1 Scroll 14 Job.
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job;
and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared GOD, and shunned evil.
2 And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels,
and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses,
and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day;
and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were ended,
that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings,
according to the number of them all; for Job said,
It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed GOD in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
6
Now there was a day when the sons of GOD[Angels] came to present themselves before the LORD,
and Satan came also among them.
7 The LORD said to Satan,
Whence come Thou?
Then Satan answered the LORD, and said,
From going back and forth on the Earth, and from walking up and down upon it.
8 The LORD said to Satan,
Have Thou set Thy heart on[considered] My servant Job, that there is none like him on the Earth,
a perfect and an upright man, one that fears GOD, and turning away from evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said,
Does Job fear GOD for naught?
10 Has not Thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side?
Thou have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth Thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse Thee to Thy face.
12 The LORD said to Satan,
Behold, all that he has is in Thy power; only upon himself put not forth Thy hand.
So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
13
Now there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
14 and there came a messenger to Job, and said,
The oxen were ploughing, and the she-asses feeding beside them:
15 and they of Sheba fell upon them, and took them away;
yes, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword;
and I only have escaped alone to tell Thee.
16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said,
The fire of GOD has fallen from Heaven, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them;
and I only have escaped alone to tell Thee.
17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said,
The Chaldeans made three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away,
yes, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword;
and I only have escaped alone to tell Thee.
18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said,
Thy sons and Thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
19 and behold, there came a great wind from across the wilderness, and smote the four quarters of the house,
and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead;
and I only have escaped alone to tell Thee.
20
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshiped,
21 and said,
Naked came I from my mother's womb,
and naked shall I return there.
The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
blessed be the Name of the LORD.
22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged GOD foolishly.
1
Now there was a day when the sons of GOD[Angels] came to present themselves before the LORD,
and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
2 The LORD said to Satan,
Where come Thou?
And Satan answered the LORD, and said,
From going back and forth on the Earth, and from walking up and down upon it.
3 The LORD said to Satan,
Have Thou set Thy heart on[considered] My servant Job, that there is none like him on the Earth,
a perfect and an upright man, one that fears GOD, and turning away from evil?
And still he holds fast his integrity, although Thou moved Me against him, to destroy him without cause.
4 Satan answered the LORD, and said,
Skin for skin, even, all that a man has will he give for his life.
5 But put forth Thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face.
6 The LORD said to Satan,
Behold, he is in Thy hand; but spare his life.
7 So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to his crown.
8 He took him a potsherd to scrape himself with it; and he sat down among the ashes.
9 Then said his wife to him,
Do Thou still retain Thy integrity? Curse GOD, and die.
10 But he said to her,
Thou speak as one of the foolish women speaks.
What? Shall we receive good at the hand of GOD, and shall we not receive evil?
In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
11 And three friends of Job heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came every one from his own place;
Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite;
for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him, and to comfort him.
12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they raised their voice,
and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads towards Heaven.
13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights,
and none spoke a word to him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
1 After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.
2
Then answered Job and said,
3 Let the day perish in which I was born,
and the night which said, There is a mail child conceived.
4 Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above,
neither let the light shine upon it.
5 Let darkness and the shades of death stain it.
Let a cloud dwell upon it.
Let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, let darkness seize upon it.
Let not be joined to the days of the year.
Let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Behold, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come in it.
8 Let them curse it that curse the day,
who are ready to raise up Leviathan.
9 Let the stars of its twilight be dark.
Let it look for light, but have none;
neither let it see the dawning of the day:
10 because it shut up not the doors of my mother's womb,
nor hid sorrow from my eyes.
11
Why died I not from the womb?
Why did I not expire at the time of my birth?
12 Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts that I should be nursed?
13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet,
I should have slept: then had I been at rest,
14 with kings and counsellors of the Earth,
who built desolate places for themselves;
15 or with princes that had gold,
who filled their houses with silver:
16 or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been;
as infants which never saw light.
17
There the wicked cease from troubling;
and there the weary are at rest.
18 There the prisoners are at ease together;
they hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great are there;
and the servant is free from his master.
20 Why is light given to him that is in misery,
and life to the bitter of soul;
21 who long for death, but it comes not;
and dig for it more than for hid treasures;
22 who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad,
when they can find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid,
and whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before I eat,
and my roarings are poured out like the waters.
25 For the thing which I greatly feared has come upon me,
and that which I dreaded has come to me.
26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest,
neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite and said,
2 If we essay to commune with Thee, will Thou be grieved?
But who can refrain from speaking?
3 Behold, Thou have instructed many,
and Thou have strengthened the weak hands.
4 Thy words have upheld him that was falling,
and Thou have strengthened the feeble knees.
5 But now it has come upon Thee, and Thou faintest;
it touches Thee, and Thou are troubled.
6 Is not this Thy fear, Thy confidence,
Thy hope, and the uprightness of Thy ways?
7 Remember, I pray Thee, who ever perished, being innocent?
Or where were the righteous cut off?
8 Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity,
and sow wickedness, reap the same.
9 By the blast of God they perish,
and by the breath of His nostrils are they consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion,
and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me,
and my ear received a small sound of it.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men.
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones to shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face;
the hair of my flesh stood up:
16 it stood still, but I could not discern its form:
an image was before my eyes,
there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
17 Shall mortal man be more just than God?
Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 Behold, He put no trust in His servants;
and His Angels He charged with folly:
19 how much less in them that dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed before the moth?
20 They are destroyed from morning to evening.
They perish forever without any regarding it.
21 Does not their excellence which is in them depart?
They die, even without wisdom.
1
Call now, if there is any that will answer Thee;
and to which of the Saints will Thou turn?
2 For wrath kills the foolish man,
and envy slays the silly one.
3 I have seen the foolish taking root:
but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
4 His children are far from safety,
and they are crushed in the gate,
neither is there any to deliver them.
5 Whose harvest the hungry eats up,
and takes it even out of the thorns,
and the robber swallows up their substance.
6 Although affliction comes not forth from the dust,
neither does trouble spring out of the ground;
7 yet man is born to trouble,
as the sparks fly upward.
8 I would seek to God,
and to GOD would I commit my cause:
9 who does great things and unsearchable;
wonderful things without number:
10 who gives rain upon the Earth,
and sends waters upon the fields:
11 to set on high those that are low:
that those who mourn may be exalted to safety.
12
He disappoints the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness:
and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong. 1Co 3:19
14 They meet with darkness in the day-time,
and grope in the noon as in the night.
15
But He saves the poor from the sword, from their mouth,
and from the hand of the mighty.
16 So the poor has hope,
and iniquity stops her mouth.
17 Behold, blessed is the man whom God corrects:
therefore despise not Thou the chastening of the Almighty:
18 for He makes sore, and binds up:
He wounds, and His hands heal.
19 He will deliver Thee in six troubles:
yes, in seven there shall no evil touch Thee.
20 In famine He will redeem Thee from death:
and in war from the power of the sword.
21 Thou shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue:
neither shall Thou be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22 At destruction and famine Thou shall laugh:
neither shall Thou be afraid of the beasts of the Earth.
23 For Thou shall be in league with the stones of the field:
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with Thee.
24 Thou shall know that Thy Tabernacle will be in peace;
and Thou shall visit Thy habitation, and shall not miss.
25 Thou shall know also that Thy seed will be great,
and Thy offspring as the grass of the Earth.
26 Thou shall come to Thy grave in a full age,
as a shock of grain comes in its season.
27 Behold this, we have searched it, so it is;
hear it, and know Thou it for Thy good.
1 Then answered Job and said,
2 that my grief were thoroughly weighed,
and my calamity laid together in the balances!
3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea:
therefore my words are swallowed up.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,
the poison of which drinks up my spirit:
the terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
5 Does the wild ass bray when he has grass?
Or lows the ox over his fodder?
6 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful food.
8 That I might have my request;
and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
9 Even that it would please God to destroy me;
that He would let loose His hand, and cut me off!
10 Then should I yet have comfort;
yes, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare;
for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should hope?
And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh of bronze?
13 Is not my help in me?
And is wisdom driven quite from me?
14 To him that is afflicted pity should be shown from his friend;
but he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook,
and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
16 which are darkened of the ice,
and hidden by the snow:
17 in the time when they become warm, they vanish:
when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18 The paths of their way are turned aside;
they go to nothing, and perish.
19 The troops of Tema looked,
the companies of Sheba waited for them.
20 They were ashamed because they had hoped;
they came there, and were confounded.
21 For now ye are nothing:
ye see my casting down, and are afraid.
22 Did I say, Bring to me?
Or Give a reward for me of your substance?
23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand?
Or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
24 Teach me, and I will be silent:
and cause me to understand in what I have erred.
25 How forcible are right words!
But what does your arguing reprove?
26 Do ye imagine to reprove words,
and the speeches of one that as wind despair?
