21:1 |
But Job answered and said, |
21:2 |
Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations. |
21:3 |
Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on. |
21:4 |
As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be
troubled? |
21:5 |
Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth. |
21:6 |
Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh. |
21:7 |
Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? |
21:8 |
Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their
eyes. |
21:9 |
Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. |
21:10 |
Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. |
21:11 |
They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. |
21:12 |
They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. |
21:13 |
They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. |
21:14 |
Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy
ways. |
21:15 |
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we
pray unto him? |
21:16 |
Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me. |
21:17 |
How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon
them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. |
21:18 |
They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. |
21:19 |
God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it. |
21:20 |
His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. |
21:21 |
For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut
off in the midst? |
21:22 |
Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high. |
21:23 |
One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. |
21:24 |
His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. |
21:25 |
And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. |
21:26 |
They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them. |
21:27 |
Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me. |
21:28 |
For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the
wicked? |
21:29 |
Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, |
21:30 |
That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to
the day of wrath. |
21:31 |
Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? |
21:32 |
Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. |
21:33 |
The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him,
as there are innumerable before him. |
21:34 |
How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood? |
22:1 |
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, |
22:2 |
Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? |
22:3 |
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him,
that thou makest thy ways perfect? |
22:4 |
Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? |
22:5 |
Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? |
22:6 |
For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of
their clothing. |
22:7 |
Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from
the hungry. |
22:8 |
But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it. |
22:9 |
Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. |
22:10 |
Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; |
22:11 |
Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee. |
22:12 |
Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they
are! |
22:13 |
And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? |
22:14 |
Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit
of heaven. |
22:15 |
Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? |
22:16 |
Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood: |
22:17 |
Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? |
22:18 |
Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from
me. |
22:19 |
The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn. |
22:20 |
Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth. |
22:21 |
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. |
22:22 |
Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. |
22:23 |
If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity
far from thy tabernacles. |
22:24 |
Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the
brooks. |
22:25 |
Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. |
22:26 |
For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto
God. |
22:27 |
Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy
vows. |
22:28 |
Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light
shall shine upon thy ways. |
22:29 |
When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save
the humble person. |
22:30 |
He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of
thine hands. |
23:1 |
Then Job answered and said, |
23:2 |
Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. |
23:3 |
Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! |
23:4 |
I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. |
23:5 |
I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto
me. |
23:6 |
Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me. |
23:7 |
There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my
judge. |
23:8 |
Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: |
23:9 |
On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on
the right hand, that I cannot see him: |
23:10 |
But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
|
23:11 |
My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. |
23:12 |
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words
of his mouth more than my necessary food. |
23:13 |
But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he
doeth. |
23:14 |
For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with
him. |
23:15 |
Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him. |
23:16 |
For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me: |
23:17 |
Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness
from my face. |
24:1 |
Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his
days? |
24:2 |
Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof. |
24:3 |
They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. |
24:4 |
They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together. |
24:5 |
Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a
prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children. |
24:6 |
They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked. |
24:7 |
They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the
cold. |
24:8 |
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a
shelter. |
24:9 |
They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor. |
24:10 |
They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the
hungry; |
24:11 |
Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst. |
24:12 |
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth
not folly to them. |
24:13 |
They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor
abide in the paths thereof. |
24:14 |
The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as
a thief. |
24:15 |
The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me:
and disguiseth his face. |
24:16 |
In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the
daytime: they know not the light. |
24:17 |
For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in
the terrors of the shadow of death. |
24:18 |
He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the
way of the vineyards. |
24:19 |
Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned. |
24:20 |
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. |
24:21 |
He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow. |
24:22 |
He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life. |
24:23 |
Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon
their ways. |
24:24 |
They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out
of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. |
24:25 |
And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth? |
26:1 |
But Job answered and said, |
26:2 |
How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no
strength? |
26:3 |
How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully
declared the thing as it is? |
26:4 |
To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee? |
26:5 |
Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof. |
26:6 |
Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. |
26:7 |
He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. |
