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¹⁴“Those who withhold kindness from a friend forsake the fear of the Almighty. ¹⁵My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed, like freshets that pass away, ¹⁶that run dark with ice, turbid with melting snow. ¹⁷In time of heat they disappear; when it is hot, they vanish from their place. ¹⁸The caravans turn aside from their course; they go up into the waste, and perish. ¹⁹The caravans of Tema look, the travelers of Sheba hope. ²⁰They are disappointed because they were confident; they come there and are confounded. ²¹Such you have now become to me; you see my calamity, and are afraid.

²²Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’? Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’? ²³Or, ‘Save me from an opponent’s hand’? Or, ‘Ransom me from the hand of oppressors’? ²⁴“Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone wrong. ²⁵How forceful are honest words! But your reproof, what does it reprove? ²⁶Do you think that you can reprove words, as if the speech of the desperate were wind? ²⁷You would even cast lots over the orphan, and bargain over your friend. ²⁸“But now, be pleased to look at me; for I will not lie to your face. ²⁹Turn, I pray, let no wrong be done. Turn now, my vindication is at stake. ³⁰Is there any wrong on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern calamity?