27 Yes, ye overwhelm the fatherless,
and ye dig a pit for your friend.
28 Now therefore be content, look upon me;
for it is evident to you if I lie.
29 Return, I pray you, let there not be iniquity;
yes, return back, my righteousness is in it.
30 Is there iniquity in my tongue?
Or cannot my taste discern perverse things?
1
Is there not an appointed time to man upon Earth?
Are not his days also like the days of a hireling?
2 As a servant earnestly desires the shadow,
and as a hireling looks for the reward of his work;
3 so am I made to possess months of vanity,
and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
4 When I lie down, I say,
When shall I arise, and the night be gone?
And I am full of tossings back and forth to the twilight.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust.
My skin is broken and become loathsome.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
and are spent without hope.
7 Remember that my life is wind:
my eye will no more see good.
8 The eye of him that has seen me shall see me no more:
Thy eyes are upon me, and I am not.
9 As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away:
so he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more.
10 He shall return no more to his house,
neither shall his place know him any more.
11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I a sea, or a monster,
that Thou sets a watch over me?
13 When I say, my bedstead shall comfort me,
my bed shall ease my complaint;
14 then Thou scare me with dreams,
and terrify me through visions:
15 so that my soul chooses strangling,
and death rather than my bones[life].
16 I loathe it; I would not live always:
let me alone; for my days are vanity.
17 What is man, that Thou should magnify him?
And that Thou should set Thy heart upon him?
18 And that Thou should visit him every morning,
and try him every moment?
19 Until when will Thou not depart from me,
nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
20 I have sinned; what shall I do to Thee, Thou preserver of men?
Why have Thou set me as a mark against Thee,
so that I am a burden to myself?
21 And why do Thou not pardon my transgression,
and take away my iniquity?
For now shall I sleep in the dust;
and Thou shall seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 until when will Thou speak these things?
And until when shall the words of Thy mouth be like a strong wind?
3 Does God pervert judgment;
or does the Almighty pervert justice?
4 If Thy children have sinned against Him,
and He has cast them away for their transgression.
5 If Thou would seek early to God,
and make Thy supplication to the Almighty;
6 If Thou were pure and upright;
surely now He would awake for Thee,
and make the habitation of Thy righteousness prosperous.
7 Though Thy beginning was small,
yet Thy latter end would greatly increase.
8 For inquire, I pray Thee, of the former generation,
and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:
9 (for we are but of yesterday, and know nothing,
because our days upon Earth are a shadow).
10 Will they not teach Thee, and tell Thee,
and utter words out of their heart?
11 Can the rush grow without mire?
Can the flag grow without water?
12 While it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down,
it withers before any other herb.
13 So are the paths of all that forget God;
and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:
14 whose hope shall be cut off,
and whose trust shall be a spider's web.
15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand:
he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
16 He is green before the sun, and his branch shoots forth in his garden.
17 His roots are wrapped about the heap, and sees the place of stones.
18 If He shall destroy him from his place,
then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen Thee.
19 Behold, this is the joy of His way,
and out of the dust shall others grow.
20 Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man,
neither will He help the evil-doers:
21 until He shall fill Thy mouth with laughing,
and Thy lips with rejoicing.
22 They that hate Thee shall be clothed with shame;
and the tents of the wicked shall come to naught.
1 Then answered Job and said,
2 I know it to be so of a truth:
but how should man be just with God?
3 If he will contend with Him,
he cannot answer Him one of a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength:
Who has hardened himself against Him, and has prospered?
5 Who removes the mountains, and they know not.
Who overturns them in His anger.
6 Who shakes the Earth out of her place, and its pillars tremble.
7 Who commands the sun, and it rises not; and seals up the stars.
8 Who alone spreads out the Heavens, and treads upon the waves of the sea.
9 Who makes Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
10 Who does great things past finding out; yes, and wonders without number.
11
Behold, He goes by me, and I see Him not:
He passes on also, but I perceive Him not.
12 Behold, He takes away, who can hinder Him?
Who will say to Him, What do Thou?
13 God will not withdraw His anger,
the proud helpers do stoop under Him.
14 How much less shall I answer Him,
and choose out my words to reason with Him?
15 Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer,
but I would make supplication to my judge.
16 If I had called, and He had answered me;
yet I would not believe that He had listened to my voice.
17 For He breaks me with a tempest,
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 He will not permit me to take my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
19 If I speak of strength, behold, He is strong:
and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?
20 If I justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me:
if I say, I am perfect, that also will prove me perverse.
21 Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul:
I would despise my life.
22 This is one thing, therefore I said it,
He destroys the perfect and the wicked.
23 If the scourge shall slay suddenly,
He will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
24 The Earth is given into the hand of the wicked:
He covers the faces of its judges;
if not, where, and who is He?
25 Now my days are swifter than a racer:
they flee away, they see no good.
26 They are passed away as the swift ships:
as the eagle that hastens to the prey.
27 If I say, I will forget my complaint,
I will leave off my heaviness, and smile:
28 I am afraid of all my sorrows,
I know that Thou will not hold me innocent.
29 If I am wicked, why then do I labour in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow water,
and make my hands never so clean;
31 yet will Thou plunge me in the ditch,
and my own clothes shall abhor me.
32 For He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him,
and we should come together in judgment;
33 neither is there any judge between us,
that might lay his hand upon us both.
34 Let Him take away His rod from me,
and let not His fear terrify me:
35 then would I speak, and not fear Him;
but it is not so with me.
1
My soul is weary of my life;
I will leave my complaint upon myself;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
show me why Thou contend with me.
3 Is it good to Thee that Thou should oppress,
that Thou should despise the work of Thy hands,
and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
4 Have Thou eyes of flesh?
Or see Thou as man sees?
5 Are Thy days as the days of man?
Are Thy years as man's days,
6 that Thou inquire after my iniquity,
and search after my sin?
7 Thou know that I am not wicked;
and there is none that can deliver out of Thy hand.
8 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me in all my parts;
yet Thou do destroy me.
9 Remember, I beseech Thee, that Thou have made me as the clay;
and will Thou bring me into dust again?
10 Have Thou not poured me out as milk,
and curdled me like cheese?
11 Thou have clothed me with skin and flesh,
and have fenced me with bones and sinews.
12 Thou have granted me life and favour,
and Thy visitation has preserved my spirit.
13 And these things have Thou hid in Thy heart:
I know that this is with Thee.
14 If I sin, then Thou mark me,
and Thou will not acquit me from my iniquity.
15 If I be wicked, woe to me! And if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head.
I am full of confusion; therefore see Thou my affliction;
16 for it increases. Thou hunt me as a fierce lion:
and again Thou show Thyself wonderful upon me.
17 Thou renew Thy witnesses against me,
and increase Thy indignation upon me;
changes and war are against me.
18 Why then have Thou brought me forth from the womb?
That I had expired, and no eye had seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had not been;
I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few? Cease then,
and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
21 before I go whence I shall not return,
even to the land of darkness, and the shades of death;
22 a land of darkness, as darkness itself;
and of the shades of death, without any order,
and where the light is as darkness.
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2 Should not the multitude of words be answered?
And should a man full of talk be justified?
3 Should Thy falsehoods make men hold their peace?
And when Thou mock, shall no man make Thee ashamed?
4 For Thou have said, My doctrine is pure,
and I have been clean in Thy eyes.
5 But that God would speak,
and open His lips against Thee;
6 and that He would show Thee the secrets of wisdom,
that they are double to that which is!
Know therefore that God exacts of Thee less than Thy iniquity deserves.
7 Can Thou by searching find out God?
Can Thou find out the Almighty to perfection?
8 It is as high as Heaven; what can Thou do?
Deeper than Sheol; what can Thou know?
9 The measure of it is longer than the Earth,
and broader than the sea.
10 If He shall cut off, and shut up,
or gather together, then who can hinder Him?
11 For He knows vain men:
He sees wickedness also; will He not then consider it?
12 For hollow man takes heart[smarter],
though man is born like a wild ass's colt.
13 If Thou prepare Thy heart,
and stretch out Thy hands towards Him;
14 if iniquity is in Thy hand, put it far away,
and let not wickedness dwell in Thy Tabernacles.
15 For then shall Thou lift up Thy face without spot;
yes, Thou shall be steadfast, and shall not fear:
16 because Thou shall forget Thy misery,
and remember it as waters that pass away:
17 Thy age shall be clearer than the noon:
Thou shall shine forth, Thou shall be as the morning.
18 Thou shall be secure, because there is hope;
yes, Thou shall dig about Thee, and Thou shall take Thy rest in safety.
19 Also Thou shall lie down, and none shall make Thee afraid;
yes, many shall make suit to Thee.
20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail,
and they shall not escape,
and their hope shall be as the expiration of the breath.
1 Then answered Job and said,
2 No doubt but ye are the people,
and wisdom shall die with you.
