Job:26-31
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But Job answered and said ,
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How hast thou helped him that is without power ?
how savest thou the arm that hath no strength ?
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How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom ?
and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is ?
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To whom hast thou uttered words ?
and whose spirit came from thee ?
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Dead things are formed from under the waters ,
and the inhabitants thereof .
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Hell is naked before him ,
and destruction hath no covering .
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He stretcheth out the north over the empty place ,
and hangeth the earth upon nothing .
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He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds ;
and the cloud is not rent under them .
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He holdeth back the face of his throne ,
and spreadeth his cloud upon it .
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He hath compassed the waters with bounds ,
until the day and night come to an end .
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The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof .
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He divideth the sea with his power ,
and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud .
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By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens ;
his hand hath formed the crooked serpent .
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Lo ,
these are parts of his ways :
but how little a portion is heard of him ?
but the thunder of his power who can understand ?
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Moreover Job continued his parable ,
and said ,
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As God liveth ,
who hath taken away my judgment ;
and the Almighty ,
who hath vexed my soul ;
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All the while my breath is in me ,
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils ;
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My lips shall not speak wickedness ,
nor my tongue utter deceit .
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God forbid that I should justify you :
till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me .
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My righteousness I hold fast ,
and will not let it go :
my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live .
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Let mine enemy be as the wicked ,
and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous .
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For what is the hope of the hypocrite ,
though he hath gained ,
when God taketh away his soul ?
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Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him ?
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Will he delight himself in the Almighty ?
will he always call upon God ?
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I will teach you by the hand of God :
that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal .
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Behold ,
all ye yourselves have seen it ;
why then are ye thus altogether vain ?
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This is the portion of a wicked man with God ,
and the heritage of oppressors ,
which they shall receive of the Almighty .
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If his children be multiplied ,
it is for the sword :
and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread .
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Those that remain of him shall be buried in death :
and his widows shall not weep .
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Though he heap up silver as the dust ,
and prepare raiment as the clay ;
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He may prepare it ,
but the just shall put it on ,
and the innocent shall divide the silver .
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He buildeth his house as a moth ,
and as a booth that the keeper maketh .
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The rich man shall lie down ,
but he shall not be gathered :
he openeth his eyes ,
and he is not .
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Terrors take hold on him as waters ,
a tempest stealeth him away in the night .
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The east wind carrieth him away ,
and he departeth :
and as a storm hurleth him out of his place .
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For God shall cast upon him ,
and not spare :
he would fain flee out of his hand .
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Men shall clap their hands at him ,
and shall hiss him out of his place .
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Surely there is a vein for the silver ,
and a place for gold where they fine it .
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Iron is taken out of the earth ,
and brass is molten out of the stone .
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He setteth an end to darkness ,
and searcheth out all perfection :
the stones of darkness ,
and the shadow of death .
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The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant ;
even the waters forgotten of the foot :
they are dried up ,
they are gone away from men .
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As for the earth ,
out of it cometh bread :
and under it is turned up as it were fire .
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The stones of it are the place of sapphires :
and it hath dust of gold .
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There is a path which no fowl knoweth ,
and which the vulture '
s eye hath not seen :
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The lion '
s whelps have not trodden it ,
nor the fierce lion passed by it .
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He putteth forth his hand upon the rock ;
he overturneth the mountains by the roots .
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He cutteth out rivers among the rocks ;
and his eye seeth every precious thing .
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He bindeth the floods from overflowing ;
and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light .
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But where shall wisdom be found ?
and where is the place of understanding ?
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Man knoweth not the price thereof ;
neither is it found in the land of the living .
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The depth saith ,
It is not in me :
and the sea saith ,
It is not with me .
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It cannot be gotten for gold ,
neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof .
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It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir ,
with the precious onyx ,
or the sapphire .
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The gold and the crystal cannot equal it :
and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold .
