The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Book of Job
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Chapter 22
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Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite:
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A man cannot hope to implead God, even a man of perfect wisdom.
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Just though thou be, how is God the better for knowing thou art just? Can stainless life of thine advantage him?
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Or dost thou think that fear of thee will persuade him to appear in court, and prove thee in the wrong?
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Must he browbeat thee over a long record of guilt, over many heinous deeds done;
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remind thee of the usurer’s pledge needlessly taken, of thy brother left to go naked while thou hadst his garment by thee,
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of water grudged to thirsty men, bread refused to the hungry?
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Must he tell the story of a rich tyrant that had lands and held to them;
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of widows sent away without redress, orphans left without support, through thy means?
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Must he say, that is why thou art caught in the snare, dismayed by sudden peril,
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left benighted when thou thoughtest to see day, overwhelmed by the unexpected flood?

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Bethink thee, God is high as heaven itself, reaches beyond the uttermost star.
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Wouldst thou tell us that he has no knowledge of what passes, that he issues his decree blindly,
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gives no heed to our mortal doings, there where he walks above heaven’s vault, all wrapped in cloud?
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That were to follow old paths of error, trodden long ago by impious feet.
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Snatched away before their time were the men that reasoned so; a flood engulfed the solid ground beneath them.
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These, beyond doubt, were men who bade God keep his distance from them, thought the Omnipotent could give them no aid,
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when he had filled their abode with blessings! Not for nothing do I shun their counsels!
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Here was a sight to make the just triumphant, make innocent folk laugh aloud in scorn,
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to see how their proud hopes vanished, and all that was left of them perished in the flames.

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Fall in with the Lord’s ways, and be his friend; thou shalt be well rewarded.
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Let his lips be thy oracle, his words written on thy heart.
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Turn back to the Almighty for thy healing, and rid thy dwelling-place of guilt.
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Firm rock thou shalt have for shifting dust, and for firm rock streams of gold;
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the Almighty himself will be thy shield, and silver thou shalt never lack.
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In those omnipotent arms thou shalt rest content, thy face upturned towards God himself,
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thy prayer heard as soon as offered, thy vows paid as soon as due;
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all thy desire thou shalt have, and all thy paths will be sunshine.
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He that was once brought low shall be high in renown; the downcast eye shall win deliverance.

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But the innocent shall be kept safe; in a pair of clean hands there was safety ever.