1.1
There was a certain man in the land of Ausis, whose name [was] Job; and
than man was true, blameless, righteous, [and] godly, abstaining from
everything evil.
1.2 And he had seven sons and three daughters.
1.3 And his cattle consisted of seven thousand
sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred
she-asses in the pastures, and a very great household, and he had a
great husbandry on the earth; and that man was [most] noble of the
[men] of the east.
1.4 And his sons visiting one another prepared
a banquet every day, taking with them also their there sisters to eat
and drink with them.
1.5 And when the days of the banquet were
completed, Job sent and purified them, having risen up in the morning,
and offered sacrifices for them, according to their number, and one
calf for a sin-offering for their souls: for Job said, Lest
peradventure my sons have thought evil in their minds against God.
Thus, then Job did continually.
1.6 And it came to pass on a day, that behold,
the angels of God came to stand before the Lord, and the devil came
with them.
1.7 And the Lord said to the devil, Whence art
thou come? And the devil answered the Lord, and said, I am come from
compassing the earth, and walking up and down in the world.
1.8 And the Lord said to him, Hast thou
diligently considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on
the earth, a man blameless, true, godly, abstaining from everything
evil?
1.9 Then the devil answered, and said before the Lord, Does Job worship the Lord for nothing?
1.10 Hast thou not made a hedge about him, and about
his household, and all his possessions round about? and hast thou not
blessed the works of his hands, and multiplied his cattle upon the land?
1.11 But put forth thine hand, and touch all that he has: verily he will bless thee to [thy] face.
1.12 Then the Lord said to the devil, Behold, I give
into thine hand all that he has, but touch not himself. So the devil
went out from the presence of the Lord.
1.13 And it came to pass on a certain day, that Job's
sons and his daughters were drinking wine in the house of their elder
brother.
1.14 And, behold, there came a messenger to job, and
said to him, The yokes of oxen were ploughing, and the she-asses were
feeding near them;
1.15 and the spoilers came and took them for a prey,
and slew the servants with the sword; and I having escaped alone am
come to tell thee.
1.16 While he was yet speaking, there came another
messenger, and said to Job, Fire has fallen from heaven, and burnt up
the sheep, and devoured the shepherds like wise; and I having escaped
alone am come to tell thee
1.17 While he was yet speaking, there came another
messenger, and said to Job, The horsemen formed three companies against
us, and surrounded the camels, and took them for a prey, and slew the
servants with the sword; and I only escaped, and am come to tell thee.
1.18 While he is yet speaking, another messenger
comes, saying to Job, While thy sons and thy daughters were eating and
drinking with their elder brother,
1.19 suddenly a great wind came on from the desert,
and caught the four corners of the house, and the house fell upon thy
children, and they are dead; and I have escaped alone, and am come to
tell thee.
1.20 So Job arose, and rent his garments, and shaved
the hair of his head, and fell on the earth, and worshipped,
1.21 and said, I myself came forth naked from my
mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave, the
Lord has taken away: as it seemed good to the Lord, so has it come to
pass; blessed be the name of the Lord.
1.22 In all these events that befell him Job sinned
not at all before the Lord, and did not impute folly to God.
2.1
And it came to pass on a certain day, that the angels of God came to
stand before the Lord, and the devil came among them to stand before
the Lord.
2.2 And the Lord, said to the devil, Whence
comest thou? Then the devil said before the Lord, I am come from going
through the world, and walking about the whole earth.
2.3 And the Lord said to the devil, Hast thou
then observed my servant Job, that there is none of [men] upon the
earth like him, a harmless, true, blameless, godly man, abstaining from
all evil? and he yet cleaves to innocence, whereas thou has told [me]
to destroy his substance without cause?
2.4 And the devil answered and said to the
Lord, Skin for skin, all that a man has will he give as a ransom for
his life.
2.5 Nay, but put forth thine hand, and touch
his bones and his flesh: verily he will bless thee to [thy] face.
2.6 And the Lord said to the devil, Behold, I deliver him up to thee; only save his life.
2.7 So the devil went out fro the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from [his] feet to [his] head.
2.8 And he took a potsherd to scrape away the discharge, and sat upon a dung-heap outside the city.
2.9 And when much time had passed, his wife
said to him, How long wilt thou hold out, saying, Behold, I wait yet a
little while, expecting the hope of my deliverance? for, behold, thy
memorial is abolished from the earth, [even thy] sons and daughters,
the pangs and pains of my womb which I bore in vain with sorrows; and
thou thyself sittest down to spend the nights in the open air among the
corruption of worms, and I am a wanderer and a servant from place to
place and house to house, waiting for the setting of the sun, that I
may rest from my labours and my pangs which now beset me: but say some
word against the Lord, and die.
2.10 But he looked on her, and said to her, Thou hast
spoken like one of the foolish women. If we have received good things
of the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure evil things? In all these
things that happened to him, Job sinned not at all with his lips before
God.
2.11 Now his three friends having heard of all the
evil that was come upon him, came to him each from his own country:
Eliphaz the king of the Thaemans, Baldad sovereign of the Saucheans,
Sophar king of he Kinaeans: and they came to him with one accord, to
comfort and to visit him.
2.12 And when they saw him from a distance they did
not know him; and they cried with a loud voice, and wept, and rent
every one his garment, and sprinkled dust upon [their heads],
2.13 and they sat down beside him seven days and
seven nights, and no one of them spoke; for they saw that his
affliction was dreadful and very great.
3.1 After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,
3.2 saying,
3.3 Let the day perish in which I was born, and that night in which they said, Behold a man-child!
3.4 Let that night be darkness, and let not the
Lord regard it from above, neither let light come upon it.
3.5 But let darkness and the shadow of death seize it; let blackness come upon it;
3.6 let that day and night be cursed, let
darkness carry them away; let it not come into the days of the year,
neither let it be numbered with the days of the months.
3.7 But let that night be pain, and let not mirth come upon it, nor joy.
3.8 But let him that curses that day curse it, [even] he that is ready to attack the great whale.
3.9 Let the stars of that night be darkened;
let it remain [dark], and not come into light; and let it not see the
morning star arise:
3.10 because it shut not up the gates of my mother's womb, for [so] it would have removed sorrow from my eyes.
3.11 For why died I not in the belly? and [why] did I not come forth from the womb and die immediately?
3.12 and why did the knees support me? and why did I suck the breasts?
3.13 Now I should have lain down and been quiet, I should have slept and been at rest,
3.14 with kings [and] councillors of the earth, who gloried in [their] swords;
3.15 or with rulers, whose gold was abundant, who filled their houses with silver:
3.16 or [I should have been] as an untimely birth
proceeding from his mother's womb, or as infants who never saw light.
3.17 There the ungodly have burnt out the fury of rage; there the wearied in body rest.
3.18 And the men of old time have together ceased to hear the exactor's voice.
3.19 The small and great are there, and the servant that feared his lord.
3.20 For why is light given to those who are in bitterness, and life to those souls which are in griefs?
3.21 who desire death, and obtain it not, digging [for it] as [for] treasures;
3.22 and would be very joyful if they should gain it?
3.23 Death [is] rest to [such] a man, for God has hedged him in.
3.24 For my groaning comes before my food, and I weep being beset with terror.
3.25 For the terror of which I meditated has come upon me, and that which I had feared has befallen me.
3.26 I was not at peace, nor quiet, nor had I rest; yet wrath came upon me.
4.1 Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,
4.2 Hast thou been often spoken to in distress? but who hall endure the force of thy words?
4.3 For whereas thou hast instructed many, and hast strengthened the hands of the weak one,
4.4 and hast supported the failing with words, and hast imparted courage to feeble knees.
4.5 Yet now [that] pain has come upon thee, and touched thee, thou art troubled.
4.6 Is not thy fear [founded] in folly, thy hope also, and the mischief of thy way?
4.7 Remember then who has perished, being pure? or when were the true-hearted utterly destroyed?
4.8 Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing
barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves.
4.9 They shall perish by the command of the
Lord, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath.
4.10 The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched.
4.11 The old lion has perished for want of food, and the lions' whelps have forsaken one another.
4.12 But if there had been any truth in thy words,
none of these evils would have befallen thee. Shall not mine ear
receive excellent [revelations] from him?
4.13 But [as when] terror falls upon men, with dread and a sound in the night,
4.14 horror and trembling seized me, and caused all my bones greatly to shake.
4.15 And a spirit came before my face; and my hair and flesh quivered.
4.16 I arose and perceived it not: I looked, and
there, was no form before my eyes: but I only heard a breath and a
voice, [saying],
4.17 What, shall a mortal be pure before the Lord? or a man be blameless in regard to his works?
4.18 Whereas he trust not in his servants, and perceives perverseness in his angels.
4.19 But [as for] them that dwell in houses of clay,
of whom we also are formed of the same clay, he smites them like a moth.
4.20 And from the morning to evening they no longer
exist: they have perished, because they cannot help themselves.
4.21 For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of wisdom.
5.1 But call, if any one will hearken to thee, or if thou shalt see any of the holy angels.
5.2 For wrath destroys the foolish one, and envy slays him that has gone astray.
5.3 And I have seen foolish ones taking root: but suddenly their habitation was devoured.
5.4 Let their children be far from safety, and
let them be crushed at the doors of vile men, and let there be no
deliverer.
5.5 For what they have collected, the just
shall eat; but they shall not be delivered out of calamities: let their
strength be utterly exhausted.
5.6 For labour cannot by any means come out of the earth, nor shall trouble spring out of the mountains:
5.7 yet man is born to labour, and [even so] the vulture's young seek the high places.
5.8 Nevertheless I will beseech the Lord, and will call upon the Lord, the sovereign of all;
5.9 who does great things and untraceable,
glorious things also, and marvelous, of which there is no number:
5.10 who gives rain upon the earth, sending water on the earth:
5.11 who exalts the lowly, and raises up them that are lost:
5.12 frustrating the counsels of the crafty, and their hands shall not perform the truth:
5.13 who takes the wise in their wisdom, and subverts the counsel of the crafty
5.14 In the day darkness shall come upon them, and let them grope in the noon-day even as in the night:
5.15 and let them perish in war, and let the weak escape from the hand of the mighty.
5.16 And let the weak have hope, but the mouth of the unjust be stopped.
5.17 But blessed [is] the man whom the Lord has reproved; and reject not thou the chastening of the Almighty.
5.18 for he causes [a man] to be in pain, and restores [him] again: he smites, and his hands heal.
5.19 Six time he shall deliver thee out of distresses: and in the seventh harm shall not touch thee.
5.20 In famine he shall deliver thee from death: and in war he shall free thee from the power of the sword.
5.21 He shall hide thee from the scourge of the tongue: and thou shalt not be afraid of coming evils.
5.22 Thou shalt laugh at the unrighteous and the lawless: and thou shalt not be afraid of wild beasts.
5.23 For the wild beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
5.24 Then shalt thou know that thy house shall be at
peace, and the provision for thy tabernacle shall not fail.
5.25 And thou shalt know that thy seed [shall be]
abundant; and thy children shall be like the herbage of the field.
5.26 And thou shalt come to the grave like ripe corn
reaped in its season, or as a heap of the corn-flour collected in
proper time.
5.27 Behold, we have thus sought out these matters;
these are what we have heard: but do thou reflect with thyself, if thou
hast done anything [wrong].
6.1 But Job answered and said,
6.2 Oh that one would indeed weigh the wrath
that is upon me, and take up my griefs in a balance together!
6.3 And verily they would be heavier than the sand by the seashore: but, as it seems, my words are vain.
6.4 For the arrows of the Lord are in my body,
whose violence drinks up my blood: whenever I am going to speak, they
pierce me.
