nkjv Job:13-16 SEEK
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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 :
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Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge ,
And fill himself with the east wind ?
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Should he reason with unprofitable talk ,
Or by speeches with which he can do no good ?
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Yes ,
you cast off fear ,
And restrain prayer before God .
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For your iniquity teaches your mouth ,
And you choose the tongue of the crafty .
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Your own mouth condemns you ,
and not I ;
Yes ,
your own lips testify against you .
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Are you the first man who was born ?
Or were you made before the hills ?
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Have you heard the counsel of God ?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself ?
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What do you know that we do not know ?
What do you understand that is not in us ?
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Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us ,
Much older than your father .
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Are the consolations of God too small for you ,
And the word spoken gently with you ?
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Why does your heart carry you away ,
And what do your eyes wink at ,
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That you turn your spirit against God ,
And let such words go out of your mouth ?
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What is man ,
that he could be pure ?
And he who is born of a woman ,
that he could be righteous ?
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If God puts no trust in His saints ,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight ,
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How much less man ,
who is abominable and filthy ,
Who drinks iniquity like water !
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I will tell you ,
hear me ;
What I have seen I will declare ,
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What wise men have told ,
Not hiding anything received from their fathers ,
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To whom alone the land was given ,
And no alien passed among them :
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The wicked man writhes with pain all his days ,
And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor .
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Dreadful sounds are in his ears ;
In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him .
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He does not believe that he will return from darkness ,
For a sword is waiting for him .
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He wanders about for bread ,
saying , "
Where is it ?'
He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand .
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Trouble and anguish make him afraid ;
They overpower him ,
like a king ready for battle .
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For he stretches out his hand against God ,
And acts defiantly against the Almighty ,
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Running stubbornly against Him With his strong ,
embossed shield .
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Though he has covered his face with his fatness ,
And made his waist heavy with fat ,
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He dwells in desolate cities ,
In houses which no one inhabits ,
Which are destined to become ruins .
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He will not be rich ,
Nor will his wealth continue ,
Nor will his possessions overspread the earth .
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He will not depart from darkness ;
The flame will dry out his branches ,
And by the breath of His mouth he will go away .
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Let him not trust in futile things ,
deceiving himself ,
For futility will be his reward .
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It will be accomplished before his time ,
And his branch will not be green .
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He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine ,
And cast off his blossom like an olive tree .
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For the company of hypocrites will be barren ,
And fire will consume the tents of bribery .
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They conceive trouble and bring forth futility ;
Their womb prepares deceit ."
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Then Job answered and said :
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I have heard many such things ;
Miserable comforters are you all !
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Shall words of wind have an end ?
Or what provokes you that you answer ?
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I also could speak as you do ,
If your soul were in my soul '
s place .
I could heap up words against you ,
And shake my head at you ;
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But I would strengthen you with my mouth ,
And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief .
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Though I speak ,
my grief is not relieved ;
And if I remain silent ,
how am I eased ?
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But now He has worn me out ;
You have made desolate all my company .
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You have shriveled me up ,
And it is a witness against me ;
My leanness rises up against me And bears witness to my face .
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He tears me in His wrath ,
and hates me ;
He gnashes at me with His teeth ;
My adversary sharpens His gaze on me .
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They gape at me with their mouth ,
They strike me reproachfully on the cheek ,
They gather together against me .
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God has delivered me to the ungodly ,
And turned me over to the hands of the wicked .
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I was at ease ,
but He has shattered me ;
He also has taken me by my neck ,
and shaken me to pieces ;
He has set me up for His target ,
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His archers surround me .
He pierces my heart and does not pity ;
He pours out my gall on the ground .
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He breaks me with wound upon wound ;
He runs at me like a warrior .
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I have sewn sackcloth over my skin ,
And laid my head in the dust .
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My face is flushed from weeping ,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death ;
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Although no violence is in my hands ,
And my prayer is pure .
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O earth ,
do not cover my blood ,
And let my cry have no resting place !
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Surely even now my witness is in heaven ,
And my evidence is on high .
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My friends scorn me ;
My eyes pour out tears to God .
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Oh ,
that one might plead for a man with God ,
As a man pleads for his neighbor !
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For when a few years are finished ,
I shall go the way of no return .
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My spirit is broken ,
My days are extinguished ,
The grave is ready for me .