Job

¹ There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and this man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and abstained from evil. ² And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters. ³ And his substance was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and very many servants; and this man was greater than all the children of the east.

⁴ And his sons went and made a feast in the house of each one on his day; and they sent and invited their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. ⁵ And it was so, when the days of the feasting were gone about, that Job sent and hallowed them; and he rose up early in the morning, and offered up burnt-offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

⁶ And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah; and Satan came also among them. ⁷ And Jehovah said to Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. ⁸ And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and abstaineth from evil? ⁹ And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? ¹⁰ Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is spread abroad in the land. ¹¹ But put forth thy hand now and touch all that he hath, and see if he will not curse thee to thy face! ¹² And Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand; only upon himself put not forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah.

¹³ And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn. ¹⁴ And there came a messenger to Job and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them; ¹⁵ and they of Sheba fell upon them and took them, and the servants have they smitten with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped, alone, to tell thee. ¹⁶ While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped, alone, to tell thee. ¹⁷ While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and fell upon the camels and took them, and the servants have they smitten with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped, alone, to tell thee. ¹⁸ While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn; ¹⁹ and behold, there came a great wind from over the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they died; and I only am escaped, alone, to tell thee.

²⁰ And Job rose up, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshipped; ²¹ and he said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah! ²² In all this Job sinned not, nor ascribed anything unseemly to God.

¹ And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, and Satan also came among them to present himself before Jehovah. ² And Jehovah said to Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. ³ And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and abstaineth from evil? and still he remaineth firm in his integrity, though thou movedst me against him, to swallow him up without cause. ⁴ And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life; ⁵ but put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and see if he will not curse thee to thy face! ⁶ And Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand; only spare his life.

⁷ And Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah; and he smote Job with a grievous botch from the sole of his foot unto his crown. ⁸ And he took a potsherd to scrape himself with; and he sat among the ashes. ⁹ And his wife said to him, Dost thou still remain firm in thine integrity? curse God and die. ¹⁰ But he said to her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. We have also received good from God, and should we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

¹¹ And three friends of Job heard of all this evil that was come upon him. And they came each one from his place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to condole with him and to comfort him. ¹² And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice and wept. And they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward the heavens. ¹³ And they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights; and none spoke a word to him; for they saw that his anguish was very great.

¹ After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. ² And Job answered and said, ³ Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, There is a man child conceived. ⁴ That day--let it be darkness, let not +God care for it from above, neither let light shine upon it: ⁵ Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it; let clouds dwell upon it; let darkeners of the day terrify it. ⁶ That night--let gloom seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months. ⁷ Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful sound come therein; ⁸ Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse Leviathan; ⁹ Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it wait for light, and have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the dawn: ¹⁰ Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, and hid not trouble from mine eyes.

¹¹ Wherefore did I not die from the womb, --come forth from the belly and expire? ¹² Why did the knees meet me? and wherefore the breasts, that I should suck? ¹³ For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept: then had I been at rest, ¹⁴ With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build desolate places for themselves, ¹⁵ Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver; ¹⁶ Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that have not seen the light. ¹⁷ There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the wearied are at rest. ¹⁸ The prisoners together are at ease; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. ¹⁹ The small and great are there, and the bondman freed from his master.

²⁰ Wherefore is light given to him that is in trouble, and life to those bitter of soul, ²¹ Who long for death, and it cometh not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures; ²² Who rejoice even exultingly and are glad when they find the grave? -- ²³ To the man whose way is hidden, and whom +God hath hedged in? ²⁴ For my sighing cometh before my bread, and my groanings are poured out like the waters. ²⁵ For I feared a fear, and it hath come upon me, and that which I dreaded hath come to me. ²⁶ I was not in safety, neither had I quietness, neither was I at rest, and trouble came.

¹ And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, ² If a word were essayed to thee, wouldest thou be grieved? But who can refrain from speaking? ³ Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands; ⁴ Thy words have upholden him that was stumbling, and thou hast braced up the bending knees: ⁵ But now it is come upon thee, and thou grievest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. ⁶ Hath not thy piety been thy confidence, and the perfection of thy ways thy hope?

⁷ Remember, I pray thee, who that was innocent has perished? and where were the upright cut off? ⁸ Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity and sow mischief, reap the same. ⁹ By the breath of +God they perish, and by the blast of his nostrils are they consumed. ¹⁰ The roar of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken; ¹¹ The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

¹² Now to me a word was secretly brought, and mine ear received a whisper thereof. ¹³ In thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men: -- ¹⁴ Fear came on me, and trembling, and made all my bones to shake; ¹⁵ And a spirit passed before my face--the hair of my flesh stood up-- ¹⁶ It stood still; I could not discern the appearance thereof: a form was before mine eyes; I heard a slight murmur and a voice: ¹⁷ Shall mortal man be more just than +God? Shall a man be purer than his Maker? ¹⁸ Lo, he trusteth not his servants, and his angels he chargeth with folly: ¹⁹ How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed as the moth! ²⁰ From morning to evening are they smitten: without any heeding it, they perish for ever. ²¹ Is not their tent-cord torn away in them? they die, and without wisdom.

¹ Call, I pray thee! Is there any that answereth thee? and to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn? ² For vexation killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the simple. ³ I myself saw the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation. ⁴ His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer: ⁵ Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh even out of the thorns; and the snare gapeth for his substance.

⁶ For evil cometh not forth from the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; ⁷ For man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards. ⁸ But as for me I will seek unto *God, and unto God commit my cause; ⁹ Who doeth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number; ¹⁰ Who giveth rain on the face of the earth, and sendeth waters on the face of the fields; ¹¹ Setting up on high those that are low; and mourners are exalted to prosperity. ¹² He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, and their hands carry not out the enterprise. ¹³ He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong: ¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at midday as in the night. ¹⁵ And he saveth the needy from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. ¹⁶ So the poor hath what he hopeth for, and unrighteousness stoppeth her mouth.

¹⁷ Behold, happy is the man whom +God correcteth; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty. ¹⁸ For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole. ¹⁹ He will deliver thee in six troubles, and in seven there shall no evil touch thee. ²⁰ In famine he will redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword. ²¹ Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue; and thou shalt not be afraid of destruction when it cometh. ²² At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, and of the beasts of the earth thou shalt not be afraid. ²³ For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. ²⁴ And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; and thou wilt survey thy fold, and miss nothing. ²⁵ And thou shalt know that thy seed is numerous, and thine offspring as the herb of the earth. ²⁶ Thou shalt come to the grave in a ripe age, as a shock of corn is brought in in its season. ²⁷ Behold this, we have searched it out, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thyself.

¹ And Job answered and said, ² Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! ³ For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words are vehement. ⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, their poison drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of +God are arrayed against me. ⁵ Doth the wild ass bray by the grass? loweth an ox over his fodder? ⁶ Shall that which is insipid be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg? ⁷ What my soul refuseth to touch, that is as my loathsome food.

⁸ Oh that I might have my request, and that +God would grant my desire! ⁹ And that it would please +God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! ¹⁰ Then should I yet have comfort; and in the pain which spareth not I would rejoice that I have not denied the words of the Holy One. ¹¹ What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should have patience? ¹² Is my strength the strength of stones? is my flesh of brass? ¹³ Is it not that there is no help in me, and soundness is driven away from me?

¹⁴ For him that is fainting kindness is meet from his friend; or he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. ¹⁵ My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a stream, as the channel of streams which pass away, ¹⁶ Which are turbid by reason of the ice, in which the snow hideth itself: ¹⁷ At the time they diminish, they are dried up; when heat affecteth them, they vanish from their place: ¹⁸ They wind about in the paths of their course, they go off into the waste and perish. ¹⁹ The caravans of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba counted on them: ²⁰ They are ashamed at their hope; they come thither, and are confounded. ²¹ So now ye are nothing; ye see a terrible object and are afraid.

²² Did I say, Bring unto me, and make me a present from your substance? ²³ Or, rescue me from the hand of the oppressor, and redeem me from the hand of the violent? ²⁴ Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred. ²⁵ How forcible are right words! but what doth your upbraiding reprove? ²⁶ Do ye imagine to reprove words? The speeches of one that is desperate are indeed for the wind. ²⁷ Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and dig a pit for your friend. ²⁸ Now therefore if ye will, look upon me; and it shall be to your face if I lie. ²⁹ Return, I pray you, let there be no wrong; yea, return again, my righteousness shall be in it. ³⁰ Is there wrong in my tongue? cannot my taste discern mischievous things?