6.5 What then? will the wild ass bray for
nothing, if he is not seeking food? or again, will the ox low at the
manger, when he has a fodder?
6.6 Shall bread be eaten without salt? or again, is there taste in empty words?
6.7 For my wrath cannot cease; for I perceive my food as the smell of a lion [to be] loathsome.
6.8 For oh that he would grant [my desire], and
my petition might come, and the Lord would grant my hope!
6.9 Let the Lord begin and wound me, but let him not utterly destroy me.
6.10 Let the grave be my city, upon the walls of
which I have leaped: I will not shrink from it; for I have not denied
the holy words of my God.
6.11 For what is my strength, that I continue? what is my time, that my soul endures?
6.12 Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?
6.13 Or have I not trusted in him? but help is [far] from me.
6.14 Mercy has rejected me; and the visitation of the Lord has disregarded me.
6.15 My nearest relations have not regarded me; they have passed me by like a failing brook, or like a wave.
6.16 They who used to reverence me, now have come against me like snow or congealed ice.
6.17 When it has melted at the approach of heat, it is not known what it was.
6.18 Thus I also have been deserted of all; and I am ruined, and become an outcast.
6.19 Behold the ways of the Thaemanites, ye that mark the paths of the Sabaeans.
6.20 They too that trust in cities and riches shall come to shame.
6.21 But ye also have come to me without pity; so that beholding my wound ye are afraid.
6.22 What? have I made any demand of you? or do I ask for strength from you,
6.23 to deliver me from enemies, or to rescue me from the hand of the mighty ones?
6.24 Teach ye me, and I will be silent: if in anything I have erred, tell me.
6.25 But as it seems, the words of a true man are vain, because I do not ask strength of you.
6.26 Neither will your reproof cause me to cease my words, for neither will I endure the sound of your speech.
6.27 Even because ye attack the fatherless, and insult your friend.
6.28 But now, having looked upon your countenances, I will not lie.
6.29 Sit down now, and let there not be unrighteousness; and unite again with the just.
6.30 For there is no injustice in my tongue; and does not my throat meditate understanding?
7.1
Is not the life of man upon earth a state of trial? and his existence
as that of a hireling by the day?
7.2 Or as a servant that fears his master, and
one who has grasped a shadow? or as a hireling waiting for his pay?
7.3 So have I also endured months of vanity, and nights of pain have been appointed me.
7.4 Whenever I lie down, I say, When [will it
be] day? and whenever I rise up, again [I say] when [will it be]
evening? and I am full of pains from evening to morning.
7.5 And my body is covered with loathsome
worms; and I waste away, scraping off clods of dust from my eruption.
7.6 And my life is lighter than a word, and has perished in vain hope.
7.7 Remember then that my life is breath, and mine eye shalt not yet again see good.
7.8 The eye of him that sees me shall not see me [again]: thine eyes are upon me, and I am no more.
7.9 [I am] as a cloud that is cleared away from
the sky: for if a man go down to the grave, he shall not come up again:
7.10 and he shall surely not return to his own house, neither shall his place know him any more.
7.11 Then neither will I refrain my mouth: I will
speak being in distress; being in anguish I will disclose the
bitterness of my soul.
7.12 Am I a sea, or a serpent, that thou hast set a watch over me?
7.13 I said that my bed should comfort me, and I would privately counsel with myself on my couch.
7.14 Thou scarest me with dreams, and dost terrify me with visions.
7.15 Thou wilt separate life from my spirit; and yet [keep] my bones from death.
7.16 For I shall not live for ever, that I should patiently endure: depart from me, for my life [is] vain.
7.17 For what is man, that thou hast magnified him? or that thou givest heed to him?
7.18 Wilt thou visit him till the morning, and judge him till [the time of] rest?
7.19 How long dost thou not let me alone, nor let me go, until I shall swallow down my spittle?
7.20 If I have sinned, what shall I be able to do, O
thou that understandest the mind of men? why hast thou made me as thine
accuser, and [why] am I a burden to thee?
7.21 Why hast thou not forgotten my iniquity, and
purged my sin? but now I shall depart to the earth; and in the morning
I am no more.
8.1 Then Baldad the Sauchite answered, and said,
8.2 How long wilt thou speak these things, [how
long shall] the breath of thy mouth [be] abundant in words?
8.3 Will the Lord be unjust when he judges; or will he that has made all things pervert justice?
8.4 If thy sons have sinned before him, he has cast them away because of their transgression.
8.5 But be thou early in prayer to the Lord Almighty.
8.6 If thou art pure and true, he will hearken
to thy supplication, and will restore to thee the habitation of
righteousness.
8.7 Though then thy beginning should be small, yet thy end should be unspeakably great.
8.8 For ask of the former generation, and search diligently among the race of [our] fathers:
8.9 (for we are of yesterday, and now nothing; for our life upon the earth is a shadow:)
8.10 shall not these teach thee, and report [to thee], and bring out words from [their] heart?
8.11 Does the rush flourish without water, or shall the flag grow up without moisture?
8.12 When it is yet on the root, and [though] it has
not been cut down, does not any herb wither before it has received
moisture?
8.13 Thus then shall be the end of all that forget the Lord: for the hope of the ungodly shall perish.
8.14 For his house shall be without inhabitants, and his tent shall prove a spider's web.
8.15 If he should prop up his house, it shall not
stand: and when he has taken hold of it, it shall not remain.
8.16 For it is moist under the sun, and his branch shall come forth out of his dung-heap.
8.17 He lies down upon a gathering of stones, and shall live in the mist of flints.
8.18 If [God] should destroy [him], his place shall deny him. Hast thou not seen such things,
8.19 that such is the overthrow of the ungodly? and out of the earth another shall grow.
8.20 For the Lord will by no means reject the harmless man; but he will not receive any gift of the ungodly.
8.21 But he will fill with laughter the mouth of the sincere, and their lips with thanksgiving.
8.22 But their adversaries shall clothe themselves with shame; and the habitation of the ungodly shall perish.
9.1 Then Job answered and said,
9.2 I know of a truth that it is so: for how shall a mortal man be just before the Lord?
9.3 For if he would enter into judgment with
him, [God] would not hearken to him, so that he should answer to one of
his charges of a thousand.
9.4 For he is wise in mind, and mighty, and great: who has hardened himself against him and endured?
9.5 Who wears out the mountains, and [men] know it not: who overturns them in anger.
9.6 Who shakes the [earth] under heaven from its foundations, and its pillars totter.
9.7 Who commands the sun, and it rises not; and he seals up the stars.
9.8 Who alone has stretched out the heavens, and walks on the sea as on firm ground.
9.9 Who makes Pleias, and Hesperus, and Arcturus, and the chambers of the south.
9.10 Who does great and unsearchable things; glorious also and excellent things, innumerable.
9.11 If ever he should go beyond me, I shall not see
him: if he should pass by me, neither thus have I known [it].
9.12 If he would take away, who shall turn him back? or who shall say to him, What hast thou done?
9.13 For [if] he has turned away [his] anger, the whales under heaven have stooped under him.
9.14 Oh then that he would hearken to me, or judge my cause.
9.15 For though I be righteous, he will not hearken to me: I will intreat his judgment.
9.16 And if I should call and he should not hearken, I cannot believe that he has listened to my voice.
9.17 Let him not crush me with a dark storm: but he has made by bruises many without cause.
9.18 For he suffers me not to take breath, but he has filled me with bitterness.
9.19 For indeed he is strong in power: who then shall resist his judgment?
9.20 For though I should seem righteous, my mouth
will be profane: and though I should seem blameless, I shall be proved
perverse.
9.21 For even if I have sinned, I know it not [in] my soul: but my life is taken away.
9.22 Wherefore I said, Wrath slays the great and mighty man.
9.23 For the worthless die, but the righteous are laughed to scorn.
9.24 For they are delivered into the hands of the
unrighteous [man]: he covers the faces of the judges [of the earth]:
but if it be not he, who is it?
9.25 But my life is swifter than a post: [my days] have fled away, and they knew it not.
9.26 Or again, is there a trace of [their] path
[left] by ships? or is there one of the flying eagle as it seeks [its]
prey?
9.27 And if I should say, I will forget to speak, I will bow down my face and groan;
9.28 I quake in all my limbs, for I know that thou wilt not leave me alone [as] innocent.
9.29 But since I am ungodly, why have I not died?
9.30 For if I should wash myself with snow, and purge myself with pure hands,
9.31 thou hadst thoroughly plunged me in filth, and my garment had abhorred me.
9.32 For thou art not man like me, with whom I could contend, that we might come together to judgment.
9.33 Would that [he] our mediator were [present], and
a reprover, and one who should hear [the cause] between both.
9.34 Let him remove [his] rod from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
9.35 so shall I not be afraid, but I will speak: for I am not thus conscious [of guilt].
10.1
Weary in my soul, I will pour my words with groans upon him: I will
speak being straitened in the bitterness of my soul.
10.2 And I will say to the Lord, Do not teach me to be impious; and wherefore hast thou thus judged me?
10.3 Is it good before thee if I be unrighteous? for
thou hast disowned the work of thy hands, and attended to the counsel
of the ungodly.
10.4 Or dost thou see as a mortal sees? or wilt thou look as a man sees?
10.5 Or is thy life human, or thy years [the years] of a man,
10.6 that thou hast enquired into mine iniquity, and searched out my sins?
10.7 For thou knowest that I have not committed iniquity: but who is he that can deliver out of thy hands?
10.8 Thy hands have formed me and made me; afterwards thou didst change [thy mind], and smite me.
10.9 Remember that thou hast made me [as] clay, and thou dost turn me again to earth.
10.10 Hast thou not poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese?
10.11 And thou didst clothe me with skin and flesh, and frame me with bones and sinews.
10.12 And thou didst bestow upon me life and mercy, and thy oversight has preserved my spirit.
10.13 Having these things in thyself, I know that thou canst do all things; for nothing is impossible with thee.
10.14 And if I should sin, thou watchest me; and thou hast not cleared me from iniquity.
10.15 Or if I should be ungodly, woe is me: and if I should
be righteous, I cannot lift myself up, for I am full of dishonour.
10.16 For I am hunted like a lion for slaughter; for again thou hast changed and art terribly destroying me;
10.17 renewing against me my torture: and thou hast dealt
with me in great anger, and thou hast brought trials upon me.
10.18 Why then didst thou bring me out of the womb? and why did I not die, and no eye see me,
10.19 and I become as if I had not been? for why was I not carried from the womb to the grave?
10.20 Is not the time of my life short? suffer me to rest a little,
10.21 before I go whence I shall not return, to a land of darkness and gloominess;
10.22 to a land of perpetual darkness, where there is no light, neither [can any one] see the life of mortals.
11.1 Then Sophar the Minaean answered and said,
11.2 He that speaks much, should also hear on the
other side: or does the fluent speaker think himself to be righteous?
blessed [is] the short lived offspring of woman.
11.3 Be not a speaker of many words; for is there none to answer thee?
11.4 For say not, I am pure in my works, and blameless before him.
11.5 But oh that the Lord would speak to thee, and open his lips to thee!
11.6 Then shall he declare to thee the power of
wisdom; for it shall be double of that which is with thee: and then
shalt thou know, that a just recompence of thy sins has come to thee
from the Lord.
11.7 Wilt thou find out the traces of the Lord? or
hast thou come to the end [of that] which the Almighty has made?
11.8 Heaven [is] high; and what wilt thou do? and
there are deeper things than those in hell; what dost thou know?
