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Job
1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That
man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred
yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man
was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another's houses in turn;
and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with
them. 5 And when the feast days
had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise
early in the morning and offer 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." This is what Job always did.
6 One day the heavenly
beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among
them. 7 The Lord said to Satan,
"Where have you come from? Satan answered the Lord, "From going to
and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 8 The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?
There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears
God and turns away from evil." 9
Then Satan answered the Lord, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he
has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions
have increased in the land. 11
But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse
you to your face." 12
The Lord said to Satan, "Very well, all that he has is in your power;
only do not stretch out your hand against him!" So Satan went out from
the presence of the Lord.
Job's Patience is Tested
13 One day when his sons
and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother's house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and
the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15
and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants
with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you." 16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, "The
fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and
consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you." 17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, "The
Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them
off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped
to tell you." 18 While he was still
speaking, another came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating
and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, 19 and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four
corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I
alone have escaped to tell you."
20 Then Job arose, tore his
robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, an naked shall
I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the
name of the Lord."
22 In all this Job did not
sin or charge God with wrong-doing.
1 One day the heavenly
beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among
them to present himself before the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the Lord, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from
walking up and down on it." 3
The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no
one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and
turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you
incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason." 4 Then Satan answered the Lord, "Skin for skin! All that
people have they will give to save their lives. 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh,
and he will curse you to your face." 6 The Lord said to Satan, "Very well, he is in your power;
only spare his life."
7 So Satan went out from
the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole
of his foot to the crown of his head. 8
Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to
him, "Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die." 10 But he said to her, "You speak as any foolish woman would
speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the
bad?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job's three
friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set
out from his home - Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the
Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him,
and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw
dust in the air upon their heads. 13
They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke
a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.
1 After this Job opened his
mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
2 Job said:
3 "Let the day perish
in which I was born,
and the night that said, 'A man-child is conceived.'
4 Let that day be darkness!
May God above not seek it,
or light shine on it.
5 Let gloom and deep
darkness claim it.
Let clouds settle upon it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 That night - let thick darkness
seize it! let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Yes,
let that night be barren;
let no joyful cry be heard in it.
8 Let those curse it who
curse the Sea,
those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan.
9 Let the stars of its dawn
be dark;
let it hope for light,
but have none;
may it not see the eyelids of the morning -
10 because it did not shut
the doors of my mother's womb,
and hide trouble from my eyes.
11 "Why did I not die
at birth,
come forth from the womb and expire?
12 Why were there knees to
receive me,
or breasts for me to suck?
13 Now I would be lying
down and quiet;
I would be asleep;
then I would be at rest
14 with kings and
counselors of the earth who rebuild ruins for themselves,
15 or with princes who have
gold,
who fill their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not buried
like a stillborn child,
like an infant that never sees the light?
17 There the wicked cease
from troubling,
and there the weary are at rest.
18 There the prisoners are
at ease together;
they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
19 The small and the great
are there,
and the slaves are free from their masters.
20 "Why is light given
to one in misery,
and life to the bitter in soul,
21 who long for death,
but it does not come,
and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;
22 who rejoice exceedingly,
and are glad when they find the grave?
23 Why is light given to
one who cannot see the way,
whom God has fenced in?
24 For my sighing comes
like my bread,
and my groanings are poured out like water.
25 Truly the thing that I
ear comes upon me,
and what I dread befalls me.
26 I am not at ease,
nor am I quiet;
I have no rest;
but trouble comes."
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite
answered:
2 "If one ventures a
word with you,
will you be offended?
But who can keep from speaking?
3 See, you have instructed
many;
you have strengthened the weak hands.
4 Your words have supported
those who were stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.
5 But now it has come to you,
and you are impatient;
it touches you,
and you are dismayed.
6 Is not your fear of God
your confidence,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?
7 "Think now, who that
was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?
8 As I have seen,
those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.
9 By the breath of God they
perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
10 The roar of the lion,
the voice of the fierce lion,
and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The strong lion perishes
for lack of prey,
and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.
12 "Now a word came
stealing to me,
my ear received the whisper of it.
13 Amid thought from
visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on mortals,
14 dread came upon me, and
trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
15 A spirit glided past my
face;
the hair of my flesh bristled.
16 It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence,
then I heard a voice:
17 'Can mortals be
righteous before God?
Can human beings be pure before their Maker?
18 Even in his servants he
puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;
19 how much more those who
live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth.
20 Between morning and
evening they are destroyed;
they perish forever without any regarding it.
21 Their tent-cord is
plucked up within them,
and they die devoid of wisdom.'
1 "Call now;
is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 Surely vexation kills the
fool,
and jealousy slays the simple.
3 I have seen fools taking
root,
but suddenly I cursed their dwelling.
4 Their children are far
from safety,
they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.
5 The hungry eat their
harvest,
and they take it even out of the thorns;
and the thirsty pant after their wealth.