3 But I have a heart[understanding] as well as you;
I am not inferior to you:
yes, who knows not such things as these?
4 I am as one mocked by his neighbour, who calls upon God,
and He answers him: the just upright man is derided.
5 as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease,
he who is ready to slip with his feet.
6 The tents of robbers prosper,
and they that provoke God are secure;
into whose hand God brings abundantly.
7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach Thee;
and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell Thee:
8 or speak to the Earth, and it shall teach Thee:
and the fishes of the sea shall declare to Thee.
9 Who knows not in all these,
that the hand of the LORD has wrought this?
10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,
and the breath of all mankind.
11 Does not the ear try words?
And the mouth tastes its food?
12 With the ancient is wisdom;
and in length of days understanding.
13 With Him is wisdom and strength,
He has counsel and understanding.
14 Behold, He breaks down, and it cannot be built again:
He shuts up a man, and there can be no opening.
15 Behold, He withholds the waters, and they dry up:
also He sends them out, and they overturn the Earth.
16 With Him is strength and wisdom:
the deceived and the deceiver are His.
17 He leads counsellors away spoiled,
and makes the judges fools.
18 He looses the bond of kings,
and girds their loins with a girdle.
19 He leads princes away spoiled,
and overthrows the mighty.
20 He removes away the speech of the trusty,
and takes away the understanding of the aged.
21 He pours contempt upon princes,
and weakens the girdle[strength] of the mighty.
22 He reveals deep things out of darkness,
and brings to light the shades of death.
23 He increases nations, and destroys them:
He enlarges nations, and straitens them.
24 He takes away the heart of the chief of the people of the Earth,
and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25 They grope in the dark without light,
and He makes them to stagger like a drunken man.
1
Behold, my eye has seen all this,
my ear has heard and understood it.
2 What ye know, the same do I know also:
I am not inferior to you.
3 Surely, I would speak to the Almighty,
and I desire to reason with God.
4 But ye are forgers of lies,
ye are all physicians of no value.
5 That ye would altogether be silent,
and it would be your wisdom.
6 Hear now my reasoning,
and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
7 Will ye speak wickedly for God?
And talk deceitfully for Him?
8 Will ye accept his person?
Will ye contend for God?
9 Is it good that He should search you out?
Or as one man mocks another, do ye so mock Him?
10 He will surely reprove you,
if ye do secretly accept persons.
11 Shall not his excellence make you afraid?
And his dread fall upon you?
12 Your remembrances are like to ashes,
your bodies to bodies of clay.
13 Be silent, let me alone, that I may speak,
and let come on me what will.
14 Why do I take my flesh in my teeth,
and put my life in my hand?
15 Though He shall slay me, yet will I trust in Him:
but I will maintain my own ways before Him.
16 He also shall be my Salvation:
for a hypocrite shall not come before Him.
17 Hear diligently my speech,
and my declaration with your ears.
18 Behold now, I have ordered my cause;
I know that I shall be justified.
19 Who is he that will plead with me?
For now I would be silent, I shall expire.
20 Only do not two things to me:
then will I not hide myself from Thee.
21 Withdraw Thy hand far from me:
and let not Thy dread make me afraid.
22 Then call Thou, and I will answer:
or let me speak, and answer Thou me.
23 How many are my iniquities and sins?
Make me to know my transgression and my sin.
24 Why hide Thou Thy face,
and hold me for Thy enemy?
25 Will Thou break a leaf driven back and forth?
And will Thou pursue the dry stubble?
26 For Thou write bitter things against me,
and make me to possess the iniquities of my youth.
27 Thou put my feet also in the stocks,
and look narrowly to all my paths;
Thou sets a print upon the heels of my feet.
28 He, as a rotten thing, consumes,
as a garment that is moth-eaten.
1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
2 He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down:
He flees also as a shadow, and continues not.
3 And do Thou open Thy eyes upon such one,
and bring me into judgment with Thee?
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
5 Seeing his days are determined,
the number of his months is with Thee,
Thou have appointed his bounds that He cannot pass;
6 turn from him, that He may rest,
until He shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.
7 For there is hope of a tree,
if it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
and that its tender branch will not cease.
8 Though its root shall become old in the earth,
and its stock die in the dust[ground];
9 yet through the scent of water it will bud,
and bring forth boughs like a plant.
10 But man dies, and wastes away:
and man expires, and where is he?
11 As the waters fail from the sea,
and the flood decays and dries up:
12 so man lies down, and rises not:
until the Heavens shall be no more, they shall not awake,
nor be raised out of their sleep;
13 that Thou would hide me in Sheol,
that Thou would keep me secret, until Thy wrath is past,
that Thou would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14 If a man dies, shall He live again?
All the days of my appointed time will I wait, until my change shall come.
15 Thou shall call, and I will answer Thee:
Thou will have a desire to the work of Thy hands.
16 For now Thou number my steps:
do Thou not watch over my sin?
17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
and Thou sew up my iniquity.
18 And surely the mountain falling crumbles away,
and the rock is removed out of its place.
19 The waters wear the stones:
Thou wash away the things which grow out of the dust of the Earth;
and Thou destroy the hope of man.
20 Thou prevail forever against him, and he passes:
Thou change his countenance, and send him away.
21 His sons come to honour, and he knows it not;
and they are brought low, but he perceives it not of them.
22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain,
and his soul within him shall mourn.
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite and said,
2 Should wise men utter vain knowledge,
and fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Should He reason with unprofitable talk?
Or with speeches with which He can do no good?
4 Yes, Thou cast off fear,
and restrain prayer before God.
5 For Thy mouth utters Thy iniquity,
and Thou choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Thy own mouth condemns Thee, and not I:
yes, Thy own lips testify against Thee.
7 Are Thou the first man that was born?
Or were Thou made before the hills?
8 Have Thou heard the secret of God?
And do Thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
9 What know Thou that we know not?
What understand Thou, which is not in us?
10 With us are both the grey-headed and very aged men,
much older than Thy father.
11 Are the consolations of God small with Thee?
Is there any secret thing with Thee?
12 Why does Thy heart carry Thee away?
And what do Thy eyes wink at,
13 that Thou turn Thy spirit against God,
and let such words go out of Thy mouth?
14 What is man, that he should be clean?
He who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15 Behold, He puts no trust in His Saints;
yes, the Heavens are not clean in His sight.
16 How much more abominable and filthy is man,
who drinks iniquity like water?
17 I will show Thee, hear me;
and that which I have seen, I will declare;
18 which wise men have told,
from their fathers, and have not hid it:
19 to whom alone the Earth was given,
and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked man travails with pain all his days,
and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
21 A dreadful sound is in his ears:
in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
22 He believes not that he shall return out of darkness.
He is waited for by the sword.
23 He wanders abroad for bread, saying, Where is it?
He knows that the day of darkness is ready at His hand.
24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid;
they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
25 For he stretches out his hand against God,
and strengthens himself against the Almighty.
26 He runs upon Him, even on his neck,
upon the thick bosses of his shields:
27 because he covers his face with his fatness,
and makes bulges of fat on his flanks.
28 He dwells in desolate cities,
and in houses which no man inhabits,
which are ready to become heaps.
29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue,
neither shall he prolong the perfection of it upon the Earth.
30 He shall not depart out of darkness;
the flame shall dry up his branches,
and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity:
for vanity shall be his recompense.
32 It shall be accomplished before his time,
and his branch shall not be green.
33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine,
and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
34 For the Congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate,
and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity,
and their belly prepares deceit.
1 Then answered Job and said,
2 I have heard many such things:
miserable comforters are ye all.
3 Shall vain words have an end?
Or what emboldens Thee that Thou answer?
4 I also could speak as ye do:
if your soul were in my soul's stead,
I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you.
5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth,
and the moving of my lips should assuage your grief.
6 Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged:
and though I forbear, what am I eased?
7 But now He has made me weary:
Thou have made desolate all my company.
8 Thou have filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me:
and my leanness rising up in me bears witness to my face.
9 He tears me in His wrath, who hates me:
He gnashes upon me with His teeth;
my enemy sharpens his eyes upon me.
10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth;
they have smitten me reproachfully upon the cheek;
they have gathered themselves against me.
11 God has delivered me to the ungodly,
and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.
12 I have been at ease, but He has broken me asunder:
He has also taken me by my neck,
and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for His mark.
13 His archers surround me; He cleaves my reins asunder,
and does not spare; He pours out my gall upon the ground.
14 He breaks me with breach upon breach, He runs upon me like a giant.
15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin,
and defiled my horn in the dust.
16 My face is foul with weeping,
and on my eyelids are the shades of death;
17 not for any injustice in my hands:
also my prayer is pure.
18 Earth, cover not Thou my blood,
and let my cry have no place.
19 Also now, behold, my Witness is in Heaven,
and my Record is on high.
20 My friends scorn me:
but my eye pours out tears to God.