11.9 Or longer than the measure of the earth, or the breadth of the sea.
11.10 And if he should overthrow all things, who will say to him, What hast thou done?
11.11 For he knows the works of transgressors; and when he sees wickedness, he will not overlook [it].
11.12 But man vainly buoys himself up with words; and a mortal born of woman [is] like an ass in the desert.
11.13 For if thou hast made thine heart pure, and liftest up [thine] hands towards him;
11.14 if there is any iniquity in thy hands, put if far
from thee, and let not unrighteousness lodge in thy habitation.
11.15 For thus shall thy countenance shine again, as pure
water; and thou shalt divest thyself of uncleanness, and shalt not fear.
11.16 And thou shalt forget trouble, as a wave that has passed by; and thou shalt not be scared.
11.17 And thy prayer [shall be] as the morning star, and life shall arise to thee [as] from the noonday.
11.18 And thou shalt be confident, because thou hast hope;
and peace shall dawn to thee from out of anxiety and care.
11.19 For thou shalt be at ease, and there shall be no one
to fight against thee; and many shall charge, and make supplication to
thee.
11.20 But safety shall fail them; for their hope is destruction, and the eyes of the ungodly shall waste away.
12.1 And Job answered and said,
12.2 So then ye [alone] are men, and wisdom shall die with you?
12.3 [But] I also have a heart as well as you.
12.4 For a righteous and blameless man has become a subject for mockery.
12.5 For it had been ordained that he should fall
under others at the appointed time, and that his houses should be
spoiled by transgressors: let not however any one trust that, being
evil, he shall be [held] guiltless,
12.6 even as many as provoke the Lord, as if there were indeed to be no inquisition [made] of them.
12.7 But ask now the beasts, if they may speak to thee; and the birds of the air, if they may declare to thee.
12.8 Tell the earth, if it may speak to thee: and the fishes of the sea shall explain to thee.
12.9 Who then has not known in all these things, that the hand of the Lord has made them?
12.10 Whereas the life of all living things is in his hand, and the breath of every man.
12.11 For the ear tries words, and the palate tastes meats.
12.12 In length of time is wisdom, and in long life knowledge.
12.13 With him are wisdom and power, with him counsel and understanding.
12.14 If he should cast down, who will build up? if he should shut up against man, who shall open?
12.15 If he should withhold the water, he will dry the
earth: and if he should let it loose, he overthrows and destroys it.
12.16 With him are strength and power: he has knowledge and understanding.
12.17 He leads counsellors away captive, and maddens the judges of the earth.
12.18 He seats kings upon thrones, and girds their loins with a girdle.
12.19 He sends away priests into captivity, and overthrows the mighty ones of the earth.
12.20 He changes the lips of the trusty, and he knows the understanding of the elders.
12.21 He pours dishonour upon princes, and heals the lowly.
12.22 Revealing deep things out of darkness: and he has brought into light the shadow of death.
12.23 Causing the nations to wander, and destroying them: overthrowing the nations, and leading them [away].
12.24 Perplexing the minds of the princes of the earth: and
he causes them to wander in a way, they have not known, [saying],
12.25 Let them grope [in] darkness, and [let there be] no light, and let them wander as a drunken man.
13.1 Behold, mine eye has seen these things, and mine ear has heard [them].
13.2 And I know all that ye too know; and I have not less understanding than you.
13.3 Nevertheless I will speak to the Lord, and I will reason before him, if he will.
13.4 But ye are all bad physicians, and healers of diseases.
13.5 But would that ye were silent, and it would be wisdom to you in the end.
13.6 But hear ye the reasoning of my mouth, and attend to the judgment of my lips.
13.7 Do ye not speak before the Lord, and utter deceit before him?
13.8 Or will ye draw back? nay do, ye yourselves be judges.
13.9 For [it were] well if he would thoroughly search
you: for though doing all things [in your power] ye should attach
yourselves to him,
13.10 he will not reprove you at all the less: but if moreover ye should secretly respect persons,
13.11 shall not his whirlpool sweep you round, and terror from him fall upon you?
13.12 And your glorying shall prove in the end to you like ashes, and your body [like a body] of clay.
13.13 Be silent, that I may speak, and cease from [mine] anger,
13.14 while I may take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand.
13.15 Though the Mighty One should lay hand upon me,
forasmuch as he has begun, verily I will speak, and plead before him.
13.16 And this shall turn to me for salvation; for fraud shall have no entrance before him.
13.17 Hear, hear ye my words, for I will declare in your hearing.
13.18 Behold, I am near my judgment: I know that I shall appear evidently just.
13.19 For who is he that shall plead with me, that I should now be silent, and expire?
13.20 But grant me two things: then I will not hide myself from thy face.
13.21 Withhold [thine] hand from me: and let not thy fear terrify me.
13.22 Then shalt thou call, and I will hearken to thee: or thou shalt speak, and I will give thee an answer.
13.23 How many are my sins and my transgressions? teach me what they are.
13.24 Wherefore hidest thou thyself from me, and deemest me thine enemy?
13.25 Wilt thou be startled [at me], as [at] a leaf shaken
by the wind? or wilt thou set thyself against me as against grass borne
upon the breeze?
13.26 for thou hast written evil things against me, and thou hast compassed me with the sins of my youth.
13.27 And thou hast placed my foot in the stocks; and thou hast watched all my works, and hast penetrated my heels.
13.28 [I am as] that which waxes old like a bottle, or like a moth-eaten garment.
14.1 For a mortal born of a woman [is] short lived, and full of wrath.
14.2 Or he falls like a flower that has bloomed; and he departs like a shadow, and cannot continue.
14.3 Hast thou not taken account even of him, and caused him to enter into judgment before thee?
14.4 For who shall be pure from uncleanness? not even one;
14.5 if even his life should be [but] one day upon
the earth: and his months are numbered by him: thou hast appointed
[him] for a time, and he shall by no means exceed [it].
14.6 Depart from him, that he may be quiet, and take pleasure in his life, [though] as a hireling.
14.7 For there is hope for a tree, even if it should
be cut down, [that] it shall blossom again, and its branch shall not
fail.
14.8 For though its root should grow old in the earth, and its stem die in the rock;
14.9 it will blossom from the scent of water, and will produce a crop, as one newly planted.
14.10 But a man that has died is utterly gone; and when a mortal has fallen, he is no more.
14.11 For the sea wastes in [length of] time, and a river fails and is dried up.
14.12 And man that has lain down [in death] shall certainly
not rise again till the heaven be dissolved, and they shall not awake
from their sleep.
14.13 For oh that thou hadst kept me in the grave, and
hadst hidden me until thy wrath should cease, and thou shouldest set me
a time in which thou wouldest remember me!
14.14 For if a man should die, shall he live [again],
having accomplished the days of his life? I will wait till I exist
again?
14.15 Then shalt thou call, and I will hearken to thee: but do not thou reject the work of thine hands.
14.16 But thou hast numbered my devices: and not one of my sins shall escape thee?
14.17 An thou hast sealed up my transgressions in a bag,
and marked if I have been guilty of any transgression unawares.
14.18 And verily a mountain falling will utterly be destroyed, and a rock shall be worn out of its place.
14.19 The waters wear the stones, and waters falling
headlong [overflow] a heap of the earth: and thou destroyest the hope
of man.
14.20 Thou drivest him to an end, and he is gone: thou settest thy face against him, and sendest him away;
14.21 and though his children be multiplied, he knows [it] not; and if they be few, he is not aware.
14.22 But his flesh is in pain, and his soul mourns.
15.1 Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,
15.2 Will a wise man give for answer a [mere] breath of wisdom? and does he fill up the pain of his belly,
15.3 reasoning with improper sayings, and with words wherein is no profit?
15.4 Hast not thou moreover cast off fear, and accomplished such words before the Lord?
15.5 Thou art guilty by the words of thy mouth, neither hast thou discerned the words of the mighty.
15.6 Let thine own mouth, and not me, reprove thee: and thy lips shall testify against thee.
15.7 What! art thou the first man that was born? r wert thou established before the hills?
15.8 Or hast thou heard the ordinance of the Lord? or
has God used thee as [his] counsellor? and has wisdom come [only] to
thee?
15.9 For what knowest thou, that, we know not? or what understandest thou, which we do not also?
15.10 Truly among us [are] both the old and very aged man, more advanced in days than thy father.
15.11 Thou hast been scourged for [but] few of thy sins: thou hast spoken haughtily [and] extravagantly.
15.12 What has thine heart dared? or what have thine eyes [aimed at],
15.13 that thou hast vented [thy] rage before the Lord, and delivered such words from [thy] mouth?
15.14 For who, being a mortal, [is such] that he shall be
blameless? or, [who that is] born of a woman, that he should be just?
15.15 Forasmuch as he trusts not his saints; and the heaven is not pure before him.
15.16 Alas then, abominable and unclean is man, drinking unrighteousness as a draught.
15.17 But I will tell thee, hearken to me; I will tell thee now what I have seen;
15.18 things wise men say, and their fathers have not hidden.
15.19 To them alone the earth was given, and no stranger came upon them.
15.20 All the life of the ungodly [is spent] in care, and the years granted to the oppressor are numbered.
15.21 And his terror is in his ears: just when he seems to be at peace, his overthrow will come.
15.22 Let him not trust that he shall return from darkness,
for he has been already made over to the power of the sword.
15.23 And he has been appointed to be food for vultures;
and he knows within himself that he is doomed to be a carcass: and a
dark day shall carry him away as with a whirlwind.
15.24 Distress also and anguish shall come upon him: he shall fall as a captain in the first rank.
15.25 For he has lifted his hands against the Lord, and he has hardened his neck against the Almighty Lord.
15.26 And he has run against him with insolence, on the thickness of the back of his shield.
15.27 For he has covered his face with his fat, and made layers of fat upon his thighs.
15.28 And let him lodge in desolate cities, and enter into
houses without inhabitant: and what they have prepared, others shall
carry away.
15.29 Neither shall he at all grow rich, nor shall his substance remain: he shall not cast a shadow upon the earth.
15.30 Neither shall he in any wise escape the darkness: let the wind blast his blossom, and let his flower fall off.
15.31 Let him not think that he shall endure; for his end shall be vanity.
15.32 His harvest shall perish before the time, and his branch shall not flourish.
15.33 And let him be gathered as the unripe grape before the time, and let him fall as the blossom of the olive.
15.34 For death is the witness of an ungodly man, and fire shall burn the houses of them that receive gifts.
15.35 And he shall conceive sorrows, and his end shall be vanity, and his belly shall bear deceit.
16.1 But Job answered and said,
16.2 I have heard many such things: poor comforters are ye all.
16.3 What! is there any reason in vain words? or what will hinder thee from answering?
16.4 I also will speak as ye [do]: if indeed your
soul were in my [soul's] stead, then would I insult you with words, and
I would shake my head at you.
16.5 And would there were strength in my mouth, and I would not spare the movement of my lips.
16.6 For if I should speak, I shall not feel the pain
of my wound: and if I should be silent, how shall I be wounded the less?
16.7 But now he has made me weary, and a worn-out fool; and thou hast laid hold of me.
16.8 My falsehood has become a testimony, and has risen up against me: it has confronted me to my face.
16.9 In his anger he has cast me down; he has gnashed
his teeth upon me: the weapons of his robbers have fallen upon me.
16.10 He has attacked me with the keen glances of his eyes;
with his sharp [spear] he has smitten me [down] upon my knees; and they
have run upon me with one accord.
16.11 For the Lord has delivered me into the hands of unrighteous men, and thrown me upon the ungodly.
16.12 When I was at peace he distracted me: he took me by
the hair of the head, and plucked it out: he set me up as a mark.
16.13 They surrounded me with spears, aiming at my reins:
without sparing [me] they poured out my gall upon the ground.