6 For misery does not come
from the earth,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground;
7 but human beings are born
to trouble just as sparks fly upward.
8 "As for me, I would
seek God,
and to God I would commit my cause.
9 He does great things and
unsearchable,
marvelous things without number.
10 He gives rain on the
earth and sends waters on the fields;
11 he sets on high those
who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12 He frustrates the
devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
13 He takes the wise in
their own craftiness;
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
14 They meet with darkness
in the daytime,
and grope at noonday as in the night.
15 But he saves the needy
from the sword of their mouth,
from the hand of the mighty.
16 So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.
17 "How happy is the
one whom God reproves;
therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18 For he wounds,
but he binds up;
he strikes,
but his hands heal.
19 He will deliver you from
six troubles;
in seven no harm shall touch you.
20 In famine he will redeem
you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
21 You shall be hidden from
the scourge of the tongue,
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
22 At destruction and
famine you shall laugh,
and shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.
23 For you shall be in
league with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals shall be at peace with you.
24 You shall know that your
tent is safe,
you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
25 You shall know that your
descendants will be many,
and your offspring like the grass of the earth.
26 You shall come to your
grave in ripe old age,
as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing floor in its season.
27 See,
we have searched this out;
it is true.
Hear,
and know it for yourself."
1 Then Job answered:
2 "O that my vexation were
weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
3 For then it would be
heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.
4 For the arrows of the
Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 Does the wild ass bray
over its grass,
or the ox low over its fodder?
6 Can that which is
tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?
7 My appetite refuses to
touch them;
they are like food that is loathsome to me.
8 "O that I might have
my request,
and that God would grant my desire;
9 that it would please God
to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 This would be my
consolation;
I would even exult in unrelenting pain;
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength,
that I should wait?
And what is my end,
that I should be patient?
12 Is my strength the
strength of stones,
or is my flesh bronze?
13 In truth I have no help
in me,
and any resource is driven from me.
14 "Those who withhold
kindness from a friend forsake the fear of the Almighty.
15 My companions are
treacherous like a torrent-bed,
like freshets that pass away,
16 that run dark with ice,
turbid with melting snow.
17 In time of heat they
disappear;
when it is hot,
they vanish from their place.
18 The caravans turn aside
from their course;
they go up into the waste,
and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema
look,
the travelers of Sheba hope.
20 They are disappointed
because they were confident;
they come there and are confounded.
21 Such you have now become
to me;
you see my calamity,
and are afraid.
22 Have I said, 'Make me a
gift'?
Or, 'From your wealth offer a bribe for me'?
23 Or, 'Save me from an
opponent's hand'?
Or, 'Ransom me from the hand of oppressors'?
24 "Teach me,
and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone wrong.
25 How forceful are honest
words!
But your reproof,
what does it reprove?
26 Do you think that you
can reprove words,
as if the speech of the desperate were wind?
27 You would even cast lots
over the orphan,
and bargain over your friend.
28 "But now,
be pleased to look at me;
for I will not lie to your face.
29 Turn, I pray,
let no wrong be done.
Turn now,
my vindication is at stake.
30 Is there any wrong on my
tongue?
Cannot my taste discern calamity?
1 "Do not human beings
have a hard service on earth,
and are not their days like the days of a laborer?
2 Like a slave who longs
for the shadow,
and like laborers who look for their wages,
3 so I am allotted months
of emptiness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
4 When I lie down I say,
'When shall I rise?' But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing until dawn.
5 My flesh is clothed with
worms and dirt;
my skin hardens,
then breaks out again.
6 My days are swifter than
a weaver's shuttle,
and come to their end without hope.
7 "Remember that my
life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.
8 The eye that beholds me
will see me no more;
while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.
9 As the cloud fades and
vanishes,
so those who go down to Sheol do not come up;
10 they return no more to
their houses,
nor do their places know them any more.
11 "Therefore I will
not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the Sea,
or the Dragon,
that you set a guard over me?
13 When I say, 'My bed will
comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,'
14 then you scare me with
dreams and terrify me with visions,
15 so that I would choose
strangling and death rather than this body.
16 I loathe my life;
I would not live forever.
Let me alone,
for my days are a breath.
17 What are human beings,
that you make so much of them,
that you set your mind on them,
18 visit them every morning,
test them every moment?
19 Will you not look away
from me for a while,
let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
20 If I sin,
what do I do to you,
you watcher of humanity?
Why have you made me your target?
Why have I become a burden to you?
21 Why do you not pardon my
transgression and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
you will seek me,
but I shall not be."
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite
answered:
2 "How long will you
say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
4 If your children sinned
against him,
he delivered them into the power of their transgression.
5 If you will seek God and
make supplication to the Almighty,
6 if you are pure and
upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore to you your rightful
place.
7 Though your beginning was
small,
your latter days will be very great.