26:8 |
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them. |
26:9 |
He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it. |
26:10 |
He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end. |
26:11 |
The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. |
26:12 |
He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the
proud. |
26:13 |
By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
|
26:14 |
Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the
thunder of his power who can understand? |
27:1 |
Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, |
27:2 |
As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my
soul; |
27:3 |
All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; |
27:4 |
My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. |
27:5 |
God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from
me. |
27:6 |
My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me
so long as I live. |
27:7 |
Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous. |
27:8 |
For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his
soul? |
27:9 |
Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? |
27:10 |
Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God? |
27:11 |
I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not
conceal. |
27:12 |
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain? |
27:13 |
This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which
they shall receive of the Almighty. |
27:14 |
If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be
satisfied with bread. |
27:15 |
Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep. |
27:16 |
Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; |
27:17 |
He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the
silver. |
27:18 |
He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh. |
27:19 |
The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he
is not. |
27:20 |
Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night. |
27:21 |
The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of
his place. |
27:22 |
For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. |
27:23 |
Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place. |
28:1 |
Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. |
28:2 |
Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. |
28:3 |
He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of
darkness, and the shadow of death. |
28:4 |
The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot:
they are dried up, they are gone away from men. |
28:5 |
As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. |
28:6 |
The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold. |
28:7 |
There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: |
28:8 |
The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. |
28:9 |
He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. |
28:10 |
He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. |
28:11 |
He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to
light. |
28:12 |
But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? |
28:13 |
Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. |
28:14 |
The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me. |
28:15 |
It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. |
28:16 |
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. |
28:17 |
The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for
jewels of fine gold. |
28:18 |
No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above
rubies. |
28:19 |
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. |
28:20 |
Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? |
28:21 |
Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the
air. |
28:22 |
Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. |
28:23 |
God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. |
28:24 |
For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; |
28:25 |
To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. |
28:26 |
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: |
28:27 |
Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. |
28:28 |
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from
evil is understanding. |
29:1 |
Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, |
29:2 |
Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; |
29:3 |
When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness; |
29:4 |
As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle; |
29:5 |
When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me; |
29:6 |
When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil; |
29:7 |
When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! |
29:8 |
The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up. |
29:9 |
The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. |
29:10 |
The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. |
29:11 |
When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to
me: |
29:12 |
Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to
help him. |
29:13 |
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's
heart to sing for joy. |
29:14 |
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. |
29:15 |
I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. |
29:16 |
I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. |
29:17 |
And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth. |
29:18 |
Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand. |
29:19 |
My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch. |
29:20 |
My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand. |
29:21 |
Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. |
29:22 |
After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them. |
29:23 |
And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the
latter rain. |
29:24 |
If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast
not down. |
29:25 |
I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that
comforteth the mourners. |
30:1 |
But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have
disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. |
30:2 |
Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was
perished? |
30:3 |
For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time
desolate and waste. |
30:4 |
Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat. |
30:5 |
They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;) |
30:6 |
To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks. |
30:7 |
Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together. |
30:8 |
They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the
earth. |
30:9 |
And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. |
30:10 |
They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face. |
30:11 |
Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle
before me. |
30:12 |
Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against
me the ways of their destruction. |
30:13 |
They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper. |
30:14 |
They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled
themselves upon me. |
30:15 |
Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth
away as a cloud. |
30:16 |
And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
|
30:17 |
My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest. |
30:18 |
By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the
collar of my coat. |
30:19 |
He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes. |
30:20 |
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not. |
30:21 |
Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me. |
30:22 |
Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my
substance. |
30:23 |
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all
living. |
30:24 |
Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his
destruction. |
30:25 |
Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? |
30:26 |
When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there
came darkness. |
30:27 |
My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. |
30:28 |
I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. |
30:29 |
I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. |
30:30 |
My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. |
30:31 |
My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep. |