16.14 They overthrew me with fall upon fall: they ran upon me in [their] might.
16.15 They sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and my strength has been spent on the ground.
16.16 My belly has been parched with wailing, and darkness is on my eyelids.
16.17 Yet there was no injustice in my hands, and my prayer is pure.
16.18 Earth, cover not over the blood of my flesh, and let my cry have no place.
16.19 And now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high.
16.20 Let my supplication come to the Lord, and let mine eye weep before him.
16.21 Oh that a man might plead before the Lord, even [as] the son of man with his neighbor!
16.22 But my years are numbered and [their end] come, and I shall go by the way by which I shall not return.
17.1 I perish, carried away by the wind, and I seek for burial, and obtain [it] not.
17.2 Weary I intreat; and what have I done? and strangers have stolen my goods.
17.3 Who is this? let him join hands with me.
17.4 For thou hast hid their heart from wisdom; therefore thou shalt not exalt them.
17.5 He shall promise mischief to [his] companions: but [their] eyes have failed for [their] children.
17.6 But thou has made me a byword amount the nations, and I am become a scorn to them.
17.7 For my eyes are dimmed through pain; I have been grievously beset by all.
17.8 Wonder has seized true men upon this; and let the just rise up against the transgressor.
17.9 But let the faithful hold on his own way, and let him that is pure of hands take courage.
17.10 Howbeit, do ye all strengthen [yourselves] and come now, for I do not find truth in you.
17.11 My days have passed in groaning, and my heart-strings are broken.
17.12 I have turned the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.
17.13 For if I remain, Hades is my habitation: and my bed has been made in darkness
17.14 I have called upon death to be my father, and corruption [to be] my mother and sister.
17.15 Where then is yet my hope? or [where] shall I see my good?
17.16 Will they go down with me to Hades, or shall we go down together to the tomb?
18.1 Then Baldad the Sauchite answered and said,
18.2 How long wilt thou continue? forbear, that we also may speak.
18.3 For wherefore have we been silent before thee like brutes?
18.4 Anger has possessed thee: for what if thou
shouldest die; would [the earth] under heaven be desolate? or shall the
mountains be overthrown from their foundations?
18.5 But the light of the ungodly shall be quenched, and their flame shall not go up.
18.6 His light [shall be] darkness in [his] habitation, and his lamp shall be put out with him.
18.7 Let the meanest of men spoil his goods, and let his counsel deceive [him].
18.8 His foot also has been caught in a snare, [and] let it be entangled in a net.
18.9 And let snares come upon him: he shall strengthen those that thirst for his destruction.
18.10 His snare is hid in the earth, and that which shall take him is by the path.
18.11 Let pains destroy him round about, and let many [enemies] come about him,
18.12 [vex him] with distressing hunger: and a signal destruction has been prepared for him.
18.13 Let the soles of his feet be devoured: and death shall consume his beauty.
18.14 And let health be utterly banished from his
tabernacle, and let distress seize upon him with a charge from the king.
18.15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle in his night: his excellency shall be sown with brimstone.
18.16 His roots shall be dried up from beneath, and his crop shall fall away from above.
18.17 Let his memorial perish out of the earth, and his name shall be publicly cast out.
18.18 Let [one] drive him from light into darkness.
18.19 He shall not be known among his people, nor his house preserved on the earth.
18.20 But strangers shall dwell in his possessions: the last groaned for him, and wonder seized the first.
18.21 These are the houses of the unrighteous, and this is the place of them that know not the Lord.
19.1 Then Job answered and said,
19.2 How long will ye vex my soul, and destroy me with words? only know that the Lord has dealt with me thus.
19.3 Ye speak against me; ye do not feel for me, but bear hard upon me.
19.4 Yea verily, I have erred in truth, (but the
error abides with myself) in having spoken words which it was not right
[to speak]; and my words err, and are unreasonable.
19.5 But alas! for ye magnify yourselves against me, and insult me with reproach.
19.6 Know then that it is the Lord that has troubled [me], and has raised his bulwark against me.
19.7 Behold, I laugh at reproach; I will not speak: [or] I will cry out, but [there is] nowhere judgment.
19.8 I am fenced round about, and can by no means escape: he has set darkness before my face.
19.9 And he has stripped me of my glory, and has taken the crown from my head.
19.10 He has torn me around about, and I am gone: and he has cut off my hope like a tree.
19.11 And he has dreadfully handled me in anger, and has counted me for an enemy.
19.12 His troops also came upon me with one accord, liars in wait compassed my ways.
19.13 My brethren have stood aloof from me; they have
recognized strangers [rather] than me: and my friends have become
pitiless.
19.14 My nearest of kin have not acknowledged me, and they that knew my name, have forgotten me.
19.15 [As for] my household, and my maid-servants, I was a stranger before them.
19.16 I called my servant, and he hearkened not; and my mouth intreated [him].
19.17 And I besought my wife, and earnestly intreated the sons of my concubines.
19.18 But they rejected me for ever; whenever I rise up, they speak against me.
19.19 They that saw me abhorred me: the very persons whom I had loved, rose up against me.
19.20 My flesh is corrupt under my skin, and my bones are held in [my] teeth.
19.21 Pity me, pity me, O friends; for it is the hand of the Lord that has touched me.
19.22 Wherefore do ye persecute me as also the Lord [does], and are not satisfied with my flesh?
19.23 For oh that my words were written, and that they were recorded in a book forever,
19.24 with an iron pen and lead, or graven in the rocks!
19.25 For I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me,
19.26 [and] to raise up upon the earth my skin that endures
these [sufferings]: for these things have been accomplished to me of
the Lord;
19.27 which I am conscious of in myself, which mine eye has
seen, and not another, but all have been fulfilled to me in [my] bosom.
19.28 But if ye shall also say, What shall we say before him, and [so] find the root of the matter in him?
19.29 Do ye also beware of deceit: for wrath will come upon
transgressors; and then shall they know where their substance is.
20.1 Then Sophar the Minaean answered and said,
20.2 I did not suppose that thou wouldest answer thus: neither do ye understand more than I.
20.3 I will hear my shameful reproach; and the spirit of my understanding answers me.
20.4 Hast thou [not] known these things of old, from the time that man was set upon the earth?
20.5 But the mirth of the ungodly is a signal downfall, and the joy of transgressors is destruction:
20.6 although his gifts should go up to heaven, and his sacrifice reach the clouds.
20.7 For when he shall seem to be now established,
then he shall utterly perish: and they that knew him shall say, Where
is he?
20.8 Like a dream that has fled away, he shall not be found; and he has fled like a vision of the night.
20.9 The eye has looked upon him, but shall not [see him] again; and his place shall no longer perceive him.
20.10 Let [his] inferiors destroy his children, and let his hands kindle the fire of sorrow.
20.11 His bones have been filled with [vigour of] his youth, and it shall lie down with him in the dust.
20.12 Though evil be sweet in his mouth, [though] he will hide it under his tongue;
20.13 though he will not spare it, and will not leave it, but will keep it in the midst of his throat:
20.14 yet he shall not at all be able to help himself; the gall of an sp is in his belly.
20.15 [His] wealth unjustly collected shall be vomited up; a messenger [of] [wrath] shall drag him out of his house.
20.16 And let him suck the poison of serpents, and let the serpent's tongue slay him.
20.17 Let him not see the milk of the pastures, nor the supplies of honey and butter.
20.18 He has laboured unprofitably and in vain, [for]
wealth of which he shall not taste: [it is] as a lean thing, unfit for
food, which he cannot swallow.
20.19 For he has broken down the houses of many mighty men:
and he has plundered an habitation, though he built [it] not.
20.20 There is no security to his possessions; he shall not be saved by his desire.
20.21 There is nothing remaining of his provisions; therefore his goods shall not flourish.
20.22 But when he shall seem to be just satisfied, he shall be straitened; and all distress shall come upon him.
20.23 If by any means he would fill his belly, let [God]
send upon him the fury of wrath; let him bring a torrent of pains upon
him.
20.24 And he shall by no means escape from the power of the sword; let the brazen bow wound him.
20.25 And let the arrow pierce through his body; and let
the stars be against his dwelling-place: let terrors come upon him.
20.26 And let all darkness wait for him: a fire that burns
not out shall consume him; and let a stranger plague his house.
20.27 And let the heaven reveal his iniquities, and the earth rise up against him.
20.28 Let destruction bring his house to an end; let a day of wrath come upon him.
20.29 This is the portion of an ungodly man from the Lord,
and the possession of his goods [appointed him] by the all-seeing [God].
21.1 But Job answered and said, 21.2 Hear ye, hear ye my words, that I may not have this consolation from you. 21.3 Raise me, and I will speak; then ye shall not laugh me to scorn. 21.4 What! is my reproof of man? and why should I not be angry? 21.5 Look upon me, and wonder, laying your hand upon your cheek. 21.6 For even when I remember, I am alarmed, and pains seize my flesh. 21.7 Wherefore do the ungodly live, and grow old even in wealth? 21.8 Their seed is according to [their] desire, and their children are in [their] sight. 21.9
Their houses are prosperous, neither [have they] any where [cause for]
fear, neither is there a scourge from the Lord upon them. 21.10 Their cow does not cast her calf, and their [beast] with young is safe, and does not miscarry. 21.11 And they remain as an unfailing flock, and their children play before [them], taking up the psaltery and harp; 21.12 and they rejoice at the voice of a song. 21.13 And they spend their days in wealth, and fall asleep in the rest of the grave. 21.14 Yet [such a man] says to the Lord, Depart from me; I desire not to know thy ways. 21.15 What is the Mighty One, that we should serve him? and what profit is there that we should approach him? 21.16 For their good things were in [their] hands, but he regards not the works of the ungodly. 21.17
Nevertheless, the lamp of the ungodly also shall be put out, and
destruction shall come upon them, and pangs of vengeance shall seize
them. 21.18 And they shall be as chaff before the wind, or as dust which the storm has taken up. 21.19 Let his substance fail [to supply] his children: [God] shall recompense him, and he shall know it. 21.20 Let his eyes see his own destruction, and let him not be saved by the Lord. 21.21 For his desire is in his house with him, and the number of his months has been suddenly cut off. 21.22 Is it not the Lord who teaches understanding and knowledge? and does not he judge murders? 21.23 One shall die in his perfect strength, and wholly at ease and prosperous; 21.24 and his inwards are full of fat, and his marrow is diffused [throughout him]. 21.25 And another dies in bitterness of soul, not eating any good thing. 21.26 But they lie down in the earth together, and corruption covers them. 21.27 So I know you, that ye presumptuously attack me: 21.28
so that ye will say, Where is the house of the prince? and where is the
covering of the tabernacles of the ungodly? 21.29 Ask those that go by the way, and do not disown their tokens. 21.30 For the wicked hastens to the day of destruction: they shall be led away for the day of his vengeance. 21.31 Who will tell him his way to his face, whereas he has done [it]? who shall recompense him? 21.32 And he has been led away to the tombs, and he has watched over the heaps. 21.33
The stones of the valley have been sweet to him, and every man shall
depart after him, and [there are] innumerable [ones] before him. 21.34 How then do ye comfort me in vain? whereas I have no rest from your molestation.
22.1 Then Eliphaz the Thaemanite answered and said,
22.2 Is it not the Lord that teaches understanding and knowledge?
22.3 For what matters it to the Lord, if thou wert
blameless in [thy] works? or is it profitable that thou shouldest
perfect thy way?