¹ Hath not man a life of labour upon earth? and are not his days like the days of a hireling? ² As a bondman earnestly desireth the shadow, and a hireling expecteth his wages, ³ So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. ⁴ If I lie down, I say, When shall I rise up, and the darkness be gone? and I am full of tossings until the dawn. ⁵ My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and suppurates. ⁶ My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

⁷ Remember thou that my life is wind; mine eye shall no more see good. ⁸ The eye of him that hath seen me shall behold me no more : thine eyes are upon me, and I am not. ⁹ The cloud consumeth and vanisheth away; so he that goeth down to Sheol shall not come up. ¹⁰ He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him again. ¹¹ Therefore I will not restrain my mouth: I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. ¹² Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, that thou settest a watch over me? ¹³ When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint; ¹⁴ Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions; ¹⁵ So that my soul chooseth strangling, death, rather than my bones. ¹⁶ I loathe it; I shall not live always: let me alone, for my days are a breath.

¹⁷ What is man, that thou makest much of him? and that thou settest thy heart upon him? ¹⁸ And that thou visitest him every morning, triest him every moment? ¹⁹ How long wilt thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? ²⁰ Have I sinned, what do I unto thee, thou Observer of men? Why hast thou set me as an object of assault for thee, so that I am become a burden to myself? ²¹ And why dost not thou forgive my transgression and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I lie down in the dust, and thou shalt seek me early, and I shall not be.

¹ And Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, ² How long wilt thou speak these things? and the words of thy mouth be a strong wind? ³ Doth *God pervert judgment, and the Almighty pervert justice? ⁴ If thy children have sinned against him, he hath also given them over into the hand of their transgression. ⁵ If thou seek earnestly unto *God, and make thy supplication to the Almighty, ⁶ If thou be pure and upright, surely now he will awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous; ⁷ And though thy beginning was small, yet thine end shall be very great.

⁸ For inquire, I pray thee, of the former generation, and attend to the researches of their fathers; ⁹ For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, for our days upon earth are a shadow. ¹⁰ Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart? ¹¹ Doth the papyrus shoot up without mire? doth the reed-grass grow without water? ¹² Whilst it is yet in its greenness and not cut down, it withereth before any other grass. ¹³ So are the paths of all that forget *God; and the profane man's hope shall perish, ¹⁴ Whose confidence shall be cut off, and his reliance is a spider's web. ¹⁵ He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand; he shall lay hold on it, but it shall not endure. ¹⁶ He is full of sap before the sun, and his sprout shooteth forth over his garden; ¹⁷ His roots are entwined about the stoneheap; he seeth the place of stones. ¹⁸ If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him: I have not seen thee! ¹⁹ Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the dust shall others grow.

²⁰ Behold, *God will not cast off a perfect man, neither will he take evil-doers by the hand. ²¹ Whilst he would fill thy mouth with laughing and thy lips with shouting, ²² They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked be no more.

¹ And Job answered and said, ² Of a truth I know it is so; but how can man be just with *God? ³ If he shall choose to strive with him, he cannot answer him one thing of a thousand. ⁴ He is wise in heart and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and had peace? ⁵ Who removeth mountains, and they know it not, when he overturneth them in his anger; ⁶ Who shaketh the earth out of its place, and the pillars thereof tremble; ⁷ Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, and he sealeth up the stars; ⁸ Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the high waves of the sea; ⁹ Who maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south; ¹⁰ Who doeth great things past finding out, and wonders without number. ¹¹ Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not; and he passeth along, and I perceive him not. ¹² Behold, he taketh away: who will hinder him? Who will say unto him, What doest thou? ¹³ +God withdraweth not his anger; the proud helpers stoop under him:

¹⁴ How much less shall I answer him, choose out my words to strive with him? ¹⁵ Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer; I would make supplication to my judge. ¹⁶ If I had called, and he had answered me, I would not believe that he hearkened to my voice, -- ¹⁷ He, who crusheth me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause. ¹⁸ He suffereth me not to take my breath, for he filleth me with bitternesses. ¹⁹ Be it a question of strength, lo, he is strong; and be it of judgment, who will set me a time? ²⁰ If I justified myself, mine own mouth would condemn me; were I perfect, he would prove me perverse. ²¹ Were I perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.

²² It is all one; therefore I said, he destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. ²³ If the scourge kill suddenly, he mocketh at the trial of the innocent. ²⁴ The earth is given over into the hand of the wicked man ; he covereth the faces of its judges. If not, who then is it?

²⁵ And my days are swifter than a runner: they flee away, they see no good. ²⁶ They pass by like skiffs of reed; as an eagle that swoops upon the prey. ²⁷ If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad countenance, and brighten up, ²⁸ I am afraid of all my sorrows; I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. ²⁹ Be it that I am wicked, why then do I labour in vain? ³⁰ If I washed myself with snow-water, and cleansed my hands in purity, ³¹ Then wouldest thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes would abhor me. ³² For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him; that we should come together in judgment. ³³ There is not an umpire between us, who should lay his hand upon us both. ³⁴ Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his terror make me afraid, ³⁵  Then I will speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.

¹ My soul is weary of my life: I will give free course to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. ² I will say unto +God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou strivest with me. ³ Doth it please thee to oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thy hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? ⁴ Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? ⁵ Are thy days as the days of a mortal? are thy years as a man's days, ⁶ That thou searchest after mine iniquity, and inquirest into my sin; ⁷ Since thou knowest that I am not wicked, and that there is none that delivereth out of thy hand?

⁸ Thy hands have bound me together and made me as one, round about; yet dost thou swallow me up! ⁹ Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as clay, and wilt bring me into dust again. ¹⁰ Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? ¹¹ Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews; ¹² Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy care hath preserved my spirit; ¹³ And these things didst thou hide in thy heart; I know that this was with thee.

¹⁴ If I sinned, thou wouldest mark me, and thou wouldest not acquit me of mine iniquity. ¹⁵ If I were wicked, woe unto me! and righteous, I will not lift up my head, being so full of shame, and beholding mine affliction; -- ¹⁶ And it increaseth: thou huntest me as a fierce lion; and ever again thou shewest thy marvellous power upon me. ¹⁷ Thou renewest thy witnesses before me and increasest thy displeasure against me; successions of evil and a time of toil are with me. ¹⁸ And wherefore didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? I had expired, and no eye had seen me. ¹⁹ I should be as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. ²⁰ Are not my days few? cease then and let me alone, that I may revive a little, ²¹ Before I go, and never to return, --to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; ²² A land of gloom, as darkness itself; of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as thick darkness.

¹ And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, ² Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man of much talk be justified? ³ Should thy fictions make men hold their peace? and shouldest thou mock, and no one make thee ashamed? ⁴ For thou sayest, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes. ⁵ But oh that +God would speak, and open his lips against thee; ⁶ And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, how that they are the double of what is realised; and know that +God passeth by much of thine iniquity!

⁷ Canst thou by searching find out +God? canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? ⁸  It is as the heights of heaven; what wilt thou do? deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know? ⁹ The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. ¹⁰ If he pass by, and shut up, and call to judgment, who can hinder him? ¹¹ For he knoweth vain men, and seeth wickedness when man doth not consider it; ¹² Yet a senseless man will make bold, though man be born like the foal of a wild ass.

¹³ If thou prepare thy heart and stretch out thy hands toward him, ¹⁴ If thou put far away the iniquity which is in thy hand, and let not wrong dwell in thy tents; ¹⁵ Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot, and thou shalt be stedfast and shalt not fear: ¹⁶ For thou shalt forget misery; as waters that are passed away shalt thou remember it; ¹⁷ And life shall arise brighter than noonday; though thou be enshrouded in darkness, thou shalt be as the morning, ¹⁸ And thou shalt have confidence, because there shall be hope; and having searched about thee , thou shalt take rest in safety. ¹⁹ Yea, thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; and many shall seek thy favour. ²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and all refuge shall vanish from them, and their hope shall be the breathing out of life.

¹ And Job answered and said, ² Truly ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you! ³ I also have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you; and who knoweth not such things as these? ⁴ I am to be one that is a derision to his friend, I who call upon +God, and whom he will answer: a derision is the just upright man . ⁵ He that is ready to stumble with the foot is a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.

⁶ The tents of desolators are in peace, and they that provoke *God are secure; into whose hand +God bringeth. ⁷ But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowl of the heavens, and they shall tell thee; ⁸ Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. ⁹ Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this? ¹⁰ In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man. ¹¹ Doth not the ear try words, as the palate tasteth food?

