nkjv Job:12-14 SEEK
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Then Job answered and said :
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No doubt you are the people ,
And wisdom will die with you !
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But I have understanding as well as you ;
I am not inferior to you .
Indeed ,
who does not know such things as these ?
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I am one mocked by his friends ,
Who called on God ,
and He answered him ,
The just and blameless who is ridiculed .
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A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease ;
It is made ready for those whose feet slip .
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The tents of robbers prosper ,
And those who provoke God are secure --
In what God provides by His hand .
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But now ask the beasts ,
and they will teach you ;
And the birds of the air ,
and they will tell you ;
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Or speak to the earth ,
and it will teach you ;
And the fish of the sea will explain to you .
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Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this ,
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In whose hand is the life of every living thing ,
And the breath of all mankind ?
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Does not the ear test words And the mouth taste its food ?
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Wisdom is with aged men ,
And with length of days ,
understanding .
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With Him are wisdom and strength ,
He has counsel and understanding .
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If He breaks a thing down ,
it cannot be rebuilt ;
If He imprisons a man ,
there can be no release .
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If He withholds the waters ,
they dry up ;
If He sends them out ,
they overwhelm the earth .
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With Him are strength and prudence .
The deceived and the deceiver are His .
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He leads counselors away plundered ,
And makes fools of the judges .
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He loosens the bonds of kings ,
And binds their waist with a belt .
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He leads princes away plundered ,
And overthrows the mighty .
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He deprives the trusted ones of speech ,
And takes away the discernment of the elders .
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He pours contempt on princes ,
And disarms the mighty .
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He uncovers deep things out of darkness ,
And brings the shadow of death to light .
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He makes nations great ,
and destroys them ;
He enlarges nations ,
and guides them .
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He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth ,
And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness .
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They grope in the dark without light ,
And He makes them stagger like a drunken man .
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Behold ,
my eye has seen all this ,
My ear has heard and understood it .
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What you know ,
I also know ;
I am not inferior to you .
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But I would speak to the Almighty ,
And I desire to reason with God .
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But you forgers of lies ,
You are all worthless physicians .
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Oh ,
that you would be silent ,
And it would be your wisdom !
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Now hear my reasoning ,
And heed the pleadings of my lips .
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Will you speak wickedly for God ,
And talk deceitfully for Him ?
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Will you show partiality for Him ?
Will you contend for God ?
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Will it be well when He searches you out ?
Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man ?
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He will surely rebuke you If you secretly show partiality .
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Will not His excellence make you afraid ,
And the dread of Him fall upon you ?
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Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes ,
Your defenses are defenses of clay .
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Hold your peace with me ,
and let me speak ,
Then let come on me what may !
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Why do I take my flesh in my teeth ,
And put my life in my hands ?
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Though He slay me ,
yet will I trust Him .
Even so ,
I will defend my own ways before Him .
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He also shall be my salvation ,
For a hypocrite could not come before Him .
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Listen carefully to my speech ,
And to my declaration with your ears .
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See now ,
I have prepared my case ,
I know that I shall be vindicated .
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Who is he who will contend with me ?
If now I hold my tongue ,
I perish .
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Only two things do not do to me ,
Then I will not hide myself from You :
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Withdraw Your hand far from me ,
And let not the dread of You make me afraid .
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Then call ,
and I will answer ;
Or let me speak ,
then You respond to me .
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How many are my iniquities and sins ?
Make me know my transgression and my sin .
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Why do You hide Your face ,
And regard me as Your enemy ?
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Will You frighten a leaf driven to and fro ?
And will You pursue dry stubble ?
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For You write bitter things against me ,
And make me inherit the iniquities of my youth .
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You put my feet in the stocks ,
And watch closely all my paths .
You set a limit for the soles of my feet .
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Man decays like a rotten thing ,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten .
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Man who is born of woman Is of few days and full of trouble .
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He comes forth like a flower and fades away ;
He flees like a shadow and does not continue .
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And do You open Your eyes on such a one ,
And bring me to judgment with Yourself ?
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Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ?
No one !
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Since his days are determined ,
The number of his months is with You ;
You have appointed his limits ,
so that he cannot pass .
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Look away from him that he may rest ,
Till like a hired man he finishes his day .
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For there is hope for a tree ,
If it is cut down ,
that it will sprout again ,
And that its tender shoots will not cease .
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Though its root may grow old in the earth ,
And its stump may die in the ground ,
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Yet at the scent of water it will bud And bring forth branches like a plant .
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But man dies and is laid away ;
Indeed he breathes his last And where is he ?
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As water disappears from the sea ,
And a river becomes parched and dries up ,
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So man lies down and does not rise .
Till the heavens are no more ,
They will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep .
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Oh ,
that You would hide me in the grave ,
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past ,
That You would appoint me a set time ,
and remember me !
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If a man dies ,
shall he live again ?
All the days of my hard service I will wait ,
Till my change comes .
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You shall call ,
and I will answer You ;
You shall desire the work of Your hands .
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For now You number my steps ,
But do not watch over my sin .
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My transgression is sealed up in a bag ,
And You cover my iniquity .
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But as a mountain falls and crumbles away ,
And as a rock is moved from its place ;
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As water wears away stones ,
And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth ;
So You destroy the hope of man .
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You prevail forever against him ,
and he passes on ;
You change his countenance and send him away .
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His sons come to honor ,
and he does not know it ;
They are brought low ,
and he does not perceive it .
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But his flesh will be in pain over it ,
And his soul will mourn over it ."
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Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said :