22.4 Wilt thou maintain and plead thine own cause? and will he enter into judgment with thee?
22.5 Is not thy wickedness abundant, and thy sins innumerable?
22.6 And thou hast taken security of thy brethren for nothing, and hast taken away the clothing of the naked.
22.7 Neither hast thou given water to the thirsty to drink, but hast taken away the morsel of the hungry.
22.8 And thou hast accepted the persons of some; and
thou hast established those [that were already settled] on the earth.
22.9 But thou hast sent widows away empty, and has afflicted orphans.
22.10 Therefore snares have compassed thee, and disastrous war has troubled thee.
22.11 The light has proved darkness to thee, and water has covered thee on thy lying down.
22.12 Does not he that dwells in the high places observe? and has he not brought down the proud?
22.13 And thou has said, What does the Mighty One know? does he judge in the dark?
22.14 A cloud is his hiding-place, and he shall not be seen; and he passes through the circle of heaven.
22.15 Wilt thou [not] mark the old way, which righteous men have trodden?
22.16 who were seized before their time: their foundations [are as] an overflowing stream.
22.17 Who say, What will the Lord do to us? or what will the Almighty bring upon us?
22.18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel for the wicked is far from him.
22.19 The righteous have seen [it], and laughed, and the blameless one has derided [them].
22.20 Verily their substance has been utterly destroyed, and the fire shall devour what is left of their [property].
22.21 Be firm, I pray thee, if thou canst endure; then thy fruit shall prosper.
22.22 And receive a declaration from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
22.23 And if thou shalt turn and humble thyself before the
Lord, thou hast [thus] removed unrighteousness far from thy habitation.
22.24 Thou shalt lay up for thyself [treasure] in a heap on
the rock; and Sophir [shall be] as the rock of the torrent.
22.25 So the Almighty shall be thy helper from enemies, and
he shall bring thee forth pure as silver that has been tried by fire.
22.26 Then shalt thou have boldness before the Lord, looking up cheerfully to heaven.
22.27 And he shall hear thee when thou prayest to him, and he shall grant thee [power] to pay thy vows.
22.28 And he shall establish to thee again a habitation of righteousness and there shall be light upon thy paths.
22.29 Because thou hast humbled thyself; and thou shalt
say, [Man] has behaved proudly, but he shall save him that is of lowly
eyes.
22.30 He shall deliver the innocent, and do thou save thyself by thy pure hands.
23.1 Then Job answered and said,
23.2 Yea, I know that pleading is out of my reach; and his hand has been made heavy upon my groaning.
23.3 Who would then know that I might find him, and come to an end [of the matter]?
23.4 And I would plead my own cause, and he would fill my mouth with arguments.
23.5 And I would know the remedies which he would speak to me, and I would perceive what he would tell me.
23.6 Though he should come on me in [his] great strength, then he would not threaten me;
23.7 for truth and reproof are from him; and he would bring forth my judgment to an end.
23.8 For if I shall go first, and exist no longer, still what do I know [concerning] the latter end?
23.9 When he wrought on the left hand, then I
observed [it] not: his right hand shall encompass me but I shall not
see [it].
23.10 For he knows already my way; and he has tried me as gold.
23.11 And I will go forth according to his commandments,
for I have kept his ways; and I shall not turn aside from his
commandments,
23.12 neither shall I transgress; but I have hid his words in my bosom.
23.13 And if too he has thus judged, who is he that has contradicted, for he has both willed [a thing] and done it.
23.14 [vide]
23.15 Therefore am I troubled at him; and when I was
reproved, I thought of him. Therefore let me take good heed before him:
I will consider, and be afraid of him.
23.16 But the Lord has softened my heart, and the Almighty has troubled me.
23.17 For I knew not that darkness would come upon me, and thick darkness has covered [me] before my face.
24.1 But why have the seasons been hidden from the Lord,
24.2 while the ungodly have passed over the bound, carrying off the flock with the shepherd?
24.3 They have led away, the ass of the fatherless, and taken the widow's ox for a pledge.
24.4 They have turned aside the weak from the right
way: and the meek of the earth have hidden themselves together.
24.5 And they have departed like asses in the field,
having gone forth on my account according to their own order: his bread
is sweet to [his] little ones.
24.6 They have reaped a field that was not their own
before the time: the poor have laboured in the vineyards of the ungodly
without pay and without food.
24.7 They have caused many naked to sleep without
clothes, and they have taken away the covering of their body.
24.8 They are wet with the drops of the mountains: they have embraced the rock, because they had no shelter.
24.9 They have snatched the fatherless from the breast, and have afflicted the outcast.
24.10 And they have wrongfully caused [others] to sleep without clothing, and taken away the morsel of the hungry.
24.11 They have unrighteously laid wait in narrow places, and have not known the righteous way.
24.12 Who have cast forth [the] poor from the city and
their own houses, and the soul of the children has groaned aloud.
24.13 Why then has he not visited these? forasmuch as they
were upon the earth, and took no notice, and they knew not the way of
righteousness, neither have they walked in their [appointed] paths?
24.14 But having known their works, he delivered them into darkness: and in the night one will be as a thief:
24.15 and the eye of the adulterer has watched [for] the
darkness, saying, Eye shall not perceive me, and he puts a covering on
his face.
24.16 In darkness he digs through houses: by day they conceal themselves securely: they know not the light.
24.17 For the morning is to them all [as] the shadow of
death, for [each] will be conscious of the terror of the shadow of
death.
24.18 He is swift on the face of the water: let his portion
be cursed on the earth; and let their plants be laid bare.
24.19 [Let them be] withered upon the earth; for they have plundered the sheaves of the fatherless.
24.20 Then is his sin brought to remembrance, and he
vanishes like a vapour of dew: but let what he has done be recompensed
to him, and let every unrighteous one be crushed like rotten wood.
24.21 For he has not treated the barren woman well, and has had no pity on a feeble woman.
24.22 And in wrath he has overthrown the helpless:
therefore when he has arisen, [a man] will not feel secure of his own
life.
24.23 When he has fallen sick, let him not hope to recover: but let him perish by disease.
24.24 For his exaltation has hurt many; but he has withered
as mallows in the heat, or as an ear of corn falling off of itself from
the stalk.
24.25 But if not, who is he that says I speak falsely, and will make my words of no account?
25.1 Then Baldad the Sauchite answered and said,
25.2 What beginning or fear is his-- even he that makes all things in the highest?
25.3 For let none think that there is a respite for
robbers: and upon whom will there not come a snare from him?
25.4 For how shall a mortal be just before the Lord? or who that is born of a woman shall purify himself?
25.5 If he gives an order to the moon, then it shines not; and the stars are not pure before him.
25.6 But alas! man is corruption, and the son of man a worm.
26.1 But Job answered and said,
26.2 To whom dost thou attach thyself, or whom art
thou going to assist? is it not he that [has] much strength, and [he]
who has a strong arm?
26.3 To whom hast thou given counsel? is it not to
him who has all wisdom? whom wilt thou follow? is it not one who has
the greatest power?
26.4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose breath is it that has come forth from thee?
26.5 Shall giants be born from under the water and the inhabitants thereof?
26.6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction has no covering.
26.7 He stretches out the north wind upon nothing, and he upon nothing hangs the earth;
26.8 binding water in his clouds, and the cloud is not rent under it.
26.9 He keeps back the face of his throne, stretching out his cloud upon it.
26.10 He has encompassed the face of the water by an appointed ordinance, until the end of light and darkness.
26.11 The pillars of heaven are prostrate and astonished at his rebuke.
26.12 He has calmed the sea with [his] might, and by [his] wisdom the whale has been overthrown.
26.13 And the barriers of heaven fear him, and by a command he has slain the apostate dragon.
26.14 Behold, these are parts of his way; and we will
hearken to him at the least intimation of his word: but the strength of
his thunder who knows, when he shall employ [it]?
27.1 And Job further continued and said in his parable,
27.2 [As] God lives, who has thus judge me; and the Almighty, who has embittered my soul;
27.3 verily, while my breath is yet in [me], and the breath of God which remains to me is in my nostrils,
27.4 my lips shall not speak evil words, neither shall my soul meditate unrighteous thoughts.
27.5 Far be it from me that I should justify you till I die; for I will not let go my innocence,
27.6 but keeping fast to [my] righteousness I will by
no means let it go: for I am not conscious to myself of having done any
thing amiss.
27.7 Nay rather, but let mine enemies be as the
overthrow of the ungodly, and they that rise up against me, as the
destruction of transgressors.
27.8 For what is the hope of the ungodly, that he
holds to it? will he indeed trust in the Lord [and] be saved?
27.9 Will God hear his prayer? or, when distress has come upon him,
27.10 has he any confidence before him? or will [God] hear him as he calls upon him?
27.11 Yet now I will tell you what is in the hand of the
Lord: I will not lie concerning the things which are with the Almighty.
27.12 Behold, ye all know that ye are adding vanity to vanity.
27.13 This is the portion of an ungodly man from the Lord,
and the possession of oppressors shall come upon them from the Almighty.
27.14 And if their children be many, they shall be for slaughter: and if they grow up, they shall beg.
27.15 And they that survive of him shall utterly perish, and no one shall pity their widows.
27.16 Even if he should gather silver as earth, and prepare gold as clay;
27.17 All these things shall the righteous gain, and the truehearted shall possess his wealth.
27.18 And his house is gone like moths, and like a spider's web.
27.19 The rich man shall lie down, and shall not continue: he has opened his eyes, and he is not.
27.20 Pains have come upon him as water, and darkness has carried him away by night.
27.21 And a burning wind shall catch him, and he shall depart, and it shall utterly drive him out of his place.
27.22 And [God] shall cast [trouble] upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
27.23 He shall cause [men] to clap their hands against them, and shall hiss him out of his place.
28.1 For there is a place for the silver, whence it comes, and a place for the gold, whence it is refined.
28.2 For iron comes out of the earth, and brass is hewn out like stone.
28.3 He has set a bound to darkness, and he searches
out every limit: a stone [is] darkness, and the shadow of death.
28.4 There is a cutting off the torrent by reason of
dust: so they that forget the right way are weakened; they are removed
from [among] men.
28.5 [As for] the earth, out of it shall come bread: under it has been turned up as it were fire.
28.6 Her stones are the place of the sapphire: and [her] dust [supplies] man with gold.
28.7 [There is] a path, the fowl has not known it, neither has the eye of the vulture seen it:
28.8 neither have the sons of the proud trodden it, a lion has not passed upon it.
28.9 He has stretched forth his hand on the sharp [rock], and turned up mountains by the roots:
28.10 and he has interrupted the whirlpools of rivers, and mine eye has seen every precious thing.
28.11 And he has laid bare the depths of rivers, and has brought his power to light.
28.12 But whence has wisdom been discovered? and what is the place of knowledge?
28.13 A mortal has not known its way, neither indeed has it been discovered among men.
28.14 The depth said, It is not in me: and the sea said, It is not with me.
28.15 One shall not give fine gold instead of it, neither shall silver be weighed in exchange for it.
28.16 Neither shall it be compared with gold of Sophir, with the precious onyx and sapphire.
28.17 Gold and crystal shall not be equaled to it, neither shall vessels of gold be its exchange.
28.18 Coral and fine pearl shall not be mentioned: but do thou esteem wisdom above the most precious things.
28.19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equaled to it; it shall not be compared with pure gold.
28.20 Whence then is wisdom found? and of what kind is the place of understanding?
28.21 It has escaped the notice of every man, and has been hidden from the birds of the sky.
28.22 Destruction and Death said, We have heard the report of it.
28.23 God has well ordered the way of it, and he knows the place of it.
28.24 For he surveys the whole [earth] under heaven, knowing the things in the earth:
28.25 all that he has made; the weight of he winds, the measures of the water.
