Immerse: Poets Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 299
14:17–15:13
Job
My sins would be sealed in a pouch,
and you would cover my guilt.
“But instead, as mountains fall and crumble
and as rocks fall from a cliff,
as water wears away the stones
and floods wash away the soil,
so you destroy people’s hope.
You always overpower them, and they pass from the scene.
You disfigure them in death and send them away.
They never know if their children grow up in honor
or sink to insignificance.
They suffer painfully;
their life is full of trouble.”
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
“A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk!
You are nothing but a windbag.
The wise don’t engage in empty chatter.
What good are such words?
Have you no fear of God,
no reverence for him?
Your sins are telling your mouth what to say.
Your words are based on clever deception.
Your own mouth condemns you, not I.
Your own lips testify against you.
“Were you the first person ever born?
Were you born before the hills were made?
Were you listening at God’s secret council?
Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
What do you know that we don’t?
What do you understand that we do not?
On our side are aged, gray-haired men
much older than your father!
“Is God’s comfort too little for you?
Is his gentle word not enough?
What has taken away your reason?
What has weakened your vision,
that you turn against God
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