| 1 |
Then Job answered and said, |
| 2 |
Oh that my vexation were but weighed, And all my calamity laid in the balances! |
| 3 |
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas: Therefore have my words been rash. |
| 4 |
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up: The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. |
| 5 |
Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? Or loweth the ox over his fodder? |
| 6 |
Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? |
| 7 |
My soul refuseth to touch them; They are as loathsome food to me. |
| 8 |
Oh that I might have my request; And that God would grant me the thing that I long for! |
| 9 |
Even that it would please God to crush me; That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off! |
| 10 |
And be it still my consolation, Yea, let me exult in pain that spareth not, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One. |
| 11 |
What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is mine end, that I should be patient? |
| 12 |
Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass? |
| 13 |
Is it not that I have no help in me, And that wisdom is driven quite from me? |
| 14 |
To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his friend; Even to him that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. |
| 15 |
My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, As the channel of brooks that pass away; |
| 16 |
Which are black by reason of the ice, And wherein the snow hideth itself: |
| 17 |
What time they wax warm, they vanish; When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. |
| 18 |
The caravans that travel by the way of them turn aside; They go up into the waste, and perish. |
| 19 |
The caravans of Tema looked, The companies of Sheba waited for them. |
| 20 |
They were put to shame because they had hoped; They came thither, and were confounded. |
| 21 |
For now ye are nothing; Ye see a terror, and are afraid. |
| 22 |
Did I say, Give unto me? Or, Offer a present for me of your substance? |
| 23 |
Or, Deliver me from the adversary's hand? Or, Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors? |
| 24 |
Teach me, and I will hold my peace; And cause me to understand wherein I have erred. |
| 25 |
How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what doth it reprove? |
| 26 |
Do ye think to reprove words, Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are as wind? |
| 27 |
Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless, And make merchandise of your friend. |
| 28 |
Now therefore be pleased to look upon me; For surely I shall not lie to your face. |
| 29 |
Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice; Yea, return again, my cause is righteous. |
| 30 |
Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern mischievous things? |
| 1 |
Is there not a warfare to man upon earth? And are not his days like the days of a hireling? |
| 2 |
As a servant that earnestly desireth the shadow, And as a hireling that looketh for his wages: |
| 3 |
So am I made to possess months of misery, And wearisome nights are appointed to me. |
| 4 |
When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. |
| 5 |
My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; My skin closeth up, and breaketh out afresh. |
| 6 |
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, And are spent without hope. |
| 7 |
Oh remember that my life is a breath: Mine eye shall no more see good. |
| 8 |
The eye of him that seeth me shall behold me no more; Thine eyes shall be upon me, but I shall not be. |
| 9 |
As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, So he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more. |
| 10 |
He shall return no more to his house, Neither shall his place know him any more. |
| 11 |
Therefore I will not refrain 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, And death rather than these my bones. |
| 16 |
I loathe my life; I would not live alway: Let me alone; for my days are vanity. |
| 17 |
What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him, And that thou shouldest set thy mind upon him, |
| 18 |
And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, And try him every moment? |
| 19 |
How long wilt thou not look away from me, Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? |
| 20 |
If I have sinned, what do I unto thee, O thou watcher of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee, So that I am a burden to myself? |
| 21 |
And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust; And thou wilt seek me diligently, but I shall not be. |
| 1 |
Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, |
| 2 |
How long wilt thou speak these things? And how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a mighty wind? |
| 3 |
Doth God pervert justice? Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness? |
| 4 |
If thy children have sinned against him, And he hath delivered them into the hand of their transgression; |
| 5 |
If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God, And make thy supplication to the Almighty; |
| 6 |
If thou wert pure and upright: Surely now he would awake for thee, And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. |
| 7 |
And though thy beginning was small, Yet thy latter end would greatly increase. |
| 8 |
For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out: |
| 9 |
(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days upon earth are a shadow); |
| 10 |
Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, And utter words out of their heart? |
| 11 |
Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water? |
| 12 |
Whilst it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down, It withereth before any other herb. |
| 13 |
So are the paths of all that forget God; And the hope of the godless man shall perish: |
| 14 |
Whose confidence shall break in sunder, And whose trust is a spider's web. |
| 15 |
He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure. |
| 16 |
He is green before the sun, And his shoots go forth over his garden. |
| 17 |
His roots are wrapped about the stone -heap, He beholdeth the place of stones. |
| 18 |
If he be destroyed from his place, Then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee. |
| 19 |
Behold, this is the joy of his way; And out of the earth shall others spring. |
| 20 |
Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he uphold the evil-doers. |
| 21 |
He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting. |
| 22 |
They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; And the tent of the wicked shall be no more. |
| 1 |
Then Job answered and said, |
| 2 |
Of a truth I know that it is so: But how can man be just with God? |
| 3 |
If he be pleased to contend with him, He cannot answer him one of a thousand. |
| 4 |
He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: Who hath hardened himself against him, and prospered?- |
| 5 |
Him that removeth the mountains, and they know it not, When he overturneth them in his anger; |
| 6 |
That shaketh the earth out of its place, And the pillars thereof tremble; |
| 7 |
That commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, And sealeth up the stars; |
| 8 |
That alone stretcheth out the heavens, And treadeth upon the waves of the sea; |
| 9 |
That maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south; |
| 10 |
That doeth great things past finding out, Yea, marvellous things without number. |
| 11 |
Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: He passeth on also, but I perceive him not. |
| 12 |
Behold, he seizeth the prey, who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, What doest thou? |
| 13 |
God will not withdraw his anger; The helpers of Rahab do stoop under him. |
| 14 |
How much less shall I answer him, And choose out my words to reason with him? |
| 15 |
Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer; I would make supplication to my judge. |
| 16 |
If I had called, and he had answered me, Yet would I not believe that he hearkened unto my voice. |
| 17 |
For he breaketh me with a tempest, And multiplieth my wounds without cause. |
| 18 |
He will not suffer me to take my breath, But filleth me with bitterness. |
| 19 |
If we speak of strength, lo, he is mighty! And if of justice, Who, saith he, will summon me? |
| 20 |
Though I be righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me: Though I be perfect, it shall prove me perverse. |
| 21 |
I am perfect; I regard not myself; I despise my life. |
| 22 |
It is all one; therefore I say, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. |
| 23 |
If the scourge slay suddenly, He will mock at the trial of the innocent. |
| 24 |
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covereth the faces of the judges thereof: If it be not he, who then is it? |
| 25 |
Now my days are swifter than a post: They flee away, they see no good, |
| 26 |
They are passed away as the swift ships; As the eagle that swoopeth on the prey. |
| 27 |
If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer; |
| 28 |
I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. |
| 29 |
I shall be condemned; Why then do I labor in vain? |
| 30 |
If I wash myself with snow water, And make my hands never so clean; |
| 31 |
Yet wilt thou plunge me in the ditch, And mine own clothes shall 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 no umpire betwixt us, That might 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 would I speak, and not fear him; For I am not so in myself. |