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Then Elifaz the Teimani spoke up:
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"If one tries to speak to you, will you mind? Yet who could keep from speaking?
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You have given moral instruction to many, you have firmed up feeble hands,
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your words have supported those who were stumbling, and you have strengthened the weak-kneed.
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"But now it comes to you, and you are impatient; at the first touch, you are in shock.
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Isn't your fear of God your assurance, and the integrity of your ways your hope?
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"Think back: what innocent person has perished? Since when are the upright destroyed?
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What I see is that those who plow sin and sow trouble reap just that.
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At a breath from God, they perish; at a blast from his anger, they are consumed.
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The lion may growl, the king lion may roar, but that old lion's teeth are broken;
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so the lion succumbs from lack of prey, and the lion's cubs are scattered.
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"For a word was stealthily brought to me, my ear caught only a whisper of it.
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In passing thoughts flashing through visions at night, when sleep lies heavy on people,
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a shiver of horror came over me; it made all my bones tremble.
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Then a spirit passed in front of my face; the hair of my flesh stood on end.
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It stood still, but I couldn't make out its appearance; yet the form stayed there before my eyes. Then I heard a subdued voice:
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'Can a human be seen by God as righteous? Can a mortal be pure before his maker?
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[God] doesn't trust his own servants, he finds fault even with his angels;
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much more those living in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust. They are crushed more easily than a worm;
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shattered between morning and evening; they perish forever, and no one takes notice.
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Their cord within them is pulled up; then they die, without ever gaining wisdom.'