8 "For inquire now of
bygone generations,
and consider what their ancestors have found;
9 for we are but of
yesterday,
and we know nothing,
for our days on earth are but a shadow.
10 Will they not teach you
and tell you and utter words out of their understanding?
11 "Can papyrus grow
where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
12 While yet in flower and
not cut down,
they wither before any other plant.
13 Such are the paths of
all who forget God;
the hope of the godless shall perish.
14 Their confidence is
gossamer,
a spider's house their trust.
15 If one leans against its
house,
it will not stand;
if one lays hold of it,
it will not endure.
16 The wicked thrive before
the sun,
and their shoots spread over the garden.
17 Their roots twine around
the stoneheap;
they live among the rocks.
18 If they are destroyed
from their place,
then it will deny them,
saying, 'I have never seen you.'
19 See,
these are their happy ways,
and out of the earth still others will spring.
20 "See, God will not
reject a blameless person,
nor take the hand of evildoers.
21 He will yet fill your
mouth with laughter,
and your lips with shouts of joy.
22 Those who hate you will
be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more."
1 Then Job answered:
2 "Indeed I know that
this is so;
but how can a mortal be just before God?
3 If one wished to contend
with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart,
and mighty in strength - who has resisted him,
and succeeded?
-
5 he who removes mountains,
and they do not know it,
when he overturns them in his anger;
6 who shakes the earth out
of its place,
and its pillars tremble;
7 who commands the sun,
and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;
8 who alone stretched out
the heavens and trampled the waves of the Sea;
9 who made the Bear and
Orion,
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;
10 who does great things
beyond understanding,
and marvelous things without number.
11 Look,
he passes by me,
and I do not see him;
he moves on,
but I do not perceive him.
12 He snatches away;
who can stop him?
Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?'
13 "God will not turn
back his anger;
the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him.
14 How then can I answer
him,
choosing my words with him?
15 Though I am innocent, I
cannot answer him;
I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
16 If I summoned him and he
answered me, I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.
17 For he crushes me with a
tempest,
and multiplies my wounds without cause;
18 he will not let me get
my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a contest of
strength,
he is the strong one!
If it is a matter of justice,
who can summon him?
20 Though I am innocent,
my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless,
he would prove me perverse.
21 I am blameless;
I do not know myself;
I loathe my life.
22 It is all one;
therefore I say,
he destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
23 When disaster brings
sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into
the hand of the wicked;
he covers the eyes of its judges - if it is not he,
who then is it?
25 "My days are
swifter than a runner;
they flee away,
they see no good.
26 They go by like skiffs
of reed,
like an eagle swooping 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 become afraid of all
my suffering,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.
29 I shall be condemned;
why then do I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with
soap and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 yet you will plunge me
into filth,
and my own clothes will abhor me.
32 For he is not a mortal,
as I am,
that I might answer him,
that we should come to trial together.
33 There is no umpire
between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.
34 If he would take his rod
away from me,
and not let dread of him terrify me,
35 then I would speak
without fear of him,
for I know I am not what I am thought to be.
1 "I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not
condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.
3 Does it seem good to you
to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?
4 Do you have eyes of
flesh?
Do you see as humans see?
5 Are your days like the
days of mortals,
or your years like human years,
6 that you seek out my
iniquity and search for my sin,
7 although you know that I
am not guilty,
and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?
8 Your hands fashioned and
made me;
and now you turn and destroy me.
9 Remember that you
fashioned me like clay;
and will you turn me to dust again?
10 Did you not pour me out
like milk and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin
and flesh,
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life
and steadfast love,
and your care has preserved my spirit.
13 Yet these things you had
in your heart;
I know that this was your purpose.
14 If I sin,
you watch me,
and do not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I am wicked,
woe to me!
If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head,
for I am filled with disgrace and look upon my affliction.
16 Bold as a lion you hunt
me;
you repeat your exploits against me.
17 You renew your witnesses
against me,
and increase your vexation toward me;
you bring fresh troops against me.
18 "Why did you bring
me forth from the womb?
Would that I had died before any eye had seen me,
19 and were as though I had
not been,
carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not the days of my
life few?
Let me alone,
that I may find a little comfort
21 before I go,
never to return,
to the land of gloom and deep darkness,
22 the land of gloom and
chaos,
where light is like darkness."
1 Then Zophar the
Naamathite answered:
2 "Should a multitude of
words go unanswered,
and should one full of talk be vindicated?
3 Should your babble put
others to silence,
and when you mock,
shall no one shame you?
4 For you say, 'My conduct
is pure,
and I am clean in God's sight.'
5 But oh,
that God would speak,
and open his lips to you,
6 and that he would tell
you the secrets of wisdom!
For wisdom is many-sided.
Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.
7 "Can you find out
the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?
8 It is higher than heaven
- what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol - what can you know?
9 Its measure is longer
than the earth,
and broader than the sea.