21 That one might plead for a man with God,
as a man pleads for his neighbour!
22 When a few years are come,
then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct,
the graves are ready for me.
2 Are there not mockers with me?
And does not my eye continue in their provocation?
3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with Thee;
who is he that will strike hands with me?
4 For Thou have hid their heart from understanding:
therefore shall Thou not exalt them.
5 He who speaks flattery to his friends,
even the eyes of his children shall fail.
6 He has made me also a by-word of the people;
and they spit in my face.
7 My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow,
and all my members are as a shade.
8 Upright men shall be astonished at this,
and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.
9 The righteous also shall hold on his way,
and he who has clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
10 But as for you all, do ye return,
and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.
11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off,
even the thoughts of my heart.
12 They change the night into day:
the light is short because of darkness.
13 If I wait, Sheol is my house:
I have made my couch in the darkness.
14 I have said to corruption, Thou are my father:
to the worm, Thou are my mother, and my sister.
15 And where is now my hope?
As for my hope, who will see it?
16 They shall go down to the bars of Sheol,
when our rest together is in the dust.
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 Until when will it be before ye make an end of words?
Mark, and afterwards we will speak.
3 Why are we counted as beasts,
and reputed vile in your sight?
4 He tears himself in his anger:
shall the Earth be forsaken for Thee?
And shall the rock be removed out of its place?
5 Yes, the light of the wicked shall be put out,
and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
6 The light shall be dark in his tent,
and his lamp shall be put out with him.
7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened,
and his own counsel shall cast him down.
8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet.
He walks upon a snare.
9 The trap shall take him by the heel,
and the robber shall prevail against him.
10 The snare is laid for him in the ground,
and a trap for him in the path.
11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side,
and shall drive him to his feet.
12 His strength shall be hunger-bitten,
and destruction shall be ready at his side.
13 It shall devour the strength of his skin:
even the first-born of death shall devour his strength.
14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tent,
and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.
15 It shall dwell in his tent, because it is none of his:
brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
16 His roots shall be dried up beneath,
and above shall his branch be cut off.
17 His remembrance shall perish from the Earth.
He shall have no name in the street.
18 He shall be driven from light into darkness,
and chased out of the World.
19 He shall neither have son nor grandson among his people,
nor any remaining in his dwellings.
20 They that come after him shall be astonished at his day,
as they that went before were affrighted.
21 Surely, such are the dwellings of the wicked,
and this is the place of him that knows not God.
1 Then answered Job and said,
2 Until when will ye vex my soul,
and break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times have ye reproached me:
ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.
4 And be it indeed that I have erred,
my error remains with myself.
5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me,
and plead against me my reproach:
6 know now that God has overthrown me,
and has enclosed me with his net.
7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not replied:
I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
8 He has fenced up my way that I cannot pass,
and He has set darkness in my paths.
9 He has stripped me of my glory,
and taken the crown from my head.
10 He has destroyed me on every side, and I am gone:
and my hope has He removed like a tree.
11 He has also kindled His wrath against me,
and He counts me as one of His enemies.
12 His troops come together,
and raise up their way against me,
and encamp around my Tent.
13 He has put my brethren far from me,
and my acquaintance are truly estranged from me.
14 My kinsmen have failed,
and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger:
I have been an alien in their sight.
16 I called my servant, and he gave me no answer;
I entreated him with my mouth.
17 My breath is strange to my wife,
though I entreated for the children's sake of my own body.
18 Yes, young children despised me;
I arose, and they spoke against me.
19 All my intimate friends abhorred me:
and they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My bone cleaves to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, ye my friends;
for the hand of God has touched me.
22 Why do ye persecute me as God,
and are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 That my words were now written!
That they were printed in a book!
24 That they were graven with an iron pen in lead,
forever in the rock!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at last He shall rise up upon the dust:
26 and after this they destroyed my skin,
yet in my flesh shall I see God:
27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold,
and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
28 But ye would say, Why persecute we him,
seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
29 Be ye afraid of the sword:
for wrath brings the punishments of the sword,
that ye may know there is a judgment.
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer,
and for this I make haste.
3 I have heard the check of my reproach,
and the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.
4 Know Thou not this of old,
since man was placed upon Earth,
5 that the triumphing of the wicked is short,
and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
6 Though his excellence shall mount up to the Heavens,
and his head reach to the clouds;
7 yet he shall perish forever like his own dung:
they who have seen him shall say, Where is he?
8 He shall fly away as a dream, and will not be found:
and he, shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more;
neither shall his place any more behold him.
10 His children shall seek to please the poor,
and his hands shall restore their goods.
11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth,
which shall lie down with him in the dust.
12 Though wickedness may be sweet in his mouth,
though he may hide it under his tongue.
13 Though he may spare it, and forsake it not;
but keep it still within his mouth:
14 yet his food in his bowels is turned,
it is the gall of asps within him.
15 He has swallowed down riches, and He shall vomit them up again:
God shall cast them out of His belly.
16 He shall suck the poison of asps:
the viper's tongue shall slay him.
17 He shall not see the river,
the floods, the brooks of honey and buttermilk.
18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it:
according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice in it;
19
because he has oppressed and has forsaken the poor;
because he has violently taken away a house which he did not build.
20 Surely, he shall not feel quietness in his belly,
he shall not save of that which he desired.
21 There shall none of his food be left;
therefore shall no man look for his goods.
22 In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits:
every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.
23 When he is about to fill his belly,
He shall cast the fury of His wrath upon him,
He shall rain it upon him while he is eating.
24 and he shall flee from the iron weapon,
the bow of bronze shall strike him through.
25 It is drawn, and comes out of the body;
yes, the glittering sword comes out of his gall:
terrors are upon him.
26 All darkness shall be hid in his secret places:
a fire not blown shall consume him;
it shall go ill with him that is left in his tent.
27 The Heaven shall reveal his iniquity;
and the Earth shall rise up against him.
28 The increase of his house shall depart,
and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
29 This is the portion of a wicked man from GOD,
and the heritage appointed to him by God.
1 Then answered Job and said,
2 Hear diligently my speech,
and let this be your consolations.
3 Bear me that I may speak;
and after I have spoken, mock on.
4 As for me, is my complaint to man?
And if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
5 Mark me, and be astonished,
and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 Even when I remember I am afraid,
and trembling takes hold on my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, are mighty in power?
8 Their seed is established in their sight with them,
and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
neither is the rod of God upon them.
10 Their bull engenders, and fails not;
their cow calves, and casts not her calf.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock,
and their children dance.
12 They take the timbrel and harp,
and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13 They spend their days in wealth,
and in a moment go down to Sheol.
14
Therefore they say to God, Depart from us;
for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And what profit should we have, if we pray to?
16 Behold, their good is not in their hand:
the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
And how often comes their destruction upon them?
He distributes sorrows in His anger.
18 They are as stubble before the wind,
and as chaff that the storm carries away.
19 God lays up his iniquity for His children:
He rewards him, and He shall know it.
20 His eyes shall see his destruction,
and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what pleasure has he in his house after him,
when the number of his months is cut off in the middle?
22 Shall any teach God knowledge?
Seeing He judges those that are high.
23 One dies in his full strength,
being wholly at ease and quiet.
24 His pails are full of milk,
and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25 And another dies in the bitterness of his soul,
and never eats with pleasure.
26 They shall lie down alike in the dust,
and the worms shall cover them.
27
Behold, I know your thoughts,
and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince?
And where are the dwelling-places of the wicked?
29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way?
And do ye not know their tokens,
30 that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction?
They will be brought forth to a day of wrath.
31 Who shall declare his way to his face?
And who shall repay him what he has done?
32 Yet he shall be brought to the grave,
and shall remain in the tomb.
33 The clods of the valley will be sweet to him,
and every man will draw after him,
as there are innumerable before him.
34 How then comfort ye me in vain,
seeing in your answers there remains falsehood?
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite and said,
2 Can a man be profitable to God,
as he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that Thou are righteous?
Or is it gain to him, that Thou make Thy ways perfect?
4 Will He reprove Thee for fear of Thee?
Will He enter with Thee into judgment?
5 Is not Thy wickedness great?
And Thy iniquities infinite?
6 For Thou have taken a pledge from Thy brother for naught,
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 Thou have not given water to the weary to drink,
and Thou have withheld bread from the hungry.
8 But as for the mighty man, he had the Earth;
and the honourable man dwelt in it.
9 Thou have sent widows away empty,
and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
10 Therefore snares are around Thee,
and sudden fear troubles Thee;
11 or darkness, that Thou cannot see;
and abundance of waters cover Thee.
12 Is not God in the height of Heaven?
And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
13 Thou say, How does God know?
Can He judge through the dark cloud?
14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that He sees not;
and He walks in the circuit of Heaven.
15 Have Thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
16 Who were cut down out of time,
whose foundation was overflowed with a flood!
