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“Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me.
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Who denounces their conduct to their face? Who repays them for what they have done?
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“So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”
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I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say to me.
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The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’ and he keeps his face concealed.
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Job’s Final Word to His Friends
And Job continued his discourse:
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I will maintain my innocence and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.
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“I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.
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lapis lazuli comes from its rocks, and its dust contains nuggets of gold.
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It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds in the sky.
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then he looked at wisdom and appraised it; he confirmed it and tested it.
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Job’s Final Defense
Job continued his discourse:
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The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.
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what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account?
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if I have concealed my sin as people do, by hiding my guilt in my heart
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because I so feared the crowd and so dreaded the contempt of the clans that I kept silent and would not go outside—
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He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.
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Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy.
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“Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in their bones,
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Although I am right, I am considered a liar; although I am guiltless, his arrow inflicts an incurable wound.’
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He repays everyone for what they have done; he brings on them what their conduct deserves.
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Can someone who hates justice govern? Will you condemn the just and mighty One?
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But if he remains silent, who can condemn him? If he hides his face, who can see him? Yet he is over individual and nation alike,
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Elihu continued:
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If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.