10 If he passes through,
and imprisons,
and assembles for judgment,
who can hinder him?
11 For he knows those who
are worthless;
when he sees iniquity,
will he not consider it?
12 But a stupid person will
get understanding,
when a wild ass is born human.
13 "If you direct your
heart rightly,
you will stretch out your hands toward him.
14 If iniquity is in your hand,
put it far away,
and do not let wickedness reside in your tents.
15 Surely then you will
lift up your face without blemish;
you will be secure,
and will not fear.
16 You will forget your
misery;
you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
17 And your life will be
brighter than the noonday;
its darkness will be like the morning.
18 And you will have
confidence,
because there is hope;
you will be protected and take your rest in safety.
19 You will lie down,
and no one will make you afraid;
many will entreat your favor.
20 But the eyes of the
wicked will fail;
all way of escape will be lost to them,
and their hope is to breathe their last."
1 Then Job answered:
2 "No doubt you are
the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
3 But I have understanding
as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these?
4 I am a laughingstock to
my friends;
I,
who called upon God and he answered me,
a just and blameless man, I am a laughingstock.
5 Those at ease have
contempt for misfortune,
but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.
6 The tents of robbers are
at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
who bring their god in their hands.
7 "But ask the
animals,
and they will teach you;
the birds of the air,
and they will tell you;
8 ask the plants of the
earth,
and they will teach you;
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Who among all these does
not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
10 In his hand is the life
of every living thing and the breath of every human being.
11 Does not the ear test
words as the palate tastes food?
12 Is wisdom with the aged,
and understanding in length of days?
13 "With God are
wisdom and strength;
he has counsel and understanding.
14 If he tears down,
no one can rebuild;
if he shuts someone in,
no one can open up.
15 If he withholds the
waters,
they dry up;
if he sends them out,
they overwhelm the land.
16 With him are strength
and wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leads counselors away
stripped,
and makes fools of judges.
18 He looses the sash of
kings,
and binds a waistcloth on their loins.
19 He leads priests away
stripped,
and overthrows the mighty.
20 He deprives of speech
those who are trusted,
and takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 He pours contempt on
princes,
and looses the belt of the strong.
22 He uncovers the deeps
out of darkness,
and brings deep darkness to light.
23 He makes nations great,
then destroys them;
he enlarges nations,
then leads them away.
24 He strips understanding
from the leaders of the earth,
and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
25 They grope in the dark
without light;
he makes them stagger like a drunkard.
1 "Look,
my eye has seen all this,
my ear has heard and understood it.
2 What you know, I also
know;
I am not inferior to you.
3 But I would speak to the
Almighty,
and I desire to argue my case with God.
4 As for you,
you whitewash with lies;
all of you are worthless physicians.
5 If you would only keep
silent,
that would be your wisdom!
6 Hear now my reasoning,
and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
7 Will you speak falsely
for God,
and speak deceitfully for him?
8 Will you show partiality
toward him,
will you plead the case for God?
9 Will it be well with you when
he searches you out?
Or can you deceive him,
as one person deceives another?
10 He will surely rebuke
you if in secret you show partiality.
11 Will not his majesty
terrify you,
and the dread of him fall upon you?
12 Your maxims are proverbs
of ashes,
your defenses are defenses of clay.
13 "Let me have
silence,
and I will speak,
and let come on me what may.
14 I will take my flesh in
my teeth,
and put my life in my hand.
15 See,
he will kill me;
I have no hope;
but I will defend my ways to his face.
16 This will be my
salvation,
that the godless shall not come before him.
17 Listen carefully to my
words,
and let my declaration be in your ears.
18 I have indeed prepared
my case;
I know that I shall be vindicated.
19 Who is there that will
contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.
20 Only grant two things to
me,
then I will not hide myself from your face:
21 withdraw your hand far
from me,
and do not let dread of you terrify me.
22 Then call,
and I will answer;
or let me speak,
and you reply to me.
23 How many are my
iniquities and my sins?
Make me know my transgression and my sin.
24 Why do you hide your
face,
and count me as your enemy?
25 Will you frighten a
windblown leaf and pursue dry chaff?
26 For you write bitter
things against me,
and make me reap the iniquities of my youth.
27 You put my feet in the
stocks,
and watch all my paths;
you seta bound to the soles of my feet.
28 One wastes away like a
rotten thing,
like a garment that is moth-eaten.
1 "A mortal,
born of woman,
few of days and full of trouble,
2 comes up like a flower
and withers,
flees like a shadow and does not last.
3 Do you fix your eyes on
such a one?
Do you bring me into judgment with you?
4 Who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean?
No one can.
5 Since their days are
determined,
and the number of their months is known to you,
and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass,
6 look away from them,
and desist,
that they may enjoy,
like laborers,
their days.
7 "For there is hope
for a tree,
if it is cut down,
that it will sprout again,
and that its shoots will not cease.