¹² With the aged is wisdom, and in length of days understanding. ¹³ With him is wisdom and might; he hath counsel and understanding. ¹⁴ Behold, he breaketh down, and it is not built again; he shutteth up a man, and there is no opening. ¹⁵ Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; and he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. ¹⁶ With him is strength and effectual knowledge; the deceived and the deceiver are his. ¹⁷ He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and judges maketh he fools; ¹⁸ He weakeneth the government of kings, and bindeth their loins with a fetter; ¹⁹ He leadeth priests away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty; ²⁰ He depriveth of speech the trusty, and taketh away the judgment of the elders; ²¹ He poureth contempt upon nobles, and slackeneth the girdle of the mighty; ²² He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out into light the shadow of death; ²³ He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them; he spreadeth out the nations, and bringeth them in; ²⁴ He taketh away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a pathless waste. ²⁵ They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunkard.

¹ Lo, mine eye hath seen all this , mine ear hath heard and understood it. ² What ye know, I know also: I am not inferior to you. ³ But I will speak to the Almighty, and will find pleasure in reasoning with *God; ⁴ For ye indeed are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value. ⁵ Oh that ye would be altogether silent! and it would be your wisdom. ⁶ Hear now my defence, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips. ⁷ Will ye speak unrighteously for *God? and for him speak deceit? ⁸ Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for *God? ⁹ Will it be well if he should search you out? or as one mocketh at a man, will ye mock at him? ¹⁰ He will certainly reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons. ¹¹ Shall not his excellency terrify you? and his dread fall upon you? ¹² Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, your bulwarks are bulwarks of mire.

¹³ Hold your peace from me, and I will speak, and let come on me what will ! ¹⁴ Wherefore should I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand? ¹⁵ Behold, if he slay me, yet would I trust in him; but I will defend mine own ways before him. ¹⁶ This also shall be my salvation, that a profane man shall not come before his face. ¹⁷ Hear attentively my speech and my declaration with your ears. ¹⁸ Behold now, I have ordered the cause; I know that I shall be justified. ¹⁹ Who is he that contendeth with me? For if I were silent now, I should expire. ²⁰ Only do not two things unto me; then will I not hide myself from thee. ²¹ Withdraw thy hand far from me; and let not thy terror make me afraid: ²² Then call, and I will answer; or I will speak, and answer thou me.

²³ How many are mine iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin. ²⁴ Wherefore dost thou hide thy face, and countest me for thine enemy? ²⁵ Wilt thou terrify a driven leaf? and wilt thou pursue dry stubble? ²⁶ For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth; ²⁷ And thou puttest my feet in the stocks, and markest all my paths; thou settest a bound about the soles of my feet; -- ²⁸ One who, as a rotten thing consumeth, as a garment that the moth eateth.

¹ Man, born of woman, is of few days, and full of trouble. ² He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; and he fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not. ³ Yet dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? ⁴ Who can bring a clean man out of the unclean? Not one! ⁵ If his days are determined, if the number of his months is with thee, and thou hast appointed his bounds which he must not pass, ⁶ Look away from him; and let him rest, till he accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

⁷ For there is hope for a tree: if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender branch will not cease; ⁸ Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stock die in the ground, ⁹ Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and put forth boughs like a young plant. ¹⁰ But a man dieth, and is prostrate; yea, man expireth, and where is he? ¹¹ The waters recede from the lake, and the river wasteth and drieth up: ¹² So man lieth down, and riseth not again; till the heavens be no more, they do not awake, nor are raised out of their sleep. ¹³ Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, that thou wouldest keep me secret until thine anger be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me, -- ¹⁴ (If a man die, shall he live again ?) all the days of my time of toil would I wait, till my change should come: ¹⁵ Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee; thou wouldest have a desire after the work of thy hands.

¹⁶ For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin? ¹⁷ My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou heapest up mine iniquity. ¹⁸ And indeed a mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of its place; ¹⁹ The waters wear the stones, the floods thereof wash away the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man. ²⁰ Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth away; thou changest his countenance, and dismissest him. ²¹ His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, and he perceiveth it not. ²² But his flesh hath pain for himself alone, and his soul mourneth for himself.

¹ And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, ² Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind, ³ Reasoning with unprofitable talk, and with speeches which do no good? ⁴ Yea, thou makest piety of none effect, and restrainest meditation before *God. ⁵ For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou hast chosen the tongue of the crafty. ⁶ Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; and thy lips testify against thee. ⁷ Art thou the first man that was born? and wast thou brought forth before the hills? ⁸ Hast thou listened in the secret council of +God? And hast thou absorbed wisdom for thyself? ⁹ What knowest thou that we know not? what understandest thou which is not in us? ¹⁰ Both the greyheaded and the aged are with us, older than thy father. ¹¹ Are the consolations of *God too small for thee? and the word gently spoken to thee? ¹² Why doth thy heart carry thee away? and why do thine eyes wink? ¹³ That thou turnest thy spirit against *God, and lettest words go out of thy mouth? ¹⁴ What is man, that he should be pure? and he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? ¹⁵ Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight: ¹⁶ How much less the abominable and corrupt, --man, that drinketh unrighteousness like water!

¹⁷ I will shew thee, listen to me; and what I have seen I will declare; ¹⁸ Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hidden; ¹⁹ Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them. ²⁰ All his days the wicked man is tormented, and numbered years are allotted to the violent. ²¹ The sound of terrors is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer cometh upon him. ²² He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is singled out for the sword. ²³ He wandereth abroad for bread, --where may it be? He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. ²⁴ Distress and anguish make him afraid; they prevail against him, as a king ready for the battle. ²⁵ For he hath stretched out his hand against *God, and strengthened himself against the Almighty: ²⁶ He runneth against him, with outstretched neck, with the thick bosses of his bucklers; ²⁷ For he hath covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat upon his flanks. ²⁸ And he dwelleth in desolate cities, in houses that no man inhabiteth, which are destined to become heaps. ²⁹ He shall not become rich, neither shall his substance continue, and their possessions shall not extend upon the earth. ³⁰ He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches; and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away. ³¹ Let him not trust in vanity: he is deceived, for vanity shall be his recompense; ³² It shall be complete before his day, and his branch shall not be green. ³³ He shall shake off his unripe grapes as a vine, and shall cast his flower as an olive. ³⁴ For the family of the ungodly shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery. ³⁵ They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

¹ And Job answered and said, ² I have heard many such things: grievous comforters are ye all. ³ Shall words of wind have an end? or what provoketh thee that thou answerest? ⁴ I also could speak as ye: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could join together words against you, and shake my head at you; ⁵  But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips should assuage your pain .

⁶ If I speak, my pain is not assuaged; and if I forbear, what am I eased? ⁷ But now he hath made me weary; ...thou hast made desolate all my family; ⁸ Thou hast shrivelled me up! it is become a witness; and my leanness riseth up against me, it beareth witness to my face. ⁹ His anger teareth and pursueth me; he gnasheth with his teeth against me; as mine adversary he sharpeneth his eyes at me. ¹⁰ They gape upon me with their mouth; they smite my cheeks reproachfully; they range themselves together against me. ¹¹ *God hath delivered me over to the iniquitous man, and hurled me into the hands of the wicked. ¹² I was at rest, but he hath shattered me; he hath taken me by the neck and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. ¹³ His arrows encompass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground. ¹⁴ He breaketh me with breach upon breach; he runneth upon me like a mighty man. ¹⁵ I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and rolled my horn in the dust. ¹⁶ My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;

¹⁷ Although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure. ¹⁸ O earth, cover not my blood, and let there be no place for my cry! ¹⁹ Even now, behold, my Witness is in the heavens, and he that voucheth for me is in the heights. ²⁰ My friends are my mockers; mine eye poureth out tears unto +God. ²¹ Oh that there were arbitration for a man with +God, as a son of man for his friend! ²² For years few in number shall pass, --and I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

¹ My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are mine. ² Are there not mockers around me? and doth not mine eye abide in their provocation? ³ Lay down now a pledge , be thou surety for me with thyself: who is he that striketh hands with me? ⁴ For thou hast hidden their heart from understanding; therefore thou wilt not exalt them . ⁵ He that betrayeth friends for a prey--even the eyes of his children shall fail. ⁶ And he hath made me a proverb of the peoples; and I am become one to be spit on in the face. ⁷ And mine eye is dim by reason of grief, and all my members are as a shadow. ⁸ Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall be stirred up against the ungodly; ⁹ But the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall increase in strength.

¹⁰ But as for you all, pray come on again; and I shall not find one wise man among you. ¹¹ My days are past, my purposes are broken off, the cherished thoughts of my heart. ¹² They change the night into day; the light they imagine near in presence of the darkness. ¹³ If I wait, Sheol is my house; I spread my bed in the darkness: ¹⁴ I cry to the grave, Thou art my father! to the worm, My mother, and my sister! ¹⁵ And where is then my hope? yea, my hope, who shall see it? ¹⁶ It shall go down to the bars of Sheol, when our rest shall be together in the dust.