28.26 When he made [them], thus he saw and numbered them, and made a way for the pealing of the thunder.
28.27 Then he saw it, and declared it: he prepared it [and] traced it out.
28.28 And he said to man, Behold, godliness is wisdom: and to abstain from evil is understanding.
29.1 And Job continued and said in his parable,
29.2 Oh that I were as in months past, wherein God preserved me!
29.3 As when his lamp shone over my head; when by his light I walked through darkness.
29.4 [As] when I steadfastly pursued my ways, when God took care of my house.
29.5 When I was very fruitful, and my children were about me;
29.6 when my ways were moistened with butter, and the mountains flowed for me with milk.
29.7 When I went forth early in the city, and the seat was placed for me in the streets.
29.8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and all the old men stood up.
29.9 And the great men ceased speaking, and laid their finger on their mouth.
29.10 And they that heard [me] blessed me, and their tongue clave to their throat.
29.11 For the ear heard, and blessed me; and the eye saw me, and turned aside.
29.12 For I saved the poor out of the hand of the oppressor, and helped the fatherless who had no helper.
29.13 Let the blessing of the perishing one come upon me; yea, the mouth of the widow has blessed me.
29.14 Also I put on righteousness, and clothed myself with judgment like a mantle.
29.15 I was the eye of the blind, and the foot of the lame.
29.16 I was the father of the helpless; and I searched out the cause which I knew not.
29.17 And I broke the jaw-teeth of the unrighteous; I plucked the spoil out of the midst of their teeth.
29.18 And I said, My age shall continue as the stem of a palm-tree; I shall live a long while.
29.19 [My] root was spread out by the water, and the dew would lodge on my crop.
29.20 My glory was fresh in me, and by bow prospered in his hand.
29.21 [Men] heard me, and gave heed, and they were silent at my counsel.
29.22 At my word they spoke not again, and they were very gland whenever I spoke to them.
29.23 As the thirsty earth expecting the rain, so they [waited for] my speech.
29.24 Were I to laugh on them, they would not believe [it]; and the light of my face has not failed.
29.25 I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a
king in the midst of warriors, as one comforting mourners.
30.1
But now the youngest have laughed me to scorn, now they reprove me in
[their] turn, whose fathers I set at nought; whom I did not deem worthy
[to be with] my shepherd dogs.
30.2 Yea, why had I the strength of their hands? for them the full term [of life] was lost.
30.3 [One is] childless in want and famine, [such as]
they that fled but lately the distress and misery of drought.
30.4 Who compass the salt places on the sounding
[shore], who had salt [herbs] for their food, and were dishonorable and
of no repute, in want of every good thing; who also ate roots of trees
by reason of great hunger.
30.5 Thieves have risen up against me,
30.6 whose houses were the caves of the rocks, who lived under the wild shrubs.
30.7 They will cry out among the rustling [bushes].
30.8 [They are] sons of fools and vile men, [whose] name and glory [are] quenched from off the earth.
30.9 But now I am their music, and they have me for a by-word.
30.10 And they stood aloof and abhorred me, and spared not to spit in my face.
30.11 For he has opened his quiver and afflicted me: they also have cast off the restraint of my presence.
30.12 They have risen up against [me] on the right hand of
[their] offspring; they have stretched out their foot, and directed
against me the ways of their destruction.
30.13 My paths are ruined; for they have stripped off my raiment: he has shot at me with his weapons.
30.14 And he has pleaded against me as he will: I am overwhelmed with pains.
30.15 My pains return upon [me]; my hope is gone like the wind, and my safety as a cloud.
30.16 Even now my life shall be poured forth upon me; and days of anguish seize me.
30.17 And by night my bones are confounded; an my sinews are relaxed.
30.18 With great force [my disease] has taken hold of my garment: it has compassed me as the collar of my coat.
30.19 And thou hast counted me as clay; my portion in dust and ashes.
30.20 And I have cried to thee, but thou hearest me not: but they stood still, and observed me.
30.21 They attacked me also without mercy: thou hast scourged me with a strong hand.
30.22 And thou hast put me to grief, and hast cast me away from safety.
30.23 For I know that death will destroy me: for the earth is the house [appointed] for every mortal.
30.24 Oh then that I might lay hands upon myself, or at least ask another, and he should do this for me.
30.25 Yet I wept over every helpless man; I groaned when I saw a man in distress.
30.26 But I, when I waited for good things, behold, days of evils came the more upon me.
30.27 My belly boiled, and would not cease: the days of poverty prevented me.
30.28 I went mourning without restraint: and I have stood and cried out in the assembly.
30.29 I am become a brother of monsters, and a companion of ostriches.
30.30 And my skin has been greatly blackened, and my bones are burned with heat.
30.31 My harp also has been turned into mourning, and my song into my weeping.
31.1 I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.
31.2 Now what portion has God given from above? and
is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?
31.3 Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.
31.4 Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?
31.5 But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:
31.6 (for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence:)
31.7 if my foot has turned aside out of the way, or
if mine heart has followed mine eye, and if too I have touched gifts
with my hands;
31.8 then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.
31.9 If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;
31.10 then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.
31.11 For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.
31.12 For it is a fire burning on every side, and whomsoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.
31.13 And if too I despised the judgment of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;
31.14 what then shall I do if the Lord should try me? and if also he should at all visit me, can I make an answer?
31.15 Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yea, we were formed in the same womb.
31.16 But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.
31.17 And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;
31.18 (for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth and guided [them] from my mother's womb.)
31.19 And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;
31.20 and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not] warmed with the fleece of my lambs;
31.21 if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:
31.22 let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.
31.23 For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I cannot bear up by reason of his burden.
31.24 If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;
31.25 and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:
31.26 (do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]:)
31.27 and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:
31.28 let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest
iniquity: for I [should] have lied against the Lord Most High.
31.29 And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!
31.30 let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a byword among my people in my affliction.
31.31 Ad if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we
might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:
31.32 for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came:)
31.33 or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;
31.34 (for I did not stand in awe of a great multitude, so
as not to declare boldly before them:) and if too I permitted a poor
man to go out of my door with an empty bosom:
31.35 (Oh that I had a hearer,) and if I had not feared the
hand of the Lord; and [as to] the written charge which I had against
any one,
31.36 I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.
31.37 And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:
31.38 If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;
31.39 and if I ate its strength alone without price, and if
I too grieved the heart of the owner of the soil, by taking [aught]
from [him]:
31.40 then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.
32.1 And his three friends also ceased any longer to answer Job: for Job was righteous before them.
32.2 Then Elius the son of Barachiel, the Buzite, of
the kindred of Ram, of the country of Ausis, was angered: and he was
very angry with Job, because he justified himself before the Lord.
32.3 And he was also very angry with [his] three
friends, because they were not able to return answers to Job, yet set
him down for an ungodly man.
32.4 But Elius had forborne to give an answer to Job, because they were older than he.
32.5 And Elius saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men; and he was angered in his wrath.
32.6 And Elius the Buzite the son of Barachiel
answered and said, I am younger in age, and ye are elder, wherefore I
kept silence, fearing to declare to you my own knowledge.
32.7 And I said, It is not time that speaks, though in many years [men] know wisdom:
32.8 but there is a spirit in mortals; and the inspiration of the Almighty is hat which teaches.
32.9 The long-lived are not wise [as such]; neither do the aged know judgment.
32.10 Wherefore I said, Hear me, and I will tell you what I know.
32.11 Hearken to my words; for I will speak in your hearing, until ye shall have tried [the matter] with words:
32.12 and I shall understand as far as you; and, behold,
there was no one of you that answered Job his words in argument,
32.13 lest ye should say, We have found that we have added wisdom to the Lord.
32.14 And ye have commissioned a man to speak such words.
32.15 They were afraid, they answered no longer; they gave up their speaking.
32.16 I waited, (for I had not spoken,) because they stood still, they answered not.
32.17 And Elius continued, and said, I will again speak,
32.18 for I am full of words, for the spirit of my belly destroys me.
32.19 And my belly is as a skin of sweet wine, bound up [and] ready to burst; or as a brazier's labouring bellows.
32.20 I will speak, that I may open my lips and relieve myself.
32.21 For truly I will not be awed because of man, nor indeed will I be confounded before a mortal.
32.22 For I know not how to respect persons: and if otherwise, even the moths would eat me.
33.1 Howbeit hear, Job, my words, and hearken to my speech.
33.2 For behold, I have opened my mouth, and my tongue has spoken.
33.3 My heart [shall be found] pure by [my] words; and the understanding of my lips shall meditate purity.
33.4 The Divine Spirit is that which formed me, and the breath of the Almighty that which teaches me.
33.5 If thou canst, give me an answer: wait therefore; stand against me, and I [will stand] against thee.
33.6 Thou art formed out of the clay as also I: we have been formed out of the same [substance].
33.7 My fear shall not terrify thee, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee.
33.8 But thou hast said in mine ears, (I have heard
the voice of thy words;) because thou sayest, I am pure, not having
sinned;
33.9 I am blameless, for I have not transgressed.
33.10 Yet he has discovered a charge against me, and e has reckoned me as an adversary.
33.11 And he has put my foot in the stocks, and has watched all my ways.
33.12 For how sayest thou, I am righteous, yet he has not hearkened to me? for he that is above mortals is eternal.
33.13 But thou sayest, Why has he not heard every word of my cause?
33.14 For when the Lord speaks once, or a second time,
33.15 [sending] a dream, or in the meditation of the night;
(as when a dreadful alarm happens to fall upon men, in slumberings on
the bed:)
33.16 then opens he the understanding of men: he scares them with such fearful visions:
33.17 to turn a man from unrighteousness, and he delivers his body from a fall.
33.18 He spares also his soul from death, and [suffers] him not to fall in war.
33.19 And again, he chastens him with sickness on his bed, and the multitude of his bones is benumbed.
33.20 And he shall not be able to take any food, though his soul shall desire meat;
33.21 until his flesh shall be consumed, and he shall shew his bones bare.
33.22 His soul also draws nigh to death, and his life is in Hades.
33.23 Though there should be a thousand messengers of
death, not one of them shall wound him: if he should purpose in his
heart to turn to the Lord, and declare to man his fault, and shew his
folly;
33.24 he will support him, that he should not perish, and
will restore his body as [fresh] plaster upon a wall; and he will fill
his bones with morrow.
33.25 And he will make his flesh tender as that of a babe, and he will restore him among men in [his] full strength.
33.26 And he shall pray to the Lord, and his prayer shall
be accepted of him; he shall enter with a cheerful countenance, with a
full expression [of praise]: for he will render to men [their] due.
33.27 Even then a man shall blame himself, saying, What
kind of things have I done? and he has not punished me according to the
full amount of my sins.
33.28 Deliver my soul, that it may not go to destruction, and my life shall see the light.
33.29 Behold, all these things, the Mighty One works in a threefold manner with a man.
33.30 And he has delivered my soul from death, that my life may praise him in the light.
33.31 Hearken, Job, and hear me: be silent, and I will speak.
33.32 If thou hast words, answer me: speak, for I desire thee to be justified.
33.33 If not, do thou hear me: be silent, and I will teach thee.
34.1 And Elius continued, and said,
34.2 Hear me, ye wise men; hearken, ye that have knowledge.
34.3 For the ear tries words, and the mouth tastes meat.
34.4 Let us choose judgment to ourselves: let us know amount ourselves what is right.
34.5 For Job has said, I am righteous: the Lord has removed my judgment.
34.6 And he has erred in my judgment: my wound is severe without unrighteousness [of mine].
34.7 What man is as Job, drinking scorning like water?
34.8 [saying], I have not sinned, nor committed
ungodliness, nor had fellowship with workers of iniquity, to go with
the ungodly.