8 Though its root grows old
in the earth,
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 yet at the scent of water
it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.
10 But mortals die,
and are laid low;
humans expire,
and where are they?
11 As waters fail from a
lake,
and a river wastes away and dries up,
12 so mortals lie down and
do not rise again;
until the heavens are no more,
they will not awake or be roused out of their sleep.
13 Oh that you would hide
me in Sheol,
that you would conceal me until your wrath is past,
that you would appoint me a set time,
and remember me!
14 If mortals die,
will they live again?
All the days of my service I would wait until my release should come.
15 You would call,
and I would answer you;
you would long for the work of your hands.
16 For then you would not
number my steps,
you would not keep watch over my sin;
17 my transgression would
be sealed up in a bag,
and you would cover over my iniquity.
18 "But the mountain
falls and crumbles away,
and the rock is removed from its place;
19 the waters wear away the
stones;
the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
so you destroy the hope of mortals.
20 You prevail forever
against them,
and they pass away;
you change their countenance,
and send them away.
21 Their children come to
honor,
and they do not know it;
they are brought low,
and it goes unnoticed
22 They feel only the pain
of their own bodies,
and mourn only for themselves."
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite
answered:
2 "Should the wise
answer with windy knowledge,
and fill themselves with the east wind?
3 Should they argue in
unprofitable talk,
or in words with which they can do no good?
4 But you are doing away
with the fear of God,
and hindering meditation before God.
5 For your iniquity teaches
your mouth,
and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns
you,
and not I;
your own lips testify against you.
7 "Are you the
firstborn of the human race?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Have you listened in the
council of God?
And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we
do not know?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?
10 The gray-haired and the
aged are on our side,
those older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of
God too small for you,
or the word that deals gently with you?
12 Why does your heart
carry you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
13 so that you turn your
spirit against God,
and let such words go out of your mouth?
14 What are mortals,
that they can be clean?
Or those born of woman,
that they can be righteous?
15 God puts no trust even
in his holy ones,
and the heavens are not clean in his sight;
16 how much less one who is
abominable and corrupt,
one who drinks iniquity like water!
17 "I will show you;
listen to me;
what I have seen I will declare -
18 what sages have told,
and their ancestors have not hidden,
19 to whom alone the land
was given,
and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked writhe in
pain all their days,
through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.
21 Terrifying sounds are in
their ears;
in prosperity the destroyer will come upon them.
22 They despair of
returning from darkness,
and they are destined for the sword.
23 They wander abroad for
bread,
saying, 'Where is it?' They know that a day of darkness is ready at hand;
24 distress and anguish
terrify them;
they prevail against them,
like a king prepared for battle.
25 Because they stretched
out their hands against God,
and bid defiance to the Almighty,
26 running stubbornly
against him with a thick-bossed shield;
27 because they have
covered their faces with their fat,
and gathered fat upon their loins,
28 they will live in
desolate cities,
in houses that no one should inhabit,
houses destined to become heaps of ruins;
29 they will not be rich,
and their wealth will not endure,
nor will they strike root in the earth;
30 they will not escape
from darkness;
the flame will dry up their shoots,
and their blossom will be swept away by the wind.
31 Let them not trust in
emptiness,
deceiving themselves;
for emptiness will be their recompense.
32 It will be paid in full
before their time,
and their branch will not be green.
33 They will shake off
their unripe grape,
like the vine,
and cast off their blossoms,
like the olive tree.
34 For the company of the
godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
3 They conceive mischief
and bring forth evil and their heart prepares deceit."
1 Then Job answered:
2 "I have heard many
such things;
miserable comforters are you all.
3 Have windy words no
limit?
Or what provokes you that you keep on talking?
4 I also could talk as you
do,
if you were in my place;
I could join words together against you,
and shake my head at you.
5 I could encourage you
with my mouth,
and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.
6 "If I speak,
my pain is not assuaged,
and if I forbear,
how much of it leaves me?
7 Surely now God has worn
me out;
he has made desolate all my company.
8 And he has shriveled me
up,
which is a witness against me;
my leanness has risen up against me,
and it testifies to my face.
9 He has torn me in his
wrath,
and hated me;
he has gnashed his teeth at me;
my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.
10 They have gaped at me
with their mouths;
they have struck me insolently on the cheek;
they mass themselves together against me.
11 God gives me up to the
ungodly,
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at ease,
and he broke me in two;
he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his target;
13 his archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys,
and shows no mercy;
he pours out my gall on the ground.
14 He bursts upon me again
and again;
he rushes at me like a warrior.
15 I have sewed sackcloth
upon my skin,
and have laid my strength in the dust.
16 My face is red with
weeping,
and deep darkness is on my eyelids,
17 though there is no
violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.
18 "O earth,
do not cover my blood;
let my outcry find no resting place.