¹ And Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, ² How long will ye hunt for words? Be intelligent, and then we will speak. ³ Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed stupid in your sight? ⁴ Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger, shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of its place?

⁵ Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the flame of his fire shall not shine. ⁶ The light shall become dark in his tent, and his lamp over him shall be put out. ⁷ The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down. ⁸ For he is sent into the net by his own feet, and he walketh on the meshes; ⁹ The gin taketh him by the heel, the snare layeth hold on him; ¹⁰ A cord is hidden for him in the ground, and his trap in the way.

¹¹ Terrors make him afraid on every side, and chase him at his footsteps. ¹² His strength is hunger-bitten, and calamity is ready at his side. ¹³ The firstborn of death devoureth the members of his body; it will devour his members. ¹⁴ His confidence shall be rooted out of his tent, and it shall lead him away to the king of terrors: ¹⁵ They who are none of his shall dwell in his tent; brimstone shall be showered upon his habitation: ¹⁶ His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off; ¹⁷ His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name on the pasture-grounds. ¹⁸ He is driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. ¹⁹ He hath neither son nor grandson among his people, nor any remaining in the places of his sojourn. ²⁰ They that come after shall be astonished at his day, as they that went before them were affrighted. ²¹ Surely, such are the dwellings of the unrighteous man, and such the place of him that knoweth not *God.

¹ And Job answered and said, ² How long will ye vex my soul, and crush me with words? ³ These ten times have ye reproached me; ye are not ashamed to stupefy me. ⁴ And be it that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself. ⁵ If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and prove against me my reproach, ⁶ Know now that +God hath overthrown me, and hath surrounded me with his net. ⁷ Behold, I cry out of wrong, and I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

⁸ He hath hedged up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths. ⁹ He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. ¹⁰ He breaketh me down on every side, and I am gone; and my hope hath he torn up as a tree. ¹¹ And he hath kindled his anger against me, and hath counted me unto him as one of his enemies. ¹² His troops have come together and cast up their way against me, and have encamped round about my tent. ¹³ He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are quite estranged from me. ¹⁴ My kinsfolk have failed, and my known friends have forgotten me. ¹⁵ The sojourners in my house and my maids count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight. ¹⁶ I called my servant, and he answered not; I entreated him with my mouth. ¹⁷ My breath is strange to my wife, and my entreaties to the children of my mother's womb. ¹⁸ Even young children despise me; I rise up, and they speak against me. ¹⁹ All my intimate friends abhor me, and they whom I loved are turned against me. ²⁰ My bones cleave to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth. ²¹ Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, ye my friends; for the hand of +God hath touched me. ²² Why do ye persecute me as *God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

²³ Oh would that my words were written! oh that they were inscribed in a book! ²⁴ That with an iron style and lead they were graven in the rock for ever! ²⁵ And as for me, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and the Last, he shall stand upon the earth; ²⁶ And if after my skin this shall be destroyed, yet from out of my flesh shall I see +God; ²⁷ Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another: --my reins are consumed within me. ²⁸ If ye say, How shall we persecute him? when the root of the matter is found in me, ²⁹ Be ye yourselves afraid of the sword! for the sword is fury against misdeeds, that ye may know there is a judgment.

¹ And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, ² Therefore do my thoughts give me an answer, and for this is my haste within me. ³ I hear a reproof putting me to shame; and my spirit answereth me by mine understanding. ⁴ Knowest thou not this, that of old, since man was placed upon earth, ⁵ The exultation of the wicked is short, and the joy of the ungodly man but for a moment? ⁶ Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds, ⁷ Like his own dung doth he perish for ever; they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? ⁸ He flieth away as a dream, and is not found; and is chased away as a vision of the night. ⁹ The eye which saw him shall see him not again; and his place beholdeth him no more.

¹⁰ His children shall seek the favour of the poor, and his hands restore his wealth. ¹¹ His bones were full of his youthful strength; but it shall lie down with him in the dust. ¹² Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth and he hide it under his tongue, ¹³  Though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it within his mouth, ¹⁴ His food is turned in his bowels; it is the gall of asps within him. ¹⁵ He hath swallowed down riches, but he shall vomit them up again: *God shall cast them out of his belly. ¹⁶ He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall kill him. ¹⁷ He shall not see streams, rivers, brooks of honey and butter. ¹⁸ That which he laboured for shall he restore, and not swallow down; its restitution shall be according to the value, and he shall not rejoice therein . ¹⁹ For he hath oppressed, hath forsaken the poor; he hath violently taken away a house that he did not build. ²⁰ Because he knew no rest in his craving, he shall save nought of what he most desired. ²¹ Nothing escaped his greediness; therefore his prosperity shall not endure. ²² In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits; every hand of the wretched shall come upon him.

²³ It shall be that, to fill his belly, he will cast his fierce anger upon him, and will rain it upon him into his flesh. ²⁴ If he have fled from the iron weapon, the bow of brass shall strike him through. ²⁵ He draweth it forth; it cometh out of his body, and the glittering point out of his gall: terrors are upon him. ²⁶ All darkness is laid up for his treasures: a fire not blown shall devour him; it shall feed upon what is left in his tent. ²⁷ The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him. ²⁸ The increase of his house shall depart, flowing away in the day of his anger. ²⁹ This is the portion of the wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by *God.

¹ And Job answered and said, ² Hear attentively my speech, and let this replace your consolations. ³ Suffer me and I will speak; and after I have spoken, mock on! ⁴ As for me, is my complaint to a man? or wherefore should not my spirit be impatient? ⁵ Mark me, and be astonished, and lay the hand upon the mouth. ⁶ Even when I think thereon , I am affrighted, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh.

⁷ Wherefore do the wicked live, grow old, yea, become mighty in power? ⁸ Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes. ⁹ Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of +God upon them. ¹⁰ Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. ¹¹ They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. ¹² They shout to the tambour and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe. ¹³ They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment go down to Sheol. ¹⁴ And they say unto *God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways! ¹⁵ What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what are we profited if we pray unto him? ¹⁶ Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked be far from me!

¹⁷ How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and cometh their calamity upon them? Doth he distribute sorrows to them in his anger? ¹⁸ Do they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away? ¹⁹ +God layeth up the punishment of his iniquity for his children; he rewardeth him, and he shall know it : ²⁰ His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the fury of the Almighty. ²¹ For what pleasure should he have in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off? ²² Can any teach *God knowledge? And he it is that judgeth those that are high. ²³ One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet; ²⁴ His sides are full of fat, and the marrow of his bones is moistened; ²⁵ And another dieth in bitterness of soul, and hath not tasted good: ²⁶ Together they lie down in the dust, and the worms cover them.

²⁷ Lo, I know your thoughts, and the devices ye wrongfully imagine against me. ²⁸ For ye say, Where is the house of the noble? and where the tent of the dwellings of the wicked? ²⁹ Have ye not asked the wayfarers? and do ye not regard their tokens: ³⁰ That the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity? They are led forth to the day of wrath. ³¹ Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? ³² Yet is he carried to the graves, and watch is kept over the tomb. ³³ The clods of the valley are sweet unto him; and every man followeth suit after him, as there were innumerable before him. ³⁴ How then comfort ye me in vain? Your answers remain perfidious.

¹ And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, ² Can a man be profitable to *God? surely it is unto himself that the wise man is profitable. ³ Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if thou art righteous? And is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect? ⁴ Will he reason with thee for fear of thee? Will he enter with thee into judgment?

⁵ Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities without end? ⁶ For thou hast taken a pledge of thy brother for nought, and stripped off the clothing of the naked. ⁷ Thou hast not given water to the fainting to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. ⁸ But the powerful man, he had the land; and the man of high rank dwelt in it. ⁹ Widows hast thou sent empty away, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. ¹⁰ Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; ¹¹ Or darkness, that thou canst not see, and floods of waters cover thee. ¹² Is not +God in the height of the heavens? And behold the summit of the stars: how exalted are they! ¹³ And thou sayest, What doth *God know? will he judge through the dark cloud? ¹⁴ Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh on the vault of the heavens.

¹⁵ Dost thou mark the ancient path which wicked men have trodden? ¹⁶ Who were carried off before the time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood; ¹⁷ Who said unto *God, Depart from us! and what could the Almighty do to them? ¹⁸ Yet he filled their houses with good. But the counsel of the wicked is far from me. ¹⁹ The righteous see it, and are glad; and the innocent laugh them to scorn: ²⁰ Is not he who rose against us destroyed, and doth not the fire consume his residue?