34.9 For thou shouldest not say, There shall be no
visitation of a man, whereas [there is] a visitation on him from the
Lord.
34.10 Wherefore hear me, ye that are wise in heart: far be
it from me to sin before the Lord, and to pervert righteousness before
the almighty.
34.11 Yea, he renders to a man accordingly as each of them does, and in a man's path he will find him.
34.12 And thinkest thou that the Lord will do wrong, or will the Almighty who made the earth wrest judgment?
34.13 And who is he that made [the whole world] under heaven, and all things therein?
34.14 For if he would confine, and restrain his spirit with himself;
34.15 all flesh would die together, and every mortal would return to the earth, whence also he was formed.
34.16 Take heed lest he rebuke [thee]: hear this, hearken to the voice of words.
34.17 Behold then the one that hates iniquities, and that destroys the wicked, who is for ever just.
34.18 [He is] ungodly that says to a king, Thou art a transgressor, [that says] to princes, O most ungodly one.
34.19 [Such a one] as would not reverence the face of an
honourable man, neither knows how to give honour o the great, so as
that their persons should be respected.
34.20 But it shall turn out vanity to them, to cry and
beseech a man; for they dealt unlawfully, the poor being turned aside
[from their right].
34.21 For he surveys the works of men, and nothing of what they do has escaped him.
34.22 Neither shall there be a place for the workers of iniquity to hide themselves.
34.23 For he will not lay upon a man more [than right].
34.24 For the Lord looks down upon all men, who comprehends
unsearchable things, glorious also and excellent things without number.
34.25 Who discovers their works, and will bring night about [upon them], and they shall be brought low.
34.26 And he quite destroys the ungodly, for they are seen before him.
34.27 Because they turned aside from the law of God, and did not regard his ordinances,
34.28 so as to bring before him the cry of the needy; for he will hear the cry of the poor.
34.29 And he will give quiet, and who will condemn? and he
will hide his face, and who shall see him? whether [it be done] against
a nation, or against a man also:
34.30 causing a hypocrite to be king, because of the waywardness of the people.
34.31 For [there is] one that says to the Mighty One, I have received [blessings]; I will not take a pledge:
34.32 I will see apart from myself: do thou shew me if I have done unrighteousness; I will not do [so] any more.
34.33 Will he take vengeance for it on thee, whereas thou
wilt put [it] far [from thee]? for thou shalt choose, and not I; and
what thou knowest, speak thou.
34.34 Because the wise in heart shall say this, and a wise man listens to my word.
34.35 But Job has not spoken with understanding, his words are not [uttered] with knowledge.
34.36 Howbeit do thou learn, Job: no longer make answer as the foolish:
34.37 that we add not to our sins: for iniquity will be
reckoned against us, if [we] speak many words before the Lord.
35.1 And Elius resumed and said,
35.2 What is this that thou thinkest to be according
to right? who art thou that thou hast said, I am righteous before the
Lord?
35.3 I will answer thee, and thy three friends.
35.4 Look up to the sky and see; and consider the clouds, how high [they are] above thee.
35.5 If thou hast sinned, what wilt thou do?
35.6 and if too thou hast transgressed much, what canst thou perform?
35.7 And suppose thou art righteous, what wilt thou give him? or what shall he receive of thy hand?
35.8 Thy ungodliness [may affect] a man who is like to thee; or thy righteousness a son of man.
35.9 They that are oppressed of a multitude will be
ready to cry out; they will call for help because of the arm of many.
35.10 But none said, Where is God that made me, who appoints the night-watches;
35.11 who makes me to differ from the four-footed beasts of the earth, and from the birds of the sky?
35.12 There they shall cry, and none shall hearken, even because of the insolence of wicked men.
35.13 For the Lord desires not to look on error, for he is the Almighty One.
35.14 He beholds them that perform lawless deeds, and he
will save me: and do thou plead before him, if thou canst praise him,
as it is [possible] even now.
35.15 For he is not [now] regarding his wrath, nor has he noticed severely any trespass.
35.16 Yet Job vainly opens his mouth, in ignorance he multiplies words.
36.1 And Elius further continued, and said,
36.2 Wait form me yet a little while, that I may teach thee: for there is yet speech in me.
36.3 Having fetched my knowledge from afar, and according to my works,
36.4 I will speak just things truly, and thou shalt not unjustly receive unjust words.
36.5 But know that the Lord will not cast off an innocent man: being mighty in strength of wisdom,
36.6 he will not by any means save alive the ungodly: and he will grant the judgment of the poor.
36.7 He will not turn away his eyes from the
righteous, but [they shall be] with kings on the throne: and he will
establish them in triumph, and they shall be exalted.
36.8 But they that are bound in fetters shall be holden in cords of poverty.
36.9 And he shall recount to them heir works, and their transgressions, for such will act with violence.
36.10 But he will hearken to the righteous: and he has said that they shall turn from unrighteousness.
36.11 If they should hear and serve [him], they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in honour.
36.12 But he preserves not the ungodly; because they are
not willing to know the Lord, and because when reproved they were
disobedient.
36.13 And the hypocrites in heart will array wrath [against
themselves]; they will not cry, because he has bound them.
36.14 Therefore let their soul die in youth, and their life be wounded by messengers [of death].
36.15 Because they afflicted the weak and helpless: and he will vindicate the judgment of the meek.
36.16 And he has also enticed thee out of the mouth of the enemy:
36.17 [there is] a deep gulf [and] a rushing stream beneath
it, and thy table came down full of fatness. Judgment shall not fail
from the righteous;
36.18 but there shall be wrath upon the ungodly, by reason
of the ungodliness of the bribes which they received for iniquities.
36.19 Let not [thy] mind willingly turn thee aside from the petition of the feeble that are in distress.
36.20 And draw not forth all the mighty [men] by night, so that the people should go up instead of them.
36.21 But take heed lest thou do that which is wrong: for of this thou has made choice because of poverty.
36.22 Behold, the Mighty One shall prevail by his strength: for who is powerful as he is?
36.23 And who is he that examines his works? or who can say, he has wrought injustice?
36.24 Remember that his works are great [beyond] those which men have attempted.
36.25 Every man has seen in himself, how many mortals are wounded.
36.26 Behold, the Mighty One is great, and we shall not know [him]: the number of his years is even infinite.
36.27 And the drops of rain are numbered by him, and shall be poured out in rain to form a cloud.
36.28 The ancient [heavens] shall flow, and the clouds
overshadow innumerable mortals: he has fixed a time to cattle, and they
know the order of rest. [Yet] by all these things thy understanding is
not astonished, neither is thy mind disturbed in [thy] body.
36.29 And though one should understand the outspreadings of the clouds, [or] the measure of his tabernacle;
36.30 behold he will stretch his bow against him, and he covers the bottom of the sea.
36.31 For by them he will judge the nations: he will give food to him that has strength.
36.32 He has hidden the light in [his] hands, and given charge concerning it to the interposing [cloud].
36.33 The Lord will declare concerning this [to] his friend: [but there is] a portion also for unrighteousness.
37.1 At this also my heart is troubled, and moved out of its place.
37.2 Hear thou a report by the anger of the Lord's wrath, and a discourse shall come out of his mouth.
37.3 His dominion is under the whole heaven, and his light is at the extremities of the earth.
37.4 After him shall be a cry with a [loud] voice; he
shall thunder with the voice of his excellency, yet he shall not cause
men to pass away, for one shall hear his voice.
37.5 The Mighty One shall thunder wonderfully with his voice: for he has done great things which we knew not;
37.6 commanding the snow, Be thou upon the earth, and
the stormy rain, and the storm of the showers of his might.
37.7 He seals up the hand of every man, that every man may know his own weakness.
37.8 And the wild beasts come in under the covert, and rest in [their] lair.
37.9 Troubles come on out of the secret chambers, and cold from the mountain-tops.
37.10 And from the breath of the Mighty One he will send frost; and he guides the water in whatever way he pleases.
37.11 And [if] a cloud obscures [what is] precious [to him], his light will disperse the cloud.
37.12 And he will carry round the encircling [clouds] by
his governance, to [perform] their works: whatsoever he shall command
them,
37.13 this has been appointed by him on the earth, whether
for correction, [or] for his land, or if he shall find him [an object]
for mercy.
37.14 Hearken to this, O Job: stand still, and be admonished of the power of the Lord.
37.15 We know that god has disposed his works, having made light out of darkness.
37.16 And he knows the divisions of the clouds, and the signal overthrows of the ungodly.
37.17 But thy robe is warm, and there is quiet upon the land.
37.18 Wilt thou establish with him [foundations] for the ancient [heavens? they are] strong as a molten mirror.
37.19 Wherefore teach me, what shall we say to him? and let us cease from saying much.
37.20 Have I a book or a scribe my me, that I may stand and put man to silence?
37.21 But the light is not visible to all: it shines afar
off in the heavens, as that which is from him in the clouds.
37.22 From the [north] come the clouds shining like gold: in these great are the glory and honour of the Almighty;
37.23 and we do not find another his equal in strength: [as
for] him that judges justly, dost thou not think that he listens?
37.24 Wherefore men shall fear him; and the wise also in heart shall fear him.
38.1
And after Elius had ceased from speaking, the Lord spoke to Job through
the whirlwind and clouds, [saying],
38.2 Who is this that hides counsel from me, and
confines words in [his] heart, and thinks to conceal [them] from me?
38.3 Gird thy loins like a man; and I will ask thee, and do thou answer me.
38.4 Where wast thou when I founded the earth? tell me now, if thou hast knowledge,
38.5 who set the measures of it, if thou knowest? or who stretched a line upon it?
38.6 On what are its rings fastened? and who is he that laid the corner-stone upon it?
38.7 When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice.
38.8 And I shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed out, coming forth out its mother's womb.
38.9 And I made a cloud its clothing, and swathed it in mist.
38.10 And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates.
38.11 And I said to it, Hitherto shalt thou come, but thou
shalt not go beyond, but thy waves shall be confined within thee.
38.12 Or did I order the morning light in thy time; and [did] the morning star [then first] see his appointed place;
38.13 to lay hold of the extremities of the earth, to cast out the ungodly out of it?
38.14 Or didst thou take clay of the ground, and form a
living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth?
38.15 And hast thou removed light from the ungodly, and crushed the arm of the proud?
38.16 Or hast thou gone to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the deep?
38.17 And do the gates of death open to thee for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw thee?
38.18 And hast thou been instructed in the breadth of the
[whole earth] under heaven? tell me now, what is the extent of it?
38.19 And in what kind of a land does the light dwell? and of what kind is the place of darkness?
38.20 If thou couldest bring me to their [utmost] boundaries, and if also thou knowest their paths;
38.21 I know then that thou wert born at that time, and the number of thy years is great.
38.22 But hast thou gone to the treasures of snow? and hast thou seen the treasures of hail?
38.23 And is there a store [of them], for thee against the time of [thine] enemies, for the day of wars and battle?
38.24 And whence proceeds the frost? or [whence] is the south wind dispersed over the [whole world] under heaven?
38.25 And who prepared a course for the violent rain, and a way for the thunders;
38.26 to rain upon the land where [there is] no man, the
wilderness, where there is not a man in it; so as to feed the untrodden
and uninhabited [land],
38.27 and cause it to send forth a crop of green herbs?
38.28 Who is the rain's father? and who has generated the drops of dew?
38.29 And out of whose womb comes the ice? and who has produced the frost in the sky,
38.30 which descends like flowing water? who has terrified the face of the ungodly?