17 Who said to God, depart from us:
and what can the Almighty do for them?
18 Yet He filled their houses with good things:
but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19 The righteous see it, and are glad:
and the innocent deride them.
20 Whereas our substance is not cut down,
but the remnant of them the fire consumes.
21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace:
by this good shall come to Thee.
22 Receive, I pray Thee, the Law from His mouth,
and lay up his words in Thy heart.
23 If Thou shall return to the Almighty, Thou shall be built up,
Thou shall put away iniquity far from Thy tents.
24 Then shall Thou lay up gold as dust,
and the gold of Ophir as the rocks of the brooks.
25 Yes, the Almighty shall be Thy gold and Thou shall have plenty of silver.
26 For then shall Thou have Thy delight in the Almighty,
and shall lift up Thy face to God.
27 Thou shall make Thy prayer to him, and He shall hear Thee,
and Thou shall pay Thy vows.
28 Thou shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to Thee:
and the light shall shine upon Thy ways.
29 When men are cast down, then Thou shall say, There is exaltation;
and He shall save the humble person.
30 He shall deliver even him that is not innocent:
and it is delivered by the pureness of Thy hands.
1 Then answered Job and said,
2 Even today is my complaint bitter.
My stroke is heavier than my groaning.
3 That I knew where I might find Him!
That I might come even to His seat!
4 I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words which He would answer me,
and understand what He would say to me.
6 Would He plead against me with His great power?
No; but He would put it in me.
7 There the righteous might dispute with him;
so should I be delivered forever from my Judge.
8
Behold, I go forward, but He is not there;
and backward, but I cannot perceive Him:
9 on the left hand, where He does work, but I cannot behold Him:
He hides Himself on the right hand, that I cannot see Him:
10 but he knows the way that I take:
when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 My foot has held His steps,
His way have I kept, and not declined;
12 neither have I gone back from the Commandment of His lips;
I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my portion.
13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn Him?
And what His soul desires, even that He does.
14 For He performs the thing that is appointed for me:
and many such things are with Him.
15 Therefore am I troubled at His presence:
when I consider, I am afraid of Him.
16 For God makes my heart soft,
and the Almighty troubles me:
17 because I was not cut off before the darkness,
neither has He covered the darkness from my face.
1 Why, seeing times are not hid from the Almighty,
do they that know him not see his days?
2 Some remove the landmarks:
they violently take away flocks, and their feed.
3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless,
they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 They turn the needy out of the way:
the poor of the Earth hide themselves together.
5
Behold, as wild asses in the desert,
they go forth to their work; rising early for a prey:
the wilderness yields food for them and for their children.
6 They reap every one his grain in the field:
and they gather the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing,
that they have no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast,
and take a pledge of the poor.
10 They cause him to go naked without clothing,
and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;
11 who make oil within their walls,
and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
12
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out:
yet God lays not folly to them.
13 They are of those that rebel against the light;
they know not its ways, nor abide in its paths.
14 The murderer rising with the light kills the poor and needy,
and in the night is as a thief.
15 The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
saying, No eye shall see me: and disguises his face.
16 In the dark they dig through houses,
which they had marked for themselves in the day-time: they know not the light.
17 For the morning is to them even as the shades of death:
if one knows them, they are in the terrors of the shades of death.
18 He is swift as the waters;
their portion is cursed in the Earth:
He beholds not the way of the vineyards.
19 Drought and heat consume the snow-waters:
so does Sheol those who have sinned.
20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him;
he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.
21 He oppresses the barren that bears not:
and does not good to the widow.
22 He draws also the mighty with his power:
He rises up, and no man is sure of life.
23 Though it is given him to be in safety,
on which He rests; yet his eyes are upon their ways.
24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low;
they are taken out of the way as all Others, and cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.
25 And if it is not so now, who will make me a liar,
and make my speech of no worth?
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 Dominion and fear are with him,
He makes peace in his high places.
3 Is there any number of his armies?
And upon whom does not his light arise?
4 How then can man be justified with God?
Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?
5 Behold even to the moon, and it shines not;
and the stars are not pure in His eyes.
6 How much less man, that is a worm;
and a son of Man, who is a worm?
1 Then answered Job and said,
2 How have Thou helped him that is without power?
How save Thou the arm that has no strength?
3 How have Thou counselled him that has no wisdom?
And how have Thou abundantly declared the thing as it is?
4 To whom have Thou uttered words?
And whose breath came from Thee?
5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and its inhabitants.
6 Sheol is naked before Him,
and Abaddon[destruction] has no covering.
7 He stretches out the north over the empty place,
and hangs the Earth upon nothing.
8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds;
and the cloud is not rent under them.
9 He holds back the face of his throne,
and spreads his cloud upon it.
10 He has drawn a circle on the waters with bounds,
until the completion of light with darkness.
11 The pillars of Heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.
12 He divides the sea by His power,
and by His understanding He smites through the proud.
13 By His Spirit He has garnished the Heavens;
His hand has formed the fleeing serpent.
14 Behold, these are parts of His ways:
but how little a portion is heard of Him?
But the thunder of His power who can understand?
1
Moreover, Job continued his parable, and said,
2 As God lives, who has taken away my judgment;
and the Almighty who has afflicted my soul;
3 all the while my breath is in me,
and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils;
4 my lips shall not speak wickedness,
nor my tongue utter deceit.
5 Let it not be that I should justify you:
until I die I will not remove my integrity from me.
6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go:
my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
7 Let my enemy be as the wicked,
and He who rises up against me as the unrighteous.
8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite,
though he has gained, when God takes away his soul?
9 Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him?
10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
Will he always call upon God?
11
I will teach you by the hand of God:
that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it;
why then are ye thus altogether vain?
13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
14 If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword:
and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death:
and his widows shall not weep.
16 Though He should heap up silver as the dust,
and prepare clothing as the clay?
17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on,
and the innocent shall divide the silver.
18 He builds his house as a moth,
and as a booth that the keeper makes.
19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered:
he opens his eyes, and he is not.
20 Terrors take hold on him as waters,
a tempest steals him away in the night.
21 The east wind carries him away, and he departs:
and as a storm hurles him out of his place.
22 For He shall cast upon him, and not spare:
he would hastily flee out of His hand.
23 They shall clap their hands at him,
and shall hiss him out of his place.
1 Surely, there is a vein for the silver,
and a place for gold where they fine it.
2 Iron is taken out of the dust[ground],
and copper is melted out of the stone.
3 He sets an end to darkness, and searches out all perfection:
the stones of darkness, and the shades of death.
4 The flood breaks out from the inhabitant:
even the waters forgotten by the foot:
they are dried up, they have gone away from men.
5 As for the Earth, out of it comes bread:
and under it is turned up as it were fire.
6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires:
and it has dust of gold.
7 There is a path which no fowl knows,
and which the kite's eye has not seen:
8 the lion's whelps have not trodden it,
nor the fierce lion passed by it.
9 He puts forth his hand upon the flint;
He overturns the mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out rivers among the rocks;
and his eye sees every precious thing.
11 He binds the floods from overflowing;
and the thing that is hid He brings forth to light.
12
But where shall the wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man knows not the price of it;
neither is it found in the land of the living.
14 The Abyss said, It is not in me:
and the sea said, It is not with me.
15 It cannot be obtained for gold,
neither shall silver be weighed for the price of it.
16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,
with the precious beryl, or the sapphire.
17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it:
and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls:
for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19 The topaz of Cush shall not equal it,
neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
20
Whence then comes the wisdom?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,
and kept close from the fowls of the air.
22 Abaddon[destruction] and death say,
We have heard the fame of it with our ears.
23 GOD understands the way of it, and He knows its place.
24 For He looks to the ends of the Earth,
and sees under the whole Heaven;
25 to make the weight for the winds;
and He weighs the waters by measure.
26 When He made a decree for the rain,
and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
27 then did He see it, and declare it;
He prepared it, yes, and searched it out.
28 And to man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.
1
Moreover, Job continued his parable, and said,
2 That I were as in months past,
as in the days when God preserved me;
3 when His lamp shined upon my head,
and when by His Light I walked through darkness;
4 as I have been in the days of my ripeness,
when the secret of God was upon my Tabernacle;
5 when the Almighty was yet with me,
when my children were about me;
6 when I washed my steps with butter,
and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
7 when I went out to the gate through the city,
when I prepared my seat in the street!
8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves:
and the aged arose, and stood up.
9 The princes refrained talking,
and laid their hand on their mouth.
10 The nobles held their voice,
and their tongue cleaved to their mouth[palate].
11 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me;
and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
12 because I delivered the poor that cried,
and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me:
and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me.
My judgment was as a robe and a turban.
15 I have been the eyes to the blind,
and I have been the feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the poor:
and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked,
and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
18
Then I said, I shall die in my nest,
and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
19 My root was spread out by the waters,
and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
20 My glory was fresh in me,
and my bow was renewed in my hand.
