwards we will speak .
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Wherefore are we counted as beasts ,
and reputed vile in your sight ?
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He teareth himself in his anger :
shall the earth be forsaken for thee ?
and shall the rock be removed out of his place ?
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Yea ,
the light of the wicked shall be put out ,
and the spark of his fire shall not shine .
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The light shall be dark in his tabernacle ,
and his candle shall be put out with him .
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The steps of his strength shall be straitened ,
and his own counsel shall cast him down .
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For he is cast into a net by his own feet ,
and he walketh upon a snare .
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The gin shall take him by the heel ,
and the robber shall prevail against him .
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The snare is laid for him in the ground ,
and a trap for him in the way .
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Terrors shall make him afraid on every side ,
and shall drive him to his feet .
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His strength shall be hungerbitten ,
and destruction shall be ready at his side .
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It shall devour the strength of his skin :
even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength .
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His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle ,
and it shall bring him to the king of terrors .
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It shall dwell in his tabernacle ,
because it is none of his :
brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation .
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His roots shall be dried up beneath ,
and above shall his branch be cut off .
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His remembrance shall perish from the earth ,
and he shall have no name in the street .
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He shall be driven from light into darkness ,
and chased out of the world .
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He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people ,
nor any remaining in his dwellings .
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They that come after him shall be astonied at his day ,
as they that went before were affrighted .
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Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked ,
and this is the place of him that knoweth not God .
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Then Job answered and said ,
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How long will ye vex my soul ,
and break me in pieces with words ?
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These ten times have ye reproached me :
ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me .
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And be it indeed that I have erred ,
mine error remaineth with myself .
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If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me ,
and plead against me my reproach :
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Know now that God hath overthrown me ,
and hath compassed me with his net .
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Behold ,
I cry out of wrong ,
but I am not heard :
I cry aloud ,
but there is no judgment .
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He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass ,
and he hath set darkness in my paths .
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He hath stripped me of my glory ,
and taken the crown from my head .
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He hath destroyed me on every side ,
and I am gone :
and mine hope hath he removed like a tree .
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He hath also kindled his wrath against me ,
and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies .
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His troops come together ,
and raise up their way against me ,
and encamp round about my tabernacle .
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He hath put my brethren far from me ,
and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me .
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My kinsfolk have failed ,
and my familiar friends have forgotten me .
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They that dwell in mine house ,
and my maids ,
count me for a stranger :
I am an alien in their sight .
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I called my servant ,
and he gave me no answer ;
I intreated him with my mouth .
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My breath is strange to my wife ,
though I intreated for the children '
s sake of mine own body .
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Yea ,
young children despised me ;
I arose ,
and they spake against me .
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All my inward friends abhorred me :
and they whom I loved are turned against me .
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My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh ,
and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth .
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Have pity upon me ,
have pity upon me ,
O ye my friends ;
for the hand of God hath touched me .
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Why do ye persecute me as God ,
and are not satisfied with my flesh ?
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Oh that my words were now written !
oh that they were printed in a book !
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That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever !
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For I know that my redeemer liveth ,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth :
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And though after my skin worms destroy this body ,
yet in my flesh shall I see God :
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Whom I shall see for myself ,
and mine eyes shall behold ,
and not another ;
though my reins be consumed within me .
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But ye should say ,
Why persecute we him ,
seeing the root of the matter is found in me ?
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Be ye afraid of the sword :
for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword ,
that ye may know there is a judgment .
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Then answered Zophar the Naamathite ,
and said ,
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Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer ,
and for this I make haste .
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I have heard the check of my reproach ,
and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer .
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Knowest thou not this of old ,
since man was placed upon earth ,
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That the triumphing of the wicked is short ,
and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment ?
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Though his excellency mount up to the heavens ,
and his head reach unto the clouds ;
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Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung :
they which have seen him shall say ,
Where is he ?
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He shall fly away as a dream ,
and shall not be found :
yea ,
he shall be chased away as a vision of the night .
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The eye also which saw him shall see him no more ;
neither shall his place any more behold him .
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His children shall seek to please the poor ,
and his hands shall restore their goods .
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His bones are full of the sin of his youth ,
which shall lie down with him in the dust .
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Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth ,
though he hide it under his tongue ;
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Though he spare it ,
and forsake it not ;
but keep it still within his mouth :
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Yet his meat in his bowels is turned ,
it is the gall of asps within him .
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He hath swallowed down riches ,
and he shall vomit them up again :
God shall cast them out of his belly .
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He shall suck the poison of asps :
the viper '
s tongue shall slay him .
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He shall not see the rivers ,
the floods ,
the brooks of honey and butter .
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That which he laboured for shall he restore ,
and shall not swallow it down :
according to his substance shall the restitution be ,
and he shall not rejoice therein .
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Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor ;
because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not ;
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Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly ,
he shall not save of that which he desired .
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There shall none of his meat be left ;
therefore shall no man look for his goods .
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In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits :
every hand of the wicked shall come upon him .
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When he is about to fill his belly ,
God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him ,
and shall rain it upon him while he is eating .
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He shall flee from the iron weapon ,
and the bow of steel shall strike him through .
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It is drawn ,
and cometh out of the body ;
yea ,
the glittering sword cometh out of his gall :
terrors are upon him .
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All darkness shall be hid in his secret places :
a fire not blown shall consume him ;
it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle .
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The heaven shall reveal his iniquity ;
and the earth shall rise up against him .
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The increase of his house shall depart ,
and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath .
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This is the portion of a wicked man from God ,
and the heritage appointed unto him by God .
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But Job answered and said ,