19 Even now,
in fact,
my witness is in heaven,
and he that vouches for me is on high.
20 My friends scorn me;
my eye pours out tears to God,
21 that he would maintain
the right of a mortal with God,
as one does for a neighbour.
22 For when a few years
have come, I shall go the way from which I shall not return.
1 My spirit is broken,
my days are extinct,
the grave is ready for me.
2 Surely there are mockers
around me,
and my eye dwells on their provocation.
3 "Lay down a pledge
for me with yourself;
who is there that will give surety for me?
4 Since you have closed
their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not let them triumph.
5 Those who denounce
friends for reward - the eyes of their children will fail.
6 "He has made me a
byword of the peoples,
and I am one before whom people spit.
7 My eye has grown dim from
grief,
and all my members are like a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled
at this,
and the innocent stir themselves up against the godless.
9 Yet the righteous hold to
their way,
and they that have clean hands grow stronger and stronger.
10 But you,
come back now,
all of you,
and I shall not find a sensible person among you.
11 My days are past,
my plans are broken off,
the desires of my heart.
12 They make night into
day;
'The light,' they say, 'is near to the darkness.'
13 If I look for Sheol as
my house,
if I spread my couch in darkness,
14 if I say to the Pit,
'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'My mother,' or 'My sister,'
15 where then is my hope?
Who will see my hope?
16 Will it go down to the
bars of Sheol?
Shall we descend together into the dust?"
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite
answered:
2 "How long will you
hunt for words?
Consider,
and then we shall speak.
3 Why are we counted as cattle?
Why are we stupid in your sight?
4 You who tear yourself in
your anger - shall the earth be forsaken because of you,
or the rock be removed out of its place?
5 "Surely the light of
the wicked is put out,
and the flame of their fire does not shine.
6 The light is dark in
their tent,
and the lamp above them is put out.
7 Their strong steps are
shortened,
and their own schemes throw them down.
8 For they are thrust into
a net by their own feet,
and they walk into a pitfall.
9 A trap seizes them by the
heel;
a snare lays hold of them.
10 A rope is hid for them
in the ground,
a trap for them in the path.
11 Terrors frighten them on
every side,
and chase them at their heels.
12 Their strength is
consumed by hunger,
and calamity is ready for their stumbling.
13 By disease their skin is
consumed,
the firstborn of Death consumes their limbs.
14 They are torn from the
tent in which they trusted,
and are brought to the king of terrors.
15 In their tents nothing
remains;
sulfur is scattered upon their habitations.
16 Their roots dry up
beneath,
and their branches wither above.
17 Their memory perishes
from the earth,
and they have no name in the street.
18 They are thrust from
light into darkness,
and driven out of the world.
19 They have no offspring
or descendant among their people,
and no survivor where they used to live.
20 They of the west are
appalled at their fate,
and horror seizes those of the east.
21 Surely such are the
dwellings of the ungodly,
such is the place of those who do not know God."
1 Then Job answered:
2 "How long will you
torment me,
and break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times you have
cast reproach upon me;
are you not ashamed to wrong me?
4 And even if it is true
that I have erred,
my error remains with me.
5 If indeed you magnify
yourselves against me,
and make my humiliation an argument against me,
6 know then that God has
put me in the wrong,
and closed his net around me.
7 Even when I cry out,
'Violence!' I am not answered;
I call aloud,
but there is no justice.
8 He has walled up my way
so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
9 He has stripped my glory
from me,
and taken the crown from my head.
10 He breaks me down on
every side,
and I am gone,
he has uprooted my hope like a tree.
11 He has kindled his wrath
against me,
and counts me as his adversary.
12 His troops come on
together;
they have thrown up siegeworks against me,
and encamp around my tent.
13 "He has put my
family far from me,
and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives and my
close friends have failed me;
15 the guests in my house
have forgotten me;
my serving girls count me as a stranger;
I have become an alien in their eyes.
16 I call to my servant,
but he gives me no answer;
I must myself plead with him.
17 My breath is repulsive
to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children
despise me;
when I rise,
they talk against me.
19 All my intimate friends
abhor me,
and those whom I loved have turned against me.
20 My bones cling to my
skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity on me,
have pity on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!
22 Why do you,
like God,
pursue me,
never satisfied with my flesh?
23 "O that my words
were written down!
O that they were inscribed in a book!
24 O that with an iron pen
and with lead they were engraved on a rock forever!
25 For I know that my
Redeemer lives,
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
26 and after my skin has
been thus destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,
27 whom I shall see on my
side,
and my eyes shall behold,
and not another.
My heart faints within me!
28 If you say, 'How we will
persecute him!' and, 'The root of the matter is found in him';
29 be afraid of the sword,
for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
so that you may know there is a judgment."
1 Then Zophar the
Naamathite answered:
2 "Pay attention!
My thoughts urge me to answer,
because of the agitation within me.
3 I hear censure that
insults me,
and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.