21 To me men gave ear, and waited,
and kept silence at my counsel.
22 After my words they spoke not again;
and my speech dropped upon them.
23 And they waited for me as for the rain;
and they opened their mouth wide as for the Latter Rain.
24 If I laughed on them, they believed it not;
and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
25 I chose out their way, and sat chief?
and dwelt as a king in the army,
as one that comforts the mourners.
1 But now they that are younger than I, have me in derision,
whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 Yes, to what might the strength of their hands profit me?
in whom old age had perished?
3 For want and famine they were solitary;
fleeing recently into the wilderness desolate and waste.
4 Who cut up mallows by the bushes,
and juniper roots for their food.
5 They were driven forth from among men,
(they cried after them, as after a thief).
6 To dwell in the clefts of the valleys,
in caves of the dust[earth], and in the stones.
7 Among the bushes they brayed;
under the nettles they were collected.
8 They were children of fools, yes, children without fame:
they were viler than the Earth.
9
And now I have been their song,
yes, I am their by-word.
10 They abhor me, they flee far from me,
and spare not to spit in my face;
11 because He has loosed my cord, and afflicted me,
they have also let loose the bridle before me.
12 Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet,
and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.
13 They mar my path,
they set forward my calamity,
they have no helper.
14 They came like a wide breach:
in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.
15 Terrors are turned upon me:
they pursue my soul as the wind:
and my welfare passes away as a cloud.
16 And now my soul is poured out upon me;
the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 In the night my bones are pierced:
and my sinews take no rest.
18 By the great force is my garment changed:
it binds me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He has cast me into the mire,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to Thee, and Thou do not reply me:
I stand up, and Thou regard me not.
21 Thou have become cruel to me:
with Thy strong hand Thou oppose thyself against me.
22 Thou lift me up to the wind;
Thou cause me to ride upon it, and dissolve me in the storm.
23 For I know that Thou will bring me to death,
and to the house appointed for all living.
24 Yet He will not stretch out his hand to the grave,
though they cry in his destruction.
25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble?
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 When I looked for good, then evil came:
and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My bowels boiled, and rested not:
the days of affliction came upon me.
28 I go mourning without the sun:
I stood up, and I cried in the Congregation.
29 I have been a brother to monsters,
and a companion to ostriches.
30 My skin is black upon me,
and my bones are burned with heat.
31 My harp also is turned to mourning,
and my organ into the voice of them that weep.
1 I Made a Covenant with my eyes;
why then should I think upon a maid?
2 For what portion of God is there from above?
And what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is not destruction to the wicked?
And a strange punishment to the workers of lawlessness?
4 Does not He see my ways,
and count all my steps?
5
If I have walked with vanity,
or if my foot has hasted to deceit;
6 Let me be weighed in a righteous balance,
that God may know my integrity.
7 If my step has turned out of the way,
and my heart walked after my eyes,
and if any blot has cleaved to my hands;
8 then let me sow, and let another eat;
yes, let my offspring be rooted out.
9
If my heart has been deceived by a woman,
or if I have laid in wait at my neighbour's door;
10 then let my wife grind to another,
and let others bow down upon her.
11 For this is a heinous crime;
and it is an iniquity for the judges.
12 For it is a fire that consumes to Abaddon[destruction],
and would root out all my increase.
13
If I despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant,
when they contended with me;
14 what then shall I do when God rises up?
And when He visits, what shall I answer Him?
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
17 or have eaten my morsel myself alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it;
18 (for from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father,
and I have guided her from my mother's womb);
19
If I have seen any perish for lack of clothing,
or any poor without covering.
20 If his loins have not blessed me,
and if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep.
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
when I saw my help in the gate:
22 then let my arm fall from my shoulder-blade,
and my arm be broken from the bone.
23 For destruction from God was a terror to me,
and by reason of his highness I could not endure.
24
If I have made gold my hope,
or have said to the fine gold, Thou are my confidence;
25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
and because my hand had gained much.
26 If I have beheld the sun light when it shined,
or the moon walking in brightness;
27 my heart has been secretly enticed,
or my mouth has kissed my hand:
28 this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge:
for I should have denied the God that is above.
29 If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,
or have lifted up myself when evil found him:
30 neither have I allowed my mouth to sin,
by wishing a curse to his soul.
31 If the men of my tent have not said,
that we had of his flesh! We cannot be satisfied.
32 The stranger did not lodge in the street:
but I opened my doors to the traveler.
33 If I have covered as Adam my transgressions,
by hiding in my bosom my iniquity:
34 did I fear a great multitude,
or did the contempt of families terrify me,
that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?
35 That one would hear me!
Behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me,
and that my adversary had written a book.
36 Surely, I would take it upon my shoulder,
and bind it as a crown to me.
37 I would declare to him the number of my steps;
as a prince would I go near to him;
38 If my land cries against me,
or its furrows likewise complain.
39 If I have eaten the fruits of it without money,
or have caused its owners to lose their life;
40 let thistles grow instead of wheat,
and stinkweed instead of barley.
The words of Job are ended.
1 So these three men ceased to answering Job,
because he was righteous in his own eyes.
2 Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite,
of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled,
because he justified himself rather than GOD.
3 Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled,
because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.
4 Now Elihu had waited until Job had spoken because they were older than he in days.
5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer,
in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was kindled.
6
Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said,
I am young, and ye are very old;
therefore I was afraid, and dared not show you my opinion.
7 I said, Days should speak,
and multitude of years should teach wisdom.
8 But there is a spirit in man:
and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.
9 Great men are not always wise:
neither do the aged understand judgment.
10 Therefore I said, Listen to me; I also will show my opinion.
11 Behold, I waited for your words;
I gave ear to your reasons, while ye searched out what to say.
12 Yes, I attended to you, and behold, there was none of you that convinced Job,
or that answered his words:
13 lest ye should say, We have found out wisdom:
God thrusts him down, not man.
14 Now he has not directed his words against me:
neither will I answer him with your speeches.
15 They were amazed, they answered no more:
they left off speaking.
16 When I had waited, (for they spoke not,
but stood still, and answered no more).
17 I said, I will answer also my part,
I also will show my opinion.
18 For I am full of matter,
the spirit within me constrains me.
19 Behold, my belly is as wine which has no vent;
it is ready to burst like new bottles.
20 I will speak, that I may be refreshed:
I will open my lips and answer.
21 Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person,
neither let me give flattering titles to man.
22 For I know not to give flattering titles;
in so doing, my Maker would soon take me away.
1
However, Job, I pray Thee, hear my speeches,
and listen to all my words.
2 Behold, now I have opened my mouth,
my tongue has spoken in my mouth.
3 My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart:
and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.
4 The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty has given me life.
5 If Thou can answer me,
set Thy words in order before me, stand up.
6 Behold, I am according to Thy wish in God's stead:
I also am formed out of the clay.
7 Behold, my terror shall not make Thee afraid,
neither shall my hand be heavy upon Thee.
8 Surely, Thou have spoken in my hearing,
and I have heard the voice of Thy words,
9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent;
neither is there iniquity in me.
10 Behold, He finds occasions against me,
He counts me for His enemy,
11 He puts my feet in the stocks,
He marks all my paths.
12 Behold, in this Thou are not just:
I will answer Thee, that God is greater than man.
13 Why do Thou strive against Him?
For He gives not account of any of His matters.
14 For God speaks once, yes twice,
yet man perceives it not.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
16 then He opens the ears of men,
and seals their instruction,
17 that He may withdraw man from his purpose,
and hide pride from man.
18 He keeps back his soul from the pit,
and his life from perishing by the weapon.
19
He is chastened also with pain upon his bed,
and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:
20 so that his life abhors bread,
and his soul dainty food.
21 His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen;
and his bones that were not seen stick out.
22 Yes, his soul draws near to the grave,
and his life to the destroyers.
23 If there is a Messenger with him, an Interpreter,
one among a thousand, to show to man his uprightness:
24 then He is gracious to him, and said,
Deliver him from going down into the pit:
I have found a ransom;
25 his flesh shall be fresher than a child's:
He will return to the days of his youth:
26 he shall pray to God, and He will be favourable to him:
and he shall see His face with joy:
for He will render to man his righteousness;
27 he looks upon men, and if any shall say,
I have sinned, and perverted right,
and it profited me not;
28 he will deliver his soul from going into the pit,
and his life shall see the light.
29 Behold, all these things God often works with man,
30 to bring back his soul from the pit,
to be enlightened with the light of the living.
31 Mark well, Job, listen to me:
Be silent, and I will speak.
32 If Thou have anything to say,
answer me: speak, for I desire to justify Thee.
33 If not, listen to me:
Be silent, and I shall teach Thee wisdom.
1 Furthermore Elihu answered and said,
2 Hear my words, ye wise men;
and give ear to me, ye that have knowledge.
3 For the ear tries words,
as the mouth tastes food.