38.31 And dost thou understand the band of Pleias, and hast thou opened the barrier of Orion?
38.32 Or wilt thou reveal Mazuroth in his season, and the evening star with his rays? Wilt tho guide them?
38.33 And knowest thou the changes of heaven, or the events which take place together under heaven?
38.34 And wilt thou call a cloud with thy voice, and will it obey thee with a violent shower of much rain?
38.35 And wilt thou send lightnings, and they shall go? and shall they say to thee, What is [thy pleasure]?
38.36 And who has given to women skill in weaving, or knowledge of embroidery?
38.37 And who is he that numbers the clouds in wisdom, and has bowed the heaven [down] to the earth?
38.38 For it is spread out as dusty earth, and I have cemented it as one hewn stone to another.
39.1 (38.39) And wilt thou hunt a prey for the lions? and satisfy the desires of the serpents?
39.2 (38.40) For they fear in their lairs, and lying in wait couch in the woods.
39.3 (38.41) And who has prepared food for the raven?
for its young ones wander and cry to the Lord, in search of food.
39.4 (39.1) [Say] if thou knowest the time of the
bringing forth of the wild goats of the rock, and [if] thou hast marked
the calving of the hinds:
39.5 (39.2) and [if] thou has hast numbered the full
months of their being with young, and [if] thou hast relieved their
pangs:
39.6 (39.3) and hast reared their young without fear; and wilt thou loosen their pangs?
39.7 (39.4) Their young will break forth; they will
be multiplied with offspring: [their young] will go forth, and will not
return to them.
39.8 (39.5) And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? and who loosed his bands?
39.9 (39.6) whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts.
39.10 (39.7) He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax-gatherer.
39.11 (39.8) He will survey the mountains [as] his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing.
39.12 (39.9) And will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or to lie down at thy manger?
39.13 (39.10) And wilt thou bind his yoke with thongs, or will he plough furrows for thee in the plain?
39.14 (39.11) And dost thou trust him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou commit thy works to him?
39.15 (39.12) And wilt thou believe that he will return to thee thy sed, and bring [it] in [to] thy threshing-floor?
39.16 (39.13) The peacock has a beautiful wing: if the stork and the ostrich conceive, [it is worthy of notice],
39.17 (39.14) for [the ostrich] will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on the dust,
39.18 (39.15) and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them.
39.19 (39.16) She has hardened [herself] against her young
ones, as though [she bereaved] not herself: she labours in vain without
fear.
39.20 (39.17) For God has withholden wisdom from her, and not given her a portion in understanding.
39.21 (39.18) In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider.
39.22 (39.19) Hast thou invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror?
39.23 (39.20) And hast thou clad him in perfect armour, and made his breast glorious with courage?
39.24 (39.21) He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain.
39.25 (39.22) He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword.
39.26 (39.23) The bow and sword resound against him; and [his] rage will swallow up the ground:
39.27 (39.24) and he will not believe until the trumpet sounds.
39.28 (39.25) And when the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! and afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing.
39.29 (39.26) And does the hawk remain steady by thy
wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking toward the region
of the south?
39.30 (39.27) And does the eagle rise at thy command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest,
39.31 (39.28) on a crag of a rock, and in a secret [place]?
39.32 (39.29) Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far.
39.33 (39.30) And his young ones roll themselves in blood,
and wherever the carcasses may be, immediately they are found.
39.34 (40.1) And the Lord God answered Job, and said,
39.35 (40.2) Will [any one] pervert judgment with the
Mighty One? and he that reproves God, let him return it for answer.
39.36 (40.3) And Job answered and said to the Lord,
39.37 (40.4) Why do I yet plead? being rebuked even while
reproving the Lord: hearing such things, whereas I am nothing: and what
shall I answer to these [arguments]? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.
39.38 (40.5) I have spoken once; but I will not do so a second time.
40.1 (40.6) And the Lord yet again answered and spoke to Job out of the cloud, [saying],
40.2 (40.7) Nay, gird up now thy loins like a man; and I will ask thee, and do thou answer me.
40.3 (40.8) Do not set aside my judgment: and dost
thou think that I have dealt with thee in any other way, than that thou
mightest appear to be righteous?
40.4 (40.9) Hast thou an arm like the Lord's? or dost thou thunder with a voice like his?
40.5 (40.10) Assume now a lofty bearing and power; and clothe thyself with glory and honour.
40.6 (40.11) And send forth messengers with wrath; and lay low every haughty one.
40.7 (40.12) Bring down also the proud man; and consume at once the ungodly.
40.8 (40.13) And hide them together in the earth; and fill their faces with shame.
40.9 (40.14) [Then] will I confess that thy right hand can save [thee].
40.10 (40.15) But now look at the wild beasts with thee; they eat grass like oxen.
40.11 (40.16) Behold now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
40.12 (40.17) He sets up his tail like a cypress; and his nerves are wrapped together.
40.13 (40.18) His sides are sides of brass; and his backbone is [as] cast iron.
40.14 (40.19) This is the chief of the creation of the Lord; made to be played with by his angels.
40.15 (40.20) And when he has gone up to a steep mountain, he causes joy to the quadrupeds in the deep.
40.16 (40.21) He lies under trees of every kind, by the papyrus, and reed, and bulrush.
40.17 (40.22) And the great trees make a shadow over him with their branches, and [so do] the bushes of the field.
40.18 (40.23) If there should be a flood, he will not perceive it; he trust that Jordan will rush up into his mouth.
40.19 (40.24) [Yet one] shall take him in his sight; [one] shall catch [him] with a cord, and pierce his nose.
40.20 (41.1) But wilt thou catch the serpent with a hook, and put a halter about his nose?
40.21 (41.2) Or wilt thou fasten a ring in his nostril, and bore his lip with a clasp?
40.22 (41.3) Will he address thee with a petition? softly, with the voice of a suppliant?
40.23 (41.4) And will he make a covenant with thee? and wilt thou take him for a perpetual servant?
40.24 (41.5) And wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or bind him as a sparrow for a child?
40.25 (41.6) And do the nations feed upon him, and the nations of the Phoenicians share him?
40.26 (41.7) And all the ships come together would not be
able to bear the mere skin of his tail; neither [shall they carry] his
head in fishing-vessels.
40.27 (41.8) But thou shalt lay thy hand upon him [once],
remembering the war that is waged by his mouth; and let it not be done
any more.
40.28 (41.9) Hast thou not seen him? and hast thou not wondered at the things said [of him]?
41.1 (41.10) Dost thou not fear because preparation has been made by me? for who is there that resists me?
41.2 (41.11) Or who will resist me, and abide, since the whole [world] under heaven is mine?
41.3 (41.12) I will not be silent because of him: though because of his power [one] shall pity his antagonist.
41.4 (41.13) Who will open the face of his garment? and who can enter within the fold of his breastplate?
41.5 (41.14) Who will open the doors of his face? terror is round about his teeth.
41.6 (41.15) His inwards are as brazen plates, and the texture of his [skin] as a smyrite stone.
41.7 (41.16) One [part] cleaves fast to another, and the air cannot come between them.
41.8 (41.17) They will remain united each to the other: they are closely joined, and cannot be separated.
41.9 (41.18) At his sneezing a light shines, and his eyes are [as] the appearance of the morning star.
41.10 (41.19) Out of his mouth proceed as it were burning lamps, and as it were hearths of fire are cast abroad.
41.11 (41.20) Out of his nostrils proceeds smoke of a furnace burning with fire of coals.
41.12 (41.21) His breath is [as] live coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth.
41.13 (41.22) And power is lodged in his neck, before him destruction runs.
41.14 (41.23) The flesh also of his body is joined
together: [if one] pours [violence] upon him, he shall not be moved.
41.15 (41.24) His heart is firm as a stone, and it stands like an unyielding anvil.
41.16 (41.25) And when he turns, [he s] a terror to the four-footed wild beasts which leap upon the earth.
41.17 (41.26) If spears should come against him, [men] will
effect nothing, [either with] the spear or the breast-plate.
41.18 (41.27) For he considers iron as chaff, and brass as rotten wood.
41.19 (41.28) The bow of brass shall not would him, he deems a slinger as grass.
41.20 (41.29) Mauls are counted as stubble; and he laughs to scorn the waving of the firebrand.
41.21 (41.30) His lair is [formed of] sharp points; and all
the gold of the sea under him is an immense [quantity of] clay.
41.22 (41.31) He makes the deep boil like a brazen caldron; and he regards the sea as a pot of ointment,
41.23 (41.32) and the lowest part of the deep as a captive: he reckons the deep as [his] range.
41.24 (41.33) There is nothing upon the earth like to him, formed to be sported with by my angels.
41.25 (41.34) He beholds every high thing: and he is king of all that are in the waters.
42.1 Then Job answered and said to the Lord,
42.2 I know that thou canst do all things, and nothing is impossible with thee.
42.3 For who is he that hides counsel from thee? or
who keeps back his words, and thinks to hide them from thee? and who
will tell me what I knew not, great and wonderful things which I
understood not?
42.4 But hear me, O Lord, that I also may speak: and I will ask thee, and do thou teach me.
42.5 I have heard the report of thee by the ear before; but now mine eye has seen thee.
42.6 Wherefore I have counted myself vile, and have fainted: and I esteem myself dust and ashes.
42.7 And it came to pass after the Lord had spoken
all these words to Job, [that] the Lord said to Eliphaz the Thaemanite,
Thou hast sinned, and thy two friends: for ye have not said anything
true before me, as my servant Job [has].
42.8 Now then take seven bullocks, and seven rams,
and go to my servant Job, and he shall offer a burnt-offering for you.
And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will only accept him: for
but his sake, I would have destroyed you, for ye have not spoken the
truth against my servant Job.
42.9 So Eliphaz the Thaemnite, and Baldad the
Sauchite, and Sophar the Minaean, went and did as the Lord commanded
them: and he pardoned their sin for the sake of Job.
42.10 And the Lord prospered Job: and when he prayed also
for his friends, he forgave them [their] sin: and the Lord gave Job
twice as much, even the double of what he had before.
42.11 And all his brethren and his sisters heard all that
had happened to him, and they came to him, and [so did] all that had
known him from the first: and they ate and drank with him, and
comforted him, and wondered at all that the Lord had brought upon him:
and each one gave him a lamb, and four drachms' weight of gold, even of
unstamped [gold].
42.12 And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job, [more]
than the beginning: and his cattle were fourteen thousand sheep, six
thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, a thousand she-asses of the
pastures.
42.13 And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
42.14 And he called the first Day, and the second Casia, and the third Amalthaea's horn.
42.15 And there were not found in comparison with the
daughters of Job, fairer [women] than they in all the world: and their
father gave them an inheritance among their brethren.
42.16 And Job lived after [his] affliction a hundred and
seventy years: and all the years he lived were two hundred and forty:
and Job saw his sons and his sons' sons, the fourth generation.
42.17 And Job died, an old man and full of days: and it is
written that he will rise again with those whom the Lord raises up.
This man is described in the Syriac book [as] living in the land of
Ausis, on the borders of Idumea and Arabia: and his name before was
Jobab; and having taken an Arabian wife, he begot a son whose name was
Ennon. And he himself was the son of his father Zare, one of the sons
of Esau, and of his mother Bosorrha, so that he was the fifth from
Abraam. And these were the kings who reigned in Edom, which country he
also ruled over: first, Balac, the son of Beor, and the name of his
city was Dennaba: but after Baac, Jobab, who is called Job, and after
him Asom, who was governor out of the country of Thaeman: and after him
Adad, the son of Barad, who destroyed Madiam in the plain of Moab; and
the name of his city was Gethaim. And [his] friends who came to him
were Eliphaz, of the children of Esau, king of the Thaemanites, Baldad
son of the Sauchaeans, Sophar king of the Kinaeans.