4 Do you not know this from
of old,
ever since mortals were placed on earth,
5 that the exulting of the
wicked is short,
and the joy of the godless is but for a moment?
6 Even though they mount up
high as the heavens,
and their head reaches to the clouds,
7 they will perish forever
like their own dung;
those who have seen them will say, 'Where are they?'
8 They will fly away like a
dream,
and not be found;
they will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9 The eye that saw them
will see them no more,
nor will their place behold them any longer.
10 Their children will seek
the favor of the poor,
and their hands will give back their wealth.
11 Their bodies,
once full of youth,
will lie down in the dust with them.
12 "Though wickedness
is sweet in their mouth,
though they hide it under their tongues,
13 though they are loath to
let it go,
and hold it in their mouths,
14 yet their food is turned
in their stomachs;
it is the venom of asps within them.
15 They swallow down riches
and vomit them up again;
God casts them out of their bellies.
16 They will suck the
poison of asps;
the tongue of a viper will kill them.
17 They will not look on
the rivers,
the streams flowing with honey and curds.
18 They will give back the
fruit of their toil,
and will not swallow it down;
from the profit of their trading they will get no enjoyment.
19 For they have crushed
and abandoned the poor,
they have seized a house that they did not build.
20 "They knew no quiet
in their bellies;
in their greed they let nothing escape.
21 There was nothing left
after they had eaten;
therefore their prosperity will not endure.
22 In full sufficiency they
will be in distress;
all the force of misery will come upon them.
23 To fill their belly to
the full God will send his fierce anger into them,
and rain it upon them as their food.
24 They will flee from an
iron weapon;
a bronze arrow will strike them through.
25 It is drawn forth and
comes out of their body,
and the glittering point comes out of their gall;
terrors come upon them.
26 Utter darkness is laid
up for their treasures;
a fire fanned by no one will devour them;
what is left in their tent will be consumed.
27 The heavens will reveal
their iniquity,
and the earth will rise up against them.
28 The possessions of their
house will be carried away,
dragged off in the day of God's wrath.
29 This is the portion of
the wicked from God,
the heritage decreed for them by God."
21-40
1 Then Job answered:
2 "Listen carefully to
my words,
and let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me,
and I will speak;
then after I have spoken,
mock on.
4 As for me,
is my complaint addressed to mortals?
Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me,
and be appalled,
and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 When I think of it I am
dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked live
on,
reach old age,
and grow mighty in power?
8 Their children are
established in their presence,
and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe
from fear,
and no rod of God is upon them.
10 Their bull breeds
without fail;
their cow calves and never miscarries.
11 They send out their
little ones like a flock,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing to the
tambourine and the lyre,
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in
prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.
14 They say to God, 'Leave
us alone!
We do not desire to know your ways.
15 What is the Almighty,
that we should serve him?
And what profit do we get if we pray to him?'
16 Is not their prosperity
indeed their own achievement?
The plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.
17 "How often is the
lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does calamity come upon them?
How often does God distribute pains in his anger?
18 How often are they like
straw before the wind,
and like chaff that the storm carries away?
19 You say, 'God stores up
their iniquity for their children.' Let it be paid back to them,
so that they may know it.
20 Let their own eyes see
their destruction,
and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what do they care
for their household after them,
when the number of their months is cut off?
22 Will any teach God
knowledge,
seeing that he judges those that are on high?
23 One dies in full
prosperity,
being wholly at ease and secure,
24 his loins full of milk
and the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in
bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of good.
26 They lie down alike in
the dust,
and the worms cover them.
27 "Oh, I know your
thoughts,
and your schemes to wrong me.
28 For you say, 'Where is
the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?'
29 Have you not asked those
who travel the roads,
and do you not accept their testimony,
30 that the wicked are
spared in the day of calamity,
and are rescued in the day of wrath?
31 Who declares their way
to their face,
and who repays them for what they have done?
32 When they are carried to
the grave,
a watch is kept over their tomb.
33 The clods of the valley
are sweet to them;
everyone will follow after,
and those who went before are innumerable.
34 How then will you
comfort me with empty nothings?
There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood."
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite
answered:
2 "Can a mortal be of
use to God?
Can even the wisest be of service to him?
3 Is it any pleasure to the
Almighty if you are righteous,
or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
4 Is it for your piety that
he reproves you,
and enters into judgment with you?
5 Is not your wickedness
great?
There is no end to your iniquities.
6 For you have exacted
pledges from your family for no reason,
and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 You have given no water
to the weary to drink,
and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
8 The powerful possess the
land,
and the favored live in it.
9 You have sent widows away
empty-handed,
and the arms of the orphans you have crushed.
10 Therefore snares are
around you,
and sudden terror overwhelms you,
11 or darkness so that you
cannot see;
a flood of water covers you.
12 "Is not God high in
the heavens?
See the highest stars,
how lofty they are!