4 Let us choose to us judgment:
let us know among ourselves what is good.
5 For Job has said, I am righteous:
and God has taken away my judgment.
6 Should I lie against my right?
My arrow[wound] is incurable without transgression.
7 What man is like Job,
who drinks up scorning like water?
8 Who goes in company with the workers of lawlessness,
and walks with wicked men.
9 For he has said, It profits a man nothing,
that he should delight himself with GOD.
10 Therefore listen to me,
ye men of heart[understanding]: God let it not be, that should do wickedness;
and from the Almighty, that should commit iniquity.
11 For the work of a man He shall render to him,
and cause every man to find according to his ways.
12 Yes, surely God will not do wickedly,
neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.
13 Who has given him a charge over the Earth?
Or who has disposed the whole World?
14 If He should set His heart upon man,
if He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath;
15 all flesh would perish together,
and man would turn back to dust.
16
If now Thou have understanding, hear this:
listen to the voice of my words.
17 Shall even he who hates right govern?
And will Thou condemn him that is most just?
18 Is it fit to say to a king, Thou are worthless?
And to princes, Ye are ungodly?
19 How much less to him that accepts not the persons of princes,
nor regards the rich more than the poor?
For they all are the work of His hands.
20 In a moment they shall die,
and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away:
and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.
21 For His eyes are upon the ways of man,
and He sees all his goings.
22 There is no darkness, nor shades of death,
where the workers of lawlessness may hide themselves.
23 For He will not lay upon man more than right;
that he should enter into judgment with God.
24 He shall break in pieces mighty men without number,
and set others in their stead.
25 Therefore He knows their works,
and He overturns them in the night, so that they are destroyed.
26 He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others;
27 because they turned back from Him,
and would not consider any of His ways:
28 so that they cause the cry of the poor to come to him,
and He hears the cry of the afflicted.
29 When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble?
And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him?
Whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:
30 that the hypocrite man may not reign,
lest being snares for the people.
31 Surely, it is meet to be said to God,
I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
32 that which I see not teach Thou me:
if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
33 Should it be according to Thy mind? He will recompense it,
whether Thou shall refuse, or whether Thou shall choose; and not I:
therefore speak what Thou know.
34 Let men of heart[understanding] tell me,
and let a wise man listen to me.
35 Job has spoken without knowledge,
and his words were without wisdom.
36 My desire is that Job may be tried to the end,
because of his answers for wicked men.
37 For he adds rebellion to his sin,
he claps his hands among us,
and multiplies his words against God.
1 Elihu spoke moreover, and said,
2 Think Thou this to be right, that Thou said,
my righteousness is more than God's?
3 For Thou said, What advantage will it be to Thee?
What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?
4 I will answer Thee,
and Thy companions with Thee.
5 Look to the Heavens, and see;
and behold the clouds which are higher than Thou.
6 If Thou sin, what do Thou against Him?
Or if Thy transgressions are multiplied, what do Thou to Him?
7 If Thou are righteous, what give Thou to Him?
Or what receives He from Thy hand?
8 Thy wickedness may hurt a man as Thou are:
and Thy righteousness may profit a son of man.
9 By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry:
they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.
10 But none said, Where is God my Maker,
who gives songs in the night;
11 who teaches us more than the beasts of the Earth,
and makes us wiser than the fowls of the air?
12 There they cry, but none gives answer,
because of the pride of evil men.
13 Surely, God will not hear vanity,
neither will the Almighty regard it.
14 Although Thou say Thou shall not see Him,
yet judgment is before Him; therefore trust Thou in Him.
15 But now, because it is not so, He has visited in His anger;
yet He knows it not in great extremity:
16 therefore does Job open his mouth in vain;
He multiplies words without knowledge.
1 Elihu also proceeded, and said,
2 Bear me a little, and I will show Thee,
that I have yet to speak on God's behalf.
3 I will bring my knowledge from afar,
and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
4 For truly my words shall not be false:
He who is perfect in knowledge is with Thee.
5
Behold, God is mighty, and despises not any:
He is mighty in strength and heart[wisdom].
6 He preserves not the life of the wicked:
but gives right to the poor.
7 He withdraws not his eyes from the righteous:
but with kings are they on the throne;
yes, He does establish them forever, and they are exalted.
8 And if they are bound in chains,
and are held in cords of affliction;
9 then He shows them their work,
and their transgressions that they have exceeded.
10 He opens also their ear to discipline,
and commands that they return from iniquity.
11 If they obey and serve him,
they shall spend their days in prosperity,
and their years in pleasures.
12 But if they obey not, they shall perish by the weapon,
and they shall die without knowledge.
13 But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath:
they cry not when He binds them.
14 Their soul will die in youth,
and their life is among the sodomites.
15 He delivers the poor in his affliction,
and opens their ears in oppression.
16 Yes, He has allured Thee from the mouth of distress,
to a wide place not cramped under it;
and the setting of Thy table would be full of fatness;
17 but Thou have fulfilled the judgment of the wicked:
judgment and justice take hold on Thee;
18 because there is wrath, beware lest He take Thee away with his stroke:
then a great ransom cannot deliver Thee.
19 Will He esteem Thy riches?
No, not gold, nor all the forces of strength.
20 Desire not the night, when people are cut off in their place.
21 Take heed, regard not iniquity:
for this have Thou chosen rather than affliction.
22
Behold, God exalts by His power:
who teaches like Him?
23 Who has enjoined Him His way?
Or who can say, Thou have wrought iniquity?
24 Remember that Thou magnify His work,
which men have beheld.
25 Every man may see it;
man may behold it afar off.
26 Behold, God is great, and we know Him not,
neither can the number of His years be searched out.
27 For He makes small the drops of water:
they pour down rain according to the vapour of it.
28 Which the clouds do drip and drop upon man abundantly.
29 Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds,
or the noise of His Tabernacle?
30 Behold, He spreads His light upon it,
and covers the bottom of the sea.
31 For by them He judges the people;
He gives food in abundance.
32 With hands He covers the light;
and commands to lighted it.
33 The noise of it shows concerning it,
the cattle also concerning the vapour.
1 At this also my heart trembles,
and is moved out of its place.
2 Hear attentively the noise of His voice,
and the sound that goes out of His mouth.
3 He directs it under the whole Heaven,
and his lightning to the ends of the Earth.
4 After it a voice roars: He thunders with the voice of his excellence;
and He will not stay them when His voice is heard.
5 God thunders marvellously with His voice;
great things He does, which we cannot comprehend.
6 For He said to the snow, Be Thou on the Earth;
likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of His strength.
7 He seals up the hand of every man;
that all men may know His work.
8 Then the beasts go into dens,
and remain in their places.
9 From the south comes the whirlwind:
and cold from the north.
10 By the breath of God frost is given:
and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
11 Also by watering He wearies the thick cloud:
He scatters His bright cloud:
12 and it is turned around by His counsels:
that they may do whatever He commands them,
upon the face of the World on the Earth.
13 He causes it to come, whether for correction,
or for His land, or for mercy.
14
Listen to this, Job:
stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
15 Do Thou know when God disposed them,
and caused the light of his cloud to shine?
16 Do Thou know the balancings of the clouds,
the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge?
17 How Thy garments are warm,
when He quiets the Earth by the south wind?
18 Have Thou with him spread out the sky,
which is strong, and as a molten mirror?
19 Teach us what we shall say to Him;
for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
20 Shall it be told him that I speak?
If a man shall speak, surely he will be swallowed up.
21 And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds:
but the wind passes, and cleans them.
22 Golden splendour comes from the north:
with God is awesome majesty.
23 Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out:
He is excellent in power,
and in judgment, and in abundance of justice: He will not afflict.
24 Men therefore fear Him:
He respects not any that are wise of heart.
1 Then the LORD answered Job,
out of the whirlwind, and said,
2 Who is this that darkens counsel,
by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up now Thy loins like a man;
for I will demand of Thee, and answer Thou Me!
4 Where were Thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth?
Declare, if Thou have understanding!
5 Who has laid the measures of it, if Thou know?
Or who has stretched the line upon it?
6 Upon what are the foundations of it fastened?
Or who laid its corner-stone;
7 when the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of GOD shouted for joy?
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors,
when it broke forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
9 When I made a cloud its garment,
and thick darkness a swaddling band for it,
10 and broke up for it my decreed place,
and set bars and doors?
11
and said, until now shall Thou come, but no further:
and here shall Thy proud waves be stayed.
12 Have Thou commanded the morning since Thy days;
and caused the dayspring to know its place;
13 that it might take hold of the ends of the Earth,
that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14 It is turned as clay to the seal;
and they stand as a garment.
15 And from the wicked their light is withheld,
and the high arm shall be broken.
16 Have Thou entered into the springs of the sea?
Or have Thou walked in the search of the Abyss?
17 Have the gates of death been opened to Thee?
Or have Thou seen the doors of the shades of death?
