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The Book of Job, Chapter 21
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1 |
But Job answered and said,
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Hear diligently my speech, andlet this be your consolations.
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Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock
on.
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As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should
not my spirit be troubled?
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Mark me, and be astonished, and lay
your hand upon your mouth.
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Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my
flesh.
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Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in
power?
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Their seed is established in their sight with them, and
their offspring before their eyes.
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Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon
them.
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10 |
Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and
casteth not her calf.
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They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their
children dance.
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They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the
organ.
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They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the
grave.
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Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not
the knowledge of thy ways.
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What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit
should we have, if we pray unto him?
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Lo, their good is not in
their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
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How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh
their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
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They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm
carrieth away.
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God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him,
and he shall know it.
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His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the
wrath of the Almighty.
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For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the
number of his months is cut off in the midst?
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Shall any teach
God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
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One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
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His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with
marrow.
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And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never
eateth with pleasure.
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They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover
them.
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Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye
wrongfully imagine against me.
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For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the
dwelling places of the wicked?
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Have ye not asked them that go
by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,
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That the wicked is
reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the
day of wrath.
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Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him
what he hath done?
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Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and
shall remain in the tomb.
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The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man
shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
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How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there
remaineth falsehood?
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