²¹ Reconcile thyself now with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. ²² Receive, I pray thee, instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart. ²³ If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up. If thou remove unrighteousness far from thy tents, ²⁴ And put the precious ore with the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrents, ²⁵ Then the Almighty will be thy precious ore, and silver heaped up unto thee; ²⁶ Yea, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto +God: ²⁷ Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows; ²⁸ And thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; and light shall shine upon thy ways. ²⁹ When they are made low, then thou shalt say, Rise up! and he shall save him that is of downcast eyes. ³⁰  Even him that is not innocent shall he deliver; yea, he shall be delivered by the pureness of thy hands.

¹ And Job answered and said, ² Even to-day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. ³ Oh that I knew where I might find him, that I might come to his seat! ⁴ I would order the cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments; ⁵ I would know the words he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. ⁶ Would he plead against me with his great power? Nay; but he would give heed unto me. ⁷ There would an upright man reason with him; and I should be delivered for ever from my judge.

⁸ Lo, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I do not perceive him; ⁹ On the left hand, where he doth work, but I behold him not; he hideth himself on the right hand, and I see him not. ¹⁰ But he knoweth the way that I take; he trieth me, I shall come forth as gold. ¹¹ My foot hath held to his steps; his way have I kept, and not turned aside. ¹² Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have laid up the words of his mouth more than the purpose of my own heart.

¹³ But he is in one mind , and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, that will he do. ¹⁴ For he will perform what is appointed for me; and many such things are with him. ¹⁵ Therefore am I troubled at his presence; I consider, and I am afraid of him. ¹⁶ For *God hath made my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me; ¹⁷ Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he hidden the gloom from me.

¹ Why are not times treasured up with the Almighty? why do not they that know him see his days? ² They remove the landmarks; they violently take away the flocks and pasture them; ³ They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge; ⁴ They turn the needy out of the way: the afflicted of the land all hide themselves. ⁵ Lo, as wild asses in the desert, they go forth to their work, seeking early for the prey: the wilderness yieldeth them food for their children. ⁶ They reap in the field the fodder thereof, and they gather the vintage of the wicked; ⁷ They pass the night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold; ⁸ They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and for want of a shelter embrace the rock... ⁹ They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor: ¹⁰ These go naked without clothing, and, hungry, they bear the sheaf; ¹¹ They press out oil within their walls, they tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst. ¹² Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out; and +God imputeth not the impiety.

¹³ There are those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. ¹⁴ The murderer riseth with the light, killeth the afflicted and needy, and in the night is as a thief. ¹⁵ And the eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me; and he putteth a covering on his face. ¹⁶ In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in; they know not the light: ¹⁷ For the morning is to them all as the shadow of death; for they are familiar with the terrors of the shadow of death.

¹⁸ He is swift on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed on the earth: he turneth not unto the way of the vineyards. ¹⁹ Drought and heat consume snow waters; so doth Sheol those that have sinned. ²⁰ The womb forgetteth him; the worm feedeth sweetly on him: he shall be no more remembered; and unrighteousness is broken as a tree, -- ²¹ He that despoileth the barren that beareth not, and doeth not good to the widow: ²² He draweth also the mighty with his power; he riseth up, and no man is sure of life. ²³  God setteth him in safety, and he resteth thereon; but his eyes are upon their ways. ²⁴ They are exalted for a little, and are no more; they are laid low; like all other are they gathered, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. ²⁵ If it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

¹ And Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, ² Dominion and fear are with him; he maketh peace in his high places. ³ Is there any number of his troops? and upon whom doth not his light arise? ⁴ And how should man be just with *God? Or how should he be clean that is born of a woman? ⁵ Lo, even the moon is not bright; and the stars are not pure in his sight: ⁶ How much less man, a worm, and the son of man, a worm!

¹ And Job answered and said, ² How hast thou helped the powerless; how saved the arm that is without strength! ³ How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom, and abundantly declared the thing as it is! ⁴ For whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

⁵ The shades tremble beneath the waters and the inhabitants thereof; ⁶ Sheol is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. ⁷ He stretcheth out the north over empty space, he hangeth the earth upon nothing; ⁸ He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them. ⁹ He covereth the face of his throne, he spreadeth his cloud upon it. ¹⁰ He hath traced a fixed circle over the waters, unto the confines of light and darkness. ¹¹ The pillars of the heavens tremble and are astonished at his rebuke. ¹² He stirreth up the sea by his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through Rahab. ¹³ By his Spirit the heavens are adorned; his hand hath formed the fleeing serpent. ¹⁴ Lo, these are the borders of his ways; but what a whisper of a word do we hear of him! And the thunder of his power, who can understand?

¹ And Job continued his parable and said, ²  As *God liveth, who hath taken away my right, and the Almighty, who hath embittered my soul, ³ All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of +God is in my nostrils, ⁴ My lips shall not speak unrighteousness, nor my tongue utter deceit! ⁵ Be it far from me that I should justify you; till I die I will not remove my blamelessness from me. ⁶ My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart reproacheth me not one of my days.

⁷ Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous. ⁸ For what is the hope of the ungodly, when God cutteth him off, when +God taketh away his soul? ⁹ Will *God hear his cry when distress cometh upon him? ¹⁰ Doth he delight himself in the Almighty? will he at all times call upon +God?

¹¹ I will teach you concerning the hand of *God; what is with the Almighty will I not conceal. ¹² Behold, ye yourselves have all seen it ; and why are ye thus altogether vain? ¹³ This is the portion of the wicked man with *God, and the heritage of the violent, which they receive from the Almighty: -- ¹⁴ If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword, and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread; ¹⁵ Those that remain of him shall be buried by death, and his widows shall not weep. ¹⁶ Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay; ¹⁷ He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on; and the innocent shall divide the silver. ¹⁸ He buildeth his house as the moth, and as a booth that a keeper maketh. ¹⁹ He lieth down rich, but will do so no more; he openeth his eyes, and he is not. ²⁰ Terrors overtake him like waters; a whirlwind stealeth him away in the night. ²¹ The east wind carrieth him away and he is gone; and as a storm it hurleth him out of his place. ²² And God shall cast upon him and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. ²³  Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

¹ Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold which they refine; ² Iron is taken out of the dust, and copper is molten out of the stone. ³  Man putteth an end to the darkness, and exploreth to the utmost limit, the stones of darkness and of the shadow of death. ⁴ He openeth a shaft far from the inhabitants of the earth : forgotten of the foot, they hang suspended; away below men they hover. ⁵ As for the earth, out of it cometh bread, and underneath it is turned up as by fire; ⁶ The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and it hath dust of gold. ⁷ It is a path no bird of prey knoweth, and the vulture's eye hath not seen it; ⁸ The proud beasts have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed over it. ⁹  Man putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock, he overturneth the mountains by the root. ¹⁰ He cutteth out channels in the rocks, and his eye seeth every precious thing. ¹¹ He bindeth the streams that they drip not, and what is hidden he bringeth forth to light. ¹² But wisdom, where shall it be found? and where is the place of understanding? ¹³ Man knoweth not the value thereof; and it is not found in the land of the living.

¹⁴ The deep saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me. ¹⁵ Choice gold cannot be given for it, nor silver be weighed for its price. ¹⁶ It is not set in the balance with gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, and the sapphire. ¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot be compared to it, nor vessels of fine gold be its exchange. ¹⁸ Corals and crystal are no more remembered; yea, the acquisition of wisdom is above rubies. ¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be compared to it, neither shall it be set in the balance with pure gold.

²⁰ Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? ²¹ For it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the fowl of the heavens. ²² Destruction and death say, We have heard its report with our ears. ²³ God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth its place: ²⁴ For he looketh to the ends of the earth, he seeth under the whole heaven. ²⁵ In making a weight for the wind, and meting out the waters by measure, ²⁶ In appointing a statute for the rain, and a way for the thunder's flash: ²⁷ Then did he see it, and declare it; he established it, yea, and searched it out; ²⁸ And unto man he said, Lo, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

¹ And Job continued his parable and said, ² Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when +God preserved me; ³ When his lamp shone over my head, and by his light I walked through darkness; ⁴ As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret counsel of +God was over my tent, ⁵ When the Almighty was yet with me, my young men round about me; ⁶ When my steps were bathed in milk, and the rock poured out beside me rivers of oil! ...