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No mention shall be made of coral ,
or of pearls :
for the price of wisdom is above rubies .
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The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it ,
neither shall it be valued with pure gold .
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Whence then cometh wisdom ?
and where is the place of understanding ?
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Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living ,
and kept close from the fowls of the air .
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Destruction and death say ,
We have heard the fame thereof with our ears .
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God understandeth the way thereof ,
and he knoweth the place thereof .
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For he looketh to the ends of the earth ,
and seeth under the whole heaven ;
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To make the weight for the winds ;
and he weigheth the waters by measure .
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When he made a decree for the rain ,
and a way for the lightning of the thunder :
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Then did he see it ,
and declare it ;
he prepared it ,
yea ,
and searched it out .
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And unto man he said ,
Behold ,
the fear of the Lord ,
that is wisdom ;
and to depart from evil is understanding .
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Moreover Job continued his parable ,
and said ,
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Oh that I were as in months past ,
as in the days when God preserved me ;
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When his candle shined upon my head ,
and when by his light I walked through darkness ;
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As I was in the days of my youth ,
when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle ;
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When the Almighty was yet with me ,
when my children were about me ;
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When I washed my steps with butter ,
and the rock poured me out rivers of oil ;
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When I went out to the gate through the city ,
when I prepared my seat in the street !
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The young men saw me ,
and hid themselves :
and the aged arose ,
and stood up .
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The princes refrained talking ,
and laid their hand on their mouth .
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The nobles held their peace ,
and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth .
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When the ear heard me ,
then it blessed me ;
and when the eye saw me ,
it gave witness to me :
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Because I delivered the poor that cried ,
and the fatherless ,
and him that had none to help him .
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The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me :
and I caused the widow '
s heart to sing for joy .
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I put on righteousness ,
and it clothed me :
my judgment was as a robe and a diadem .
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I was eyes to the blind ,
and feet was I to the lame .
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I was a father to the poor :
and the cause which I knew not I searched out .
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And I brake the jaws of the wicked ,
and plucked the spoil out of his teeth .
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Then I said ,
I shall die in my nest ,
and I shall multiply my days as the sand .
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My root was spread out by the waters ,
and the dew lay all night upon my branch .
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My glory was fresh in me ,
and my bow was renewed in my hand .
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Unto me men gave ear ,
and waited ,
and kept silence at my counsel .
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After my words they spake not again ;
and my speech dropped upon them .
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And they waited for me as for the rain ;
and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain .
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If I laughed on them ,
they believed it not ;
and the light of my countenance they cast not down .
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I chose out their way ,
and sat chief ,
and dwelt as a king in the army ,
as one that comforteth the mourners .
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But now they that are younger than I have me in derision ,
whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock .
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Yea ,
whereto might the strength of their hands profit me ,
in whom old age was perished ?
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For want and famine they were solitary ;
fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste .
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Who cut up mallows by the bushes ,
and juniper roots for their meat .
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They were driven forth from among men , (
they cried after them as after a thief ;)
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To dwell in the clifts of the valleys ,
in caves of the earth ,
and in the rocks .
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Among the bushes they brayed ;
under the nettles they were gathered together .
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They were children of fools ,
yea ,
children of base men :
they were viler than the earth .
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And now am I their song ,
yea ,
I am their byword .
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They abhor me ,
they flee far from me ,
and spare not to spit in my face .
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Because he hath loosed my cord ,
and afflicted me ,
they have also let loose the bridle before me .
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Upon my right hand rise the youth ;
they push away my feet ,
and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction .
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They mar my path ,
they set forward my calamity ,
they have no helper .
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They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters :
in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me .
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Terrors are turned upon me :
they pursue my soul as the wind :
and my welfare passeth away as a cloud .
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And now my soul is poured out upon me ;
the days of affliction have taken hold upon me .
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My bones are pierced in me in the night season :
and my sinews take no rest .
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By the great force of my disease is my garment changed :
it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat .
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He hath cast me into the mire ,
and I am become like dust and ashes .
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I cry unto thee ,
and thou dost not hear me :
I stand up ,
and thou regardest me not .
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Thou art become cruel to me :
with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me .
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Thou liftest me up to the wind ;
thou causest me to ride upon it ,
and dissolvest my substance .
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For I know that thou wilt bring me to death ,
and to the house appointed for all living .
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Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave ,
though they cry in his destruction .
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Did not I weep for him that was in trouble ?
was not my soul grieved for the poor ?
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When I looked for good ,
then evil came unto me :
and when I waited for light ,
there came darkness .
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My bowels boiled ,
and rested not :
the days of affliction prevented me .
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I went mourning without the sun :
I stood up ,
and I cried in the congregation .
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I am a brother to dragons ,
and a companion to owls .
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My skin is black upon me ,
and my bones are burned with heat .
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My harp also is turned to mourning ,
and my organ into the voice of them that weep .
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I made a covenant with mine eyes ;
why then should I think upon a maid ?
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For what portion of God is there from above ?
and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high ?
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Is not destruction to the wicked ?
and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity ?
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Doth not he see my ways ,
and count all my steps ?
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If I have walked with vanity ,
or if my foot hath hasted to deceit ;
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Let me be weighed in an even balance ,
that God may know mine integrity .
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If my step hath turned out of the way ,
and mine heart walked after mine eyes ,
and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands ;
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Then let me sow ,
and let another eat ;
yea ,
let my offspring be rooted out .
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If mine heart have been deceived by a woman ,
or if I have laid wait at my neighbour '
s door ;
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Then let my wife grind unto another ,
and let others bow down upon her .
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For this is an heinous crime ;
yea ,
it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges .
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For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction ,
and would root out all mine increase .
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If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant ,
when they contended with me ;
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What then shall I do when God riseth up ?
and when he visiteth ,
what shall I answer him ?
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Did not he that made me in the womb make him ?
and did not one fashion us in the womb ?
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If I have withheld the poor from their desire ,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail ;
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Or have eaten my morsel myself alone ,
and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof ;
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For from my youth he was brought up with me ,
as with a father ,
and I have guided her from my mother '
s womb ;)
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If I have seen any perish for want of clothing ,
or any poor without covering ;
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If his loins have not blessed me ,
and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep ;
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If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless ,
when I saw my help in the gate :
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Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade ,
and mine arm be broken from the bone .
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For destruction from God was a terror to me ,
and by reason of his highness I could not endure .
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If I have made gold my hope ,
or have said to the fine gold ,
Thou art my confidence ;
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If I rejoiced because my wealth was great ,
and because mine hand had gotten much ;
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If I beheld the sun when it shined ,
or the moon walking in brightness ;
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And my heart hath been secretly enticed ,
or my mouth hath kissed my hand :
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This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge :
for I should have denied the God that is above .
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If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me ,
or lifted up myself when evil found him :
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Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul .
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If the men of my tabernacle said not ,
Oh that we had of his flesh !
we cannot be satisfied .
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The stranger did not lodge in the street :
but I opened my doors to the traveller .
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If I covered my transgressions as Adam ,
by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom :
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Did I fear a great multitude ,
or did the contempt of families terrify me ,
that I kept silence ,
and went not out of the door ?
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Oh that one would hear me !
behold ,
my desire is ,
that the Almighty would answer me ,
and that mine adversary had written a book .
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Surely I would take it upon my shoulder ,
and bind it as a crown to me .
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I would declare unto him the number of my steps ;
as a prince would I go near unto him .
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If my land cry against me ,
or that the furrows likewise thereof complain ;
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If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money ,
or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life :
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Let thistles grow instead of wheat ,
and cockle instead of barley .
The words of Job are ended .
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So these three men ceased to answer Job ,
because he was righteous in his own eyes .
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