22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

² Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

³ Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

⁴ Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

⁵ Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

⁶ For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

⁷ Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

⁸ But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.

⁹ Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

¹⁰ Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

¹¹ Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

¹² Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

¹³ And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

¹⁴ Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

¹⁵ Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

¹⁶ Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

¹⁷ Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?

¹⁸ Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁹ The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

²⁰ Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

²¹ Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

²² Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.

²³ If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

²⁴ Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

²⁵ Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.

²⁶ For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

²⁷ Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.

²⁸ Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

²⁹ When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

³⁰ He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.

23 Then Job answered and said,

² Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

³ Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

⁴ I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵ I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

⁶ Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

⁷ There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

⁸ Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

⁹ On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

¹⁰ But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

¹¹ My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

¹² Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

¹³ But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

¹⁴ For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

¹⁵ Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.

¹⁶ For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:

¹⁷ Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

24 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

² Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.

³ They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

⁴ They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

⁵ Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

⁶ They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

⁷ They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

⁸ They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

⁹ They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

¹⁰ They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

¹¹ Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.

¹² Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

¹³ They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

¹⁴ The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

¹⁵ The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.

¹⁶ In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

¹⁷ For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

¹⁸ He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

¹⁹ Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.

²⁰ The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

²¹ He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

²² He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

²³ Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

²⁴ They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

²⁵ And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

¹⁸ Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.

¹⁹ And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

²⁰ And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

²¹ Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

²² And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

²³ And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?

²⁴ And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁵ The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?

²⁶ But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.

²⁷ And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

²⁸ But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.

²⁹ He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

³⁰ And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.

³¹ Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

³² For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

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²¹ My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

²² So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

²³ Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

²⁴ When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

²⁵ Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

²⁶ For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

²⁷ Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

²⁸ Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

²⁹ Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

³⁰ Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

³¹ Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.

³² For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous.

³³ The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.

³⁴ Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

³⁵ The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.

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