⁷ When I went out to the gate by the city, when I prepared my seat on the broadway, ⁸ The young men saw me, and hid themselves; and the aged arose and stood up; ⁹ Princes refrained from talking, and laid the hand on their mouth; ¹⁰ The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue cleaved to their palate. ¹¹ When the ear heard me , then it blessed me, and when the eye saw me , it gave witness to me; ¹² For I delivered the afflicted that cried, and the fatherless who had no helper. ¹³ The blessing of him that was perishing came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. ¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was as a mantle and a turban. ¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame; ¹⁶ I was a father to the needy, and the cause which I knew not I searched out; ¹⁷ And I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

¹⁸ And I said, I shall die in my nest, and multiply my days as the sand; ¹⁹ My root shall be spread out to the waters, and the dew will lie all night on my branch; ²⁰ My glory shall be fresh in me, and my bow be renewed in my hand. ²¹ Unto me they listened, and waited, and kept silence for my counsel: ²² After my words they spoke not again, and my speech dropped upon them; ²³ And they waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain. ²⁴  If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and they troubled not the serenity of my countenance. ²⁵ I chose their way, and sat as chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth mourners.

¹ But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock. ² Yea, whereto should the strength of their hands profit me, men in whom vigour hath perished? ³ Withered up through want and hunger, they flee into waste places long since desolate and desert: ⁴ They gather the salt-wort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom for their food. ⁵ They are driven forth from among men --they cry after them as after a thief-- ⁶ To dwell in gloomy gorges, in caves of the earth and the rocks: ⁷ They bray among the bushes; under the brambles they are gathered together: ⁸ Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land. ⁹ And now I am their song, yea, I am their byword. ¹⁰ They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, yea, they spare not to spit in my face. ¹¹ For he hath loosed my cord and afflicted me; so they cast off the bridle before me. ¹² At my right hand rise the young brood; they push away my feet, and raise up against me their pernicious ways; ¹³ They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them; ¹⁴ They come in as through a wide breach: amid the confusion they roll themselves onward.

¹⁵ Terrors are turned against me; they pursue mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away like a cloud. ¹⁶ And now my soul is poured out in me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me. ¹⁷ The night pierceth through my bones and detacheth them from me, and my gnawing pains take no rest: ¹⁸ By their great force they have become my raiment; they bind me about as the collar of my coat. ¹⁹ He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. ²⁰ I cry unto thee, and thou answerest me not; I stand up, and thou lookest at me. ²¹ Thou art changed to a cruel one to me; with the strength of thy hand thou pursuest me. ²² Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to be borne away, and dissolvest my substance. ²³ For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living. ²⁴ Indeed, no prayer availeth when he stretcheth out his hand: though they cry when he destroyeth. ²⁵ Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy? ²⁶ For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness. ²⁷ My bowels well up, and rest not; days of affliction have confronted me. ²⁸ I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up, I cry in the congregation. ²⁹ I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion of ostriches. ³⁰ My skin is become black and falleth off me, and my bones are parched with heat. ³¹ My harp also is turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers.

¹ I made a covenant with mine eyes; and how should I fix my regard upon a maid? ² For what would have been my portion of +God from above, and what the heritage of the Almighty from on high? ³ Is not calamity for the unrighteous? and misfortune for the workers of iniquity? ⁴ Doth not he see my ways, and number all my steps? ⁵ If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot hath hasted to deceit, ⁶ (Let me be weighed in an even balance, and +God will take knowledge of my blamelessness;) ⁷ If my step have turned out of the way, and my heart followed mine eyes, and if any blot cleaveth to my hands; ⁸ Let me sow, and another eat; and let mine offspring be rooted out.

⁹ If my heart have been enticed unto a woman, so that I laid wait at my neighbour's door, ¹⁰ Let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her. ¹¹ For this is an infamy; yea, it is an iniquity to be judged by the judges: ¹² For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase. ¹³ If I have despised the cause of my bondman or of my bondmaid, when they contended with me, ¹⁴ What then should I do when *God riseth up? and if he visited, what should I answer him? ¹⁵ Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not One fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶ If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or caused the eyes of the widow to fail; ¹⁷ Or have eaten my morsel alone, so that the fatherless ate not thereof, ¹⁸ (For from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and I have guided the widow from my mother's womb;) ¹⁹ If I have seen any perishing for want of clothing, or any needy without covering; ²⁰ If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my lambs; ²¹ If I have lifted up my hand against an orphan, because I saw my help in the gate: ²²  Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone! ²³ For calamity from *God was a terror to me, and by reason of his excellency I was powerless.

²⁴ If I have made gold my hope, or said to the fine gold, My confidence! ²⁵ If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much; ²⁶ If I beheld the sun when it shone, or the moon walking in brightness, ²⁷ And my heart have been secretly enticed, so that my mouth kissed my hand: ²⁸ This also would be an iniquity for the judge, for I should have denied the *God who is above. ²⁹ If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, and exulted when evil befell him; ³⁰ (Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse;) ³¹ If the men of my tent said not, Who shall find one that hath not been satisfied with his meat? -- ³² The stranger did not lodge without; I opened my doors to the pathway.

³³ If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom, ³⁴ Because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and went not out of the door, ... ³⁵ Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold my signature: let the Almighty answer me! And let mine opponent write an accusation! ³⁶ Would I not take it upon my shoulder? I would bind it on to me as a crown; ³⁷ I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I come near to him. ³⁸ If my land cry out against me, and its furrows weep together; ³⁹ If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, and have tormented to death the souls of its owners: ⁴⁰ Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and tares instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

¹ And these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. ² Then was kindled the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the family of Ram: against Job was his anger kindled, because he justified himself rather than God; ³ and against his three friends was his anger kindled, because they found no answer, and yet condemned Job. ⁴ But Elihu had waited till Job had finished speaking, because they were older than he. ⁵ And Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, and his anger was kindled.

⁶ And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are aged; wherefore I was timid, and feared to shew you what I know. ⁷ I said, Let days speak, and multitude of years teach wisdom. ⁸ But there is a spirit which is in man; and the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding. ⁹ It is not the great that are wise; neither do the aged understand judgment. ¹⁰ Therefore I say, Hearken to me; I also will shew what I know. ¹¹ Lo, I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasonings, until ye searched out what to say. ¹² Yea, I gave you mine attention, and behold, there was none of you that confuted Job, that answered his words; ¹³ That ye may not say, We have found out wisdom; *God will make him yield, not man. ¹⁴ Now he hath not directed his words against me; and I will not answer him with your speeches. ...

¹⁵ They were amazed, they answered no more; words failed them. ¹⁶ And I waited, for they spoke not, but stood still, and answered no more; -- ¹⁷ I will answer, I also in my turn, I also will shew what I know: ¹⁸ For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me. ¹⁹ Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; like new flasks, it is ready to burst. ²⁰ I will speak, that I may find relief; I will open my lips and answer. ²¹ Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person; neither will I give flattery to man. ²² For I know not how to flatter; my Maker would soon take me away.

¹ Howbeit, Job, I pray thee, hear mine utterances, and hearken to all my words. ² Behold now, I have opened my mouth, my tongue speaketh in my palate, ³ My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart, and my lips shall utter knowledge purely. ⁴ The Spirit of *God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. ⁵ If thou canst, answer me; array thy words before me: take thy stand. ⁶ Behold, before *God I am as thou; I also am formed out of the clay. ⁷ Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, nor my burden be heavy upon thee.

⁸ Surely thou hast spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words: -- ⁹ I am clean without transgression; I am pure, and there is no iniquity in me; ¹⁰ Lo, he findeth occasions of hostility against me, he counteth me for his enemy; ¹¹ He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths. ¹² Behold, I will answer thee in this, thou art not right; for +God is greater than man. ¹³ Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.

¹⁴ For *God speaketh once, and twice, -- and man perceiveth it not-- ¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; ¹⁶ Then he openeth men's ears, and sealeth their instruction, ¹⁷ That he may withdraw man from his work, and hide pride from man. ¹⁸ He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from passing away by the sword.

¹⁹ He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and with constant strife in his bones; ²⁰ And his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty food; ²¹ His flesh is consumed away from view, and his bones that were not seen stick out; ²² And his soul draweth near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers. ²³ If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his duty; ²⁴ Then he will be gracious unto him, and say, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. ²⁵ His flesh shall be fresher than in childhood; he shall return to the days of his youth. ²⁶ He shall pray unto +God, and he will receive him with favour; and he shall see his face with shoutings, and he will render unto man his righteousness. ²⁷ He will sing before men, and say, I have sinned, and perverted what was right, and it hath not been requited to me; ²⁸ He hath delivered my soul from going into the pit, and my life shall see the light.

²⁹ Lo, all these things worketh *God twice, thrice, with man, ³⁰ To bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of the living. ³¹ Mark well, Job, hearken unto me; be silent, and I will speak. ³² If thou hast anything to say, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify thee. ³³ If not, hearken thou unto me; be silent, and I will teach thee wisdom.