18 Have Thou perceived the breadth of the Earth?
Declare if Thou know it all.
19 Where is the way where light dwells?
And as for darkness, where is its place,
20 that Thou should take it to its bound,
and that Thou should know the paths to its house?
21 Know Thou it, because Thou were then born?
Or because the number of Thy days is great?
22 Have Thou entered into the treasures of the snow?
Or have Thou seen the treasures of the hail,
23 which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
against the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is the light parted,
which scatters the east wind upon the Earth?
25
Who has divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters,
or a way for the lightning of thunder;
26 to cause it to rain on the Earth, where no man is;
on the wilderness in which there is no man;
27 to satisfy the desolate and waste ground;
and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
28 Has there a father for the rain?
Or who has begotten the drops of the dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice?
And the frost of Heaven, who has gendered it?
30 The waters are hid as with a stone,
and the face of the Abyss is frozen?
31
Can Thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?
Or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Can Thou bring forth Mazzaroth[constellations] in its season?
Or can Thou guide Arcturus with its sons?
33 Know Thou the ordinances of Heaven?
Can Thou set its dominion on the Earth?
34 Can Thou lift Thy voice to the clouds,
that abundance of waters may cover Thee?
35 Can Thou send lightnings, that they may go,
and say to Thee, Here we are?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts?
Or who has given understanding to the heart?
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom?
Or who can stay the bottles of Heaven,
38 when the dust grows into hardness,
and the clods cleave fast together?
39
Will Thou hunt the prey for the lion?
Or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they couch in their dens,
and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 Who provides for the raven his food,
When his young ones cry to God, they wander for lack of food?
1
Know Thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?
Or can Thou mark when the hinds do calve?
2 Can Thou number the months that they fulfil?
Or know Thou the time when they bring forth?
3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones,
they cast out their sorrows.
4 Their young ones grow strong,
they grow up with grain;
they go forth, and return not to them.
5 Who has sent out the wild ass free?
Or who has loosed the bands of the wild ass?
6 Whose house I have made the wilderness,
and the salt land his dwellings.
7 He scorns the multitude of the city,
neither regards he the crying of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture,
and he searches after every green thing.
9
Will the rhino be willing to serve Thee,
or abide by Thy manger?
10 Can Thou bind the rhino with his band in the furrow?
Or will he harrow the valleys after Thee?
11 Will Thou trust him, because his strength is great?
Or will Thou leave Thy labour to him?
12 Will Thou believe him, that he will bring home Thy seed,
and gather it into Thy threshing-floor?
13
Gave Thou the goodly wings to the peacocks?
Or wings and feathers to the ostrich!
14 Which leaves her eggs in the earth,
and warms them in the dust,
15 and forgets that the foot may crush them,
or that the wild beast may break them.
16 She is hardened against her young ones,
as though they were not hers:
her labour is in vain without fear;
17 because God has withheld wisdom from her,
neither has He imparted to her understanding.
18 When she lifts herself on high,
she scorns the horse and his rider.
19
Have Thou given the horse strength?
Have Thou clothed his neck with thunder?
20 Can Thou make him afraid as a locust?
The glory of his nostrils is awesome.
21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength:
He goes on to meet the armed men.
22 He mocks at fear, and is not affrighted;
neither turns he back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against him,
the glittering spear and the javelin.
24 He swallows the ground with fierceness and rage:
neither believes he who it is the voice of the shofar.
25 He said among the shofars,
Aha; and he smells the battle afar off,
the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26
Does the hawk fly by Thy wisdom,
and stretch her wings towards the south?
27 Does the eagle mount up at Thy command,
and make her nest on high?
28 She dwells and stays on the rock,
upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.
29 From thence she seeks the prey,
and her eyes behold afar off.
30 Her young ones also suck up blood:
and where the slain are, there is she.
1 Moreover, the LORD answered Job, and said,
2 Shall he who contends with the Almighty instruct him?
He who reproves God, let him answer it.
3
Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer Thee?
I will lay my hand upon my mouth.
5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer:
yes, twice; but I will proceed no further.
6 Then the LORD answered Job,
out of the whirlwind, and said,
7 Gird up Thy loins now like a man:
I will demand of Thee, and declare Thou to me.
8 Will Thou also annul my judgment?
Will Thou condemn me, that Thou may be righteous?
9 Have Thou an arm like God?
Or can Thou thunder with a voice like His?
10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellence;
and array thyself with glory and beauty.
11 Cast abroad the rage of Thy wrath:
and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.
12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low;
and tread down the wicked in their place.
13 Hide them in the dust together;
bind their faces in secret.
14 Then will I also confess to Thee,
that Thy own right hand can save Thee.
15
Behold now behemoth,
which I made with Thee; he eats grass as an ox.
16 Behold now, his strength is in his loins,
and his force is in the muscles of his belly.
17 He moves his tail like a cedar:
the sinews of his testicles are wrapped together;
18 his bones are as strong pieces of bronze;
his bones are like bars of iron.
19 He is the chief of the ways of God:
his Maker brings near his sword.
20 Surely, the mountains bring him forth food,
where all the beasts of the field play.
21 He lies under the shady trees,
in the covert of the reed, and fens.
22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow;
the willows of the brook surround him.
23 Behold, he oppresses a river, and hastens not:
he trusts that he can draw up the Jordan into his mouth.
24 He takes it with his eyes:
his nose pierces through snares.
1
Can Thou draw out Leviathan with a hook?
Or his tongue with a cord which Thou let down?
2 Can Thou put a hook into his nose?
Or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
3 Will he make many supplications to Thee?
Will he speak soft words to Thee?
4 Will he make a Covenant with Thee?
Will Thou take him for a servant forever?
5 Will Thou play with him as with a bird?
Or will Thou bind him for Thy maidens?
6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him?
Shall they part him among the traders.
7 Can Thou fill his skin with barbed irons?
Or his head with fish spears?
8 Lay Thy hand upon him,
remember the battle, do no more.
9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain:
shall not one be cast down even at the sight of Him?
10
None is so fierce that he can rouse Him:
who then is able to stand before Me?
11 Or who has first given to him,
and it shall be recompensed to Him? Rom 11:35
Whatever is under the whole Heaven is Mine.
12
I will not conceal his parts,
nor his power, nor his comely proportion.
13 Who can uncover the face of his garment?
Or who can come to him with his double bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
His teeth are awesome around.
15 His mighty shields[scales] are his pride,
shut together as with a close seal.
16 One is so near to another,
that no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another,
they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.
18 His sneezings flash light,
and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps,
and sparks of fire dart forth.
20 Out of his nostrils goes smoke,
as out of a seething pot or caldron.
21 His breath kindles coals,
and a flame goes from his mouth.
22 In his neck remains strength,
and sorrow is turned into joy before him.
23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together:
they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.
24 His heart is as firm as a stone;
yes, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.
25 When he raises himself, the mighty are afraid:
by reason of breakings they purify themselves.
26 The sword of him that overtakes him cannot hold:
the spear, the dart, nor the breast-plate.
27 He esteems iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 The son of a bow[arrow] cannot make him flee:
sling-stones are turned with him into stubble.
29 Darts are counted as stubble:
He laughs at the shaking of a javelin.
30 Sharp potsherds are under him:
he spreads sharp pointed things upon the mire.
31 He makes the deep to boil like a pot.
He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 He makes a path to shine after him;
one would think the Abyss to be hoary.
33 Upon dust[earth] there is not his like,
who is made without fear.
34 He beholds all high things:
he is a king over all the children of pride.
1 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
2 I know that Thou can do every thing,
and that no thought can be withheld from Thee.
3 Who is He who hides counsel without knowledge?
Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not;
things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
4 Hear, I beseech Thee, and I will speak:
I will ask of Thee, and declare Thou to me.
5 I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear:
but now my eye sees Thee.
6 Therefore I abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.
7 And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words to Job,
the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite,
My wrath is kindled against Thee, and against Thy two friends:
for ye have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job.
8 Therefore take to you now seven bulls and seven rams,
and go to My servant Job, and offer for yourselves a burnt-offering;
and My servant Job shall pray for you:
for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly,
in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like My servant Job.
9 So went Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite,
and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.
10 The LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends:
also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
11 Then came there to him all his brethren, and all his sisters,
and all they that had been of his acquaintance before,
and ate bread with him in his house:
and they condoled with him, and comforted him,
over all the calamity that the LORD had brought upon him:
every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one a ring of gold.
12
So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning:
for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels,
and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
13 He had also seven sons, and three daughters.
14 He called the name of the first, Jemima;
and the name of the second, Kezia;
and the name of the third, Keren-happuch.
15 And in all the land were no women found so beautiful as the daughters of Job:
and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.
16 After this Job lived a hundred forty years,
and saw his sons, and his grandsons, even four generations.
17 So Job died, being old and full of days.