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Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
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“A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk!
You are nothing but a windbag.
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The wise don’t engage in empty chatter.
What good are such words?
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Have you no fear of God,
no reverence for him?
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Your sins are telling your mouth what to say.
Your words are based on clever deception.
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Your own mouth condemns you, not I.
Your own lips testify against you.
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“Were you the first person ever born?
Were you born before the hills were made?
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Were you listening at God’s secret council?
Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
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What do you know that we don’t?
What do you understand that we do not?
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On our side are aged, gray-haired men
much older than your father!
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“Is God’s comfort too little for you?
Is his gentle word not enough?
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What has taken away your reason?
What has weakened your vision, 1
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that you turn against God
and say all these evil things?
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Can any mortal be pure?
Can anyone born of a woman be just?
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Look, God does not even trust the angels. 2
Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight.
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How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person
with a thirst for wickedness!
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“If you will listen, I will show you.
I will answer you from my own experience.
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And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men
who have heard the same thing from their fathers -
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from those to whom the land was given
long before any foreigners arrived.
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“The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives.
Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.
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The sound of terror rings in their ears,
and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.
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They dare not go out into the darkness
for fear they will be murdered.
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They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’ 3
They know their day of destruction is near.
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That dark day terrifies them.
They live in distress and anguish,
like a king preparing for battle.
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For they shake their fists at God,
defying the Almighty.
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Holding their strong shields,
they defiantly charge against him.
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“These wicked people are heavy and prosperous;
their waists bulge with fat.
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But their cities will be ruined.
They will live in abandoned houses
that are ready to tumble down.
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Their riches will not last,
and their wealth will not endure.
Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.
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“They will not escape the darkness.
The burning sun will wither their shoots,
and the breath of God will destroy them.
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Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches,
for emptiness will be their only reward.
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Like trees, they will be cut down in the prime of life;
their branches will never again be green.
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They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early,
like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.
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For the godless are barren.
Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.
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They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
Their womb produces deceit.”