¹ Moreover Elihu answered and said, ² Hear my words, ye wise men ; and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge. ³ For the ear trieth words, as the palate tasteth food. ⁴ Let us choose for ourselves what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good! ⁵ For Job hath said, I am righteous, and *God hath taken away my judgment: ⁶ Should I lie against my right? My wound is incurable without transgression. ⁷ What man is like Job? he drinketh up scorning like water, ⁸ And goeth in company with workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men. ⁹ For he hath said, It profiteth not a man if he delight himself in God.

¹⁰ Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: Far be wickedness from *God, and wrong from the Almighty! ¹¹ For a man's work will he render to him, and cause every one to find according to his way. ¹² Yea, surely, *God acteth not wickedly, and the Almighty perverteth not judgment. ¹³ Who hath entrusted to him the earth? and who hath disposed the whole world? ¹⁴ If he only thought of himself, and gathered unto him his spirit and his breath, ¹⁵ All flesh would expire together, and man would return to the dust.

¹⁶ If now thou hast understanding, hear this: give ear to the voice of my words! ¹⁷ Should he that hateth right indeed govern? and wilt thou condemn the All-just? ¹⁸ Shall one say to a king, Belial? to nobles, Wicked? ¹⁹  How then to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich man more than the poor? for they are all the work of his hands. ²⁰ In a moment they die, even at midnight the people are convulsed and pass away; and the strong are taken away without hand. ²¹ For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his steps. ²² There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. ²³ For he doth not long consider a man, to bring him before *God in judgment. ²⁴ He breaketh in pieces mighty men without inquiry, and setteth others in their stead; ²⁵ Since he knoweth their actions; and he overthroweth them in the night, and they are crushed. ²⁶ He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others, ²⁷ Because they have turned back from him, and would consider none of his ways; ²⁸ So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted. ²⁹ When he giveth quietness, who then will disturb? and when he hideth his face, who shall behold him? and this towards a nation, or towards a man alike; ³⁰ That the ungodly man reign not, that the people be not ensnared.

³¹ For hath he said unto *God, I bear chastisement , I will not offend; ³² What I see not, teach thou me; if I have done wrong, I will do so no more? ³³ Shall he recompense according to thy mind? for thou hast refused his judgment ; for thou so choosest, and not I; speak then what thou knowest. ³⁴ Men of understanding will say to me, and a wise man who heareth me: ³⁵ Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were not with intelligence. ³⁶ Would that Job may be tried unto the end, because of his answers after the manner of evil men! ³⁷ For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against *God.

¹ Moreover Elihu answered and said, ² Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than *God's? ³ For thou hast asked of what profit it is unto thee: what do I gain more than if I had sinned? ⁴ I will reply to thee in words, and to thy companions with thee. ⁵ Look unto the heavens and see; and survey the skies: they are higher than thou. ⁶ If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? If thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him? ⁷ If thou be righteous, what givest thou to him? or what doth he receive of thy hand? ⁸ Thy wickedness may affect a man as thou art , and thy righteousness a son of man.

⁹ By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry; they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty: ¹⁰ But none saith, Where is +God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night, ¹¹ Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowl of the heavens? ¹² There they cry, and he answereth not, because of the pride of evil men. ¹³ Surely *God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.

¹⁴ Although thou sayest thou dost not see him, judgment is before him, therefore wait for him. ¹⁵ But now, because he hath not visited in his anger, doth not Job know his great arrogancy? ¹⁶ For Job hath opened his mouth in vanity, and made words abundant without knowledge.

¹ And Elihu proceeded and said, ² Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee that I have yet words for +God. ³ I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Creator. ⁴ For truly my words shall be no falsehood: one perfect in knowledge is with thee.

⁵ Lo, *God is mighty, but despiseth not any ; mighty in strength of understanding: ⁶ He saveth not the wicked alive; but he doeth justice to the afflicted. ⁷ He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne doth he even set them for ever; and they are exalted. ⁸ And if, bound in fetters, they be held in cords of affliction, ⁹ Then he sheweth them their work, and their transgressions, because they have increased. ¹⁰ And he openeth their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity. ¹¹ If they hearken and serve him , they shall accomplish their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. ¹² But if they hearken not, they shall pass away by the sword, and expire without knowledge. ¹³ But the godless in heart heap up anger; they cry not when he bindeth them: ¹⁴ Their soul dieth in youth, and their life is among the unclean.

¹⁵ But he delivereth the afflicted in his affliction, and openeth their ear in their oppression. ¹⁶ Even so would he have allured thee out of the jaws of distress into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and the supply of thy table would be full of fatness. ¹⁷ But thou art full of the judgments of the wicked: judgment and justice take hold on thee . ¹⁸ Because there is wrath, beware lest it take thee away through chastisement: then a great ransom could not avail thee. ¹⁹ Will he esteem thy riches? Not gold, nor all the resources of strength! ²⁰ Desire not the night, when peoples are cut off from their place. ²¹ Take heed, turn not to iniquity; for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction. ²² Lo, *God is exalted in his power: who teacheth as he? ²³ Who hath appointed him his way? or who hath said, Thou hast wrought unrighteousness?

²⁴ Remember that thou magnify his work, which men celebrate. ²⁵ All men look at it; man beholdeth it afar off. ²⁶ Lo, *God is great, and we comprehend him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out. ²⁷ For he draweth up the drops of water: they distil in rain from the vapour which he formeth, ²⁸ Which the skies pour down and drop upon man abundantly. ²⁹ But can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the crashing of his pavilion? ³⁰ Lo, he spreadeth his light around him, and covereth the bottom of the sea. ³¹ For with them he judgeth the peoples; he giveth food in abundance. ³²  His hands he covereth with lightning, and commandeth it where it is to strike. ³³ His thundering declareth concerning him; the cattle even, concerning its coming.

¹ Aye, my heart trembleth at this also, and leapeth up out of its place: ² Hear attentively the roar of his voice, and the murmur going forth from his mouth. ³ He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth. ⁴ After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency, and holdeth not back the flashes when his voice is heard. ⁵ *God thundereth marvellously with his voice, doing great things which we do not comprehend.

⁶ For he saith to the snow, Fall on the earth! and to the pouring rain, even the pouring rains of his might. ⁷ He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work. ⁸ And the wild beast goeth into its lair, and they remain in their dens. ⁹ From the chamber of the south cometh the whirlwind; and cold from the winds of the north. ¹⁰ By the breath of *God ice is given; and the breadth of the waters is straitened. ¹¹ Also with plentiful moisture he loadeth the thick clouds, his light dispels the cloud; ¹² And they are turned every way by his guidance, that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the circuit of the earth, ¹³ Whether he cause it to come as a rod, or for his land, or in mercy.

¹⁴ Hearken unto this, Job; stand still and discern the wondrous works of *God. ¹⁵ Dost thou know how +God hath disposed them, and how he causeth the lightning of his cloud to flash? ¹⁶ Dost thou know about the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him that is perfect in knowledge? ¹⁷ How thy garments become warm when he quieteth the earth by the south wind? ¹⁸ Hast thou with him spread out the sky, firm, like a molten mirror? ¹⁹ Teach us what we shall say unto him! We cannot order our words by reason of darkness. ²⁰ Shall it be told him if I would speak? if a man so say, surely he shall be swallowed up.

²¹ And now men see not the light as it gleameth, it is hidden in the skies. But the wind passeth by and cleareth them. ²² From the north cometh gold; with +God is terrible majesty. ²³ The Almighty, we cannot find him out: excellent in power, and in judgment, and in abundance of justice, he doth not afflict. ²⁴ Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.

¹ And Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, ² Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? ³ Gird up now thy loins like a man; and I will demand of thee, and inform thou me.

⁴ Where wast thou when I founded the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. ⁵ Who set the measures thereof--if thou knowest? or who stretched a line upon it? ⁶ Whereupon were the foundations thereof sunken? or who laid its corner-stone, ⁷ When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? ⁸ And who shut up the sea with doors, when it burst forth, issuing out of the womb? ⁹ When I made the cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it; ¹⁰ When I cut out for it my boundary, and set bars and doors, ¹¹ And said, Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

¹² Hast thou since thy days commanded the morning? hast thou caused the dawn to know its place, ¹³ That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked might be shaken out of it? ¹⁴ It is changed like the signet-clay; and all things stand forth as in a garment: ¹⁵ And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the uplifted arm is broken. ¹⁶ Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? and hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep? ¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? and hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death? ¹⁸ Hath thine understanding compassed the breadths of the earth? Declare if thou knowest it all. ¹⁹ Where is the way to where light dwelleth? and the darkness, where is its place, ²⁰ That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths to its house? ²¹ Thou knowest, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great! ²² Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, and hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail, ²³ Which I have reserved for the time of distress, for the day of battle and war? ²⁴ By what way is the light parted, and the east wind scattered upon the earth?

²⁵ Who hath divided a channel for the rain-flood, and a way for the thunder's flash; ²⁶ To cause it to rain on the earth, where no one is; on the wilderness wherein there is not a man; ²⁷ To satisfy the desolate and waste ground , and to cause the sprout of the grass to spring forth? ²⁸ Hath the rain a father? or who begetteth the drops of dew? ²⁹ Out of whose womb cometh the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who bringeth it forth? ³⁰ When the waters lie hidden as in stone, and the face of the deep holdeth fast together. ³¹ Canst thou fasten the bands of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion? ³² Dost thou bring forth the constellations each in its season? or dost thou guide the Bear with her sons? ³³ Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? dost thou determine their rule over the earth? ³⁴ Dost thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that floods of waters may cover thee? ³⁵ Dost thou send forth lightnings that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are? ³⁶ Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the mind? ³⁷ Who numbereth the clouds with wisdom? or who poureth out the bottles of the heavens, ³⁸ When the dust runneth as into a molten mass, and the clods cleave fast together? ³⁹ Dost thou hunt the prey for the lioness, and dost thou satisfy the appetite of the young lions, ⁴⁰ When they crouch in their dens, and abide in the thicket to lie in wait? ⁴¹ Who provideth for the raven his food, when his young ones cry unto *God, and they wander for lack of meat?

¹ Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? dost thou mark the calving of the hinds? ² Dost thou number the months that they fulfil? and knowest thou the time when they bring forth? ³ They bow themselves, they give birth to their young ones, they cast out their pains; ⁴ Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field, they go forth, and return not unto them. ⁵ Who hath sent out the wild ass free? and who hath loosed the bands of the onager, ⁶ Whose house I made the wilderness, and the salt plain his dwellings? ⁷ He laugheth at the tumult of the city, and heareth not the shouts of the driver; ⁸ The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing. ⁹ Will the buffalo be willing to serve thee, or will he lodge by thy crib? ¹⁰ Canst thou bind the buffalo with his cord in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? ¹¹ Wilt thou put confidence in him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou leave thy labour to him? ¹² Wilt thou trust him to bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy threshing-floor?

¹³ The wing of the ostrich beats joyously--But is it the stork's pinion and plumage? ¹⁴ For she leaveth her eggs to the earth, and warmeth them in the dust, ¹⁵ And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the beast of the field may trample them. ¹⁶ She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labour is in vain, without her concern. ¹⁷ For +God hath deprived her of wisdom, and hath not furnished her with understanding. ¹⁸ What time she lasheth herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.

¹⁹ Hast thou given strength to the horse? hast thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane? ²⁰ Dost thou make him to leap as a locust? His majestic snorting is terrible. ²¹ He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength; he goeth forth to meet the armed host. ²² He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from before the sword. ²³ The quiver rattleth upon him, the glittering spear and the javelin. ²⁴ He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, and cannot contain himself at the sound of the trumpet: ²⁵ At the noise of the trumpets he saith, Aha! and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

²⁶ Doth the hawk fly by thine intelligence, and stretch his wings toward the south? ²⁷ Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make his nest on high? ²⁸ He inhabiteth the rock and maketh his dwelling on the point of the cliff, and the fastness: ²⁹ From thence he spieth out the prey, his eyes look into the distance; ³⁰ And his young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is he.

¹ And Jehovah answered Job and said, ² Shall he that will contend with the Almighty instruct him ? he that reproveth +God, let him answer it. ³ And Job answered Jehovah and said, ⁴ Behold, I am nought: what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. ⁵ Once have I spoken, and I will not answer; yea twice, but I will proceed no further.

⁶ And Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, ⁷ Gird up now thy loins like a man: I will demand of thee, and inform thou me. ⁸ Wilt thou also annul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me that thou mayest be righteous? ⁹ Hast thou an arm like *God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? ¹⁰ Deck thyself now with glory and excellency, and clothe thyself with majesty and splendour. ¹¹ Cast abroad the ragings of thine anger, and look on every one that is proud, and abase him: ¹² Look on every one that is proud, bring him low, and tread down the wicked in their place: ¹³ Hide them in the dust together; bind their faces in secret. ¹⁴ Then will I also praise thee, because thy right hand saveth thee.

¹⁵ See now the behemoth, which I made with thee: he eateth grass as an ox. ¹⁶ Behold now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the muscles of his belly. ¹⁷ He bendeth his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are woven together. ¹⁸ His bones are tubes of bronze, his members are like bars of iron. ¹⁹ He is the chief of *God's ways: he that made him gave him his sword. ²⁰ For the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. ²¹ He lieth under lotus-bushes, in the covert of the reed and fen: ²² Lotus-bushes cover him with their shade; the willows of the brook surround him. ²³ Lo, the river overfloweth--he startleth not: he is confident though a Jordan break forth against his mouth. ²⁴ Shall he be taken in front? will they pierce through his nose in the trap?

¹ Wilt thou draw out the leviathan with the hook, and press down his tongue with a cord? ² Wilt thou put a rush-rope into his nose, and pierce his jaw with a spike? ³ Will he make many supplications unto thee? or will he speak softly unto thee? ⁴ Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him as a bondman for ever? ⁵ Wilt thou play with him as with a bird, and wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? ⁶ Shall partners make traffic of him, will they divide him among merchants? ⁷ Wilt thou fill his skin with darts, and his head with fish-spears? ⁸ Lay thy hand upon him; remember the battle, --do no more! ⁹ Lo, hope as to him is belied: is not one cast down even at the sight of him? ¹⁰ None is so bold as to stir him up; and who is he that will stand before me?

¹¹ Who hath first given to me, that I should repay him ? Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. ¹² I will not be silent as to his parts, the story of his power, and the beauty of his structure. ¹³ Who can uncover the surface of his garment? who can come within his double jaws? ¹⁴ Who can open the doors of his face? Round about his teeth is terror. ¹⁵ The rows of his shields are a pride, shut up together as with a close seal. ¹⁶ One is so near to another that no air can come between them; ¹⁷ They are joined each to its fellow; they stick together, and cannot be sundered. ¹⁸ His sneezings flash light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. ¹⁹ Out of his mouth go forth flames; sparks of fire leap out: ²⁰ Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a boiling pot and cauldron. ²¹ His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. ²² In his neck lodgeth strength, and terror danceth before him. ²³ The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are fused upon him, they cannot be moved. ²⁴ His heart is firm as a stone, yea, firm as the nether millstone . ²⁵ When he raiseth himself up, the mighty are afraid: they are beside themselves with consternation. ²⁶ If any reach him with a sword, it cannot hold; neither spear, nor dart, nor harpoon. ²⁷ He esteemeth iron as straw, bronze as rotten wood. ²⁸ The arrow will not make him flee; slingstones are turned with him into stubble. ²⁹ Clubs are counted as stubble; he laugheth at the shaking of a javelin. ³⁰ His under parts are sharp potsherds: he spreadeth a threshing-sledge upon the mire. ³¹ He maketh the deep to boil like a pot; he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment; ³² He maketh the path to shine after him: one would think the deep to be hoary. ³³ Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. ³⁴ He beholdeth all high things; he is king over all the proud beasts.

¹ And Job answered Jehovah and said, ² I know that thou canst do everything, and that thou canst be hindered in no thought of thine. ³ Who is he that obscureth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered what I did not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. ⁴ Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and inform me. ⁵ I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee: ⁶ Wherefore I abhor myself , and repent in dust and ashes.

⁷ And it came to pass after Jehovah had spoken these words to Job, that Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, Mine anger is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken rightly of me, like my servant Job. ⁸ And now, take for yourselves seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, for ye have not spoken of me rightly, like my servant Job. ⁹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did according as Jehovah had said unto them; and Jehovah accepted Job.

¹⁰ And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job, when he had prayed for his friends; and Jehovah gave Job twice as much as he had before. ¹¹ And all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house, and they condoled with him, and comforted him concerning all the evil that Jehovah had brought upon him; and every one gave him a piece of money, and every one a golden ring. ¹² And Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. ¹³ And he had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ And he called the name of the first, Jemimah; and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch. ¹⁵ And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. ¹⁶ And Job lived after this a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. ¹⁷ And Job died, old and full of days.