13 Therefore you say, 'What
does God know Can he judge through the deep darkness?
14 Thick clouds enwrap him,
so that he does not see,
and he walks on the dome of heaven.'
15 Will you keep to the old
way that the wicked have trod?
16 They were snatched away
before their time;
their foundation was washed away by a flood.
17 They said to God, 'Leave
us alone,' and 'What can the Almighty do to us?'
18 Yet he filled their
houses with good things - but the plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.
19 The righteous see it and
are glad;
the innocent laugh them to scorn,
20 saying, 'Surely our
adversaries are cut off,
and what they left,
the fire has consumed.'
21 "Agree with God,
and be at peace;
in this way good will come to you.
22 Receive instruction from
his mouth,
and lay up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the
Almighty,
you will be restored,
if you remove unrighteousness from your tents,
24 if you treat gold like
dust,
and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent-bed,
25 and if the Almighty is
your gold and your precious silver,
26 then you will delight
yourself in the Almighty,
and lift up your face to God.
27 You will pray to him,
and he will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.
28 You will decide on a
matter,
and it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
29 When others are
humiliated,
you say it is pride;
for he saves the humble.
30 He will deliver even
those who are guilty;
they will escape because of the cleanness of your hands."
1 Then Job answered:
2 "Today also my
complaint is bitter;
his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 Oh,
that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his dwelling!
4 I would lay my case
before him,
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would learn what he
would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me
in the greatness of his power?
No;
but he would give heed to me.
7 There an upright person
could reason with him,
and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 If I go forward,
he is not there;
or backward, I cannot perceive him;
9 on the left he hides,
and I cannot behold him;
I turn to the right,
but I cannot see him.
10 But he knows the way
that I take;
when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold.
11 My foot has held fast to
his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from
the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth.
13 But he stans alone and
who can dissuade him?
What he desires,
that he does.
14 For he will complete
what he appoints for me;
and many such things are in his mind.
15 Therefore I am terrified
at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
16 God has made my heart
faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
17 If only I could vanish
in darkness,
and thick darkness would cover my face!
1 "Why are times not
kept by the Almighty,
and why do those who know him never see his days?
2 The wicked remove
landmarks;
they seize flocks and pasture them.
3 They drive away the
donkey of the orphan;
they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 They thrust the needy off
the road;
the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
5 Like wild asses in the
desert they go out to their toil,
scavenging in the wasteland food for their young.
6 They reap in a field not
their own
and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They lie all night naked,
without clothing,
and have no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the
rain of the mountains,
and cling to the rock for want of shelter.
9 "There are those who
snatch the orphan child from the breast,
and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.
10 They go about naked,
without clothing;
though hungry,
they carry the sheaves;
11 between their terraces
they press out oil;
they tread the wine presses,
but suffer thirst.
12 From the city the dying
groan,
and the throat of the wounded cries for help;
yet God pays no attention to their prayer.
13 "There are those
who rebel against the light,
who are not acquainted with its ways,
and do not stay in its paths.
14 The murderer rises at
dusk to kill the poor and needy,
and in the night is like a thief.
15 The eye of the adulterer
also waits for the twilight,
saying, 'No eye will see me';
and he disguises his face.
16 In the dark they dig
through houses;
by day they shut themselves up;
they do not know the light.
17 For deep darkness is
morning to all of them;
for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
18 "Swift are they on
the face of the waters;
their portion in the land is cursed;
no treader turns toward their vineyards.
19 Drought and heat snatch
away the snow waters;
so does Sheol those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them;
the worm finds them sweet;
they are no longer remembered;
so wickedness is broken like a tree.
21 "They harm the
childless woman,
and do no good to the widow.
22 Yet God prolongs the
life of the mighty by his power;
they rise up when they despair of life.
23 He gives them security,
and they are supported;
his eyes are upon their ways.
24 They are exalted a
little while,
and then are gone;
they wither and fade like the mallow;
they are cut off like the heads of grain.
25 If it is not so,
who will prove me a liar,
and show that there is nothing in what I say?"
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite
answered:
2 "Dominion and fear
are with God;
he makes peace in his high heaven.
3 Is there any number to
his armies?
Upon whom does his light not arise?
4 How then can a mortal be
righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?
5 If even the moon is not
bright
and the stars are not pure in his sight,
6 how much less a mortal,
who is a maggot,
and a human being,
who is a worm!"
1 Then Job answered:
2 "How you have helped
one who has no power!
How you have assisted the arm that has no strength!
3 How you have counseled
one who has no wisdom,
and given much good advice!
4 With whose help have you
uttered words,
and whose spirit has come forth from you?
5 The shades below tremble,
the waters and their inhabitants.
6 Sheol is naked before
God,
and Abaddon has no covering.
7 He stretches out Zaphon
over the void,
and hangs the earth upon nothing.
8 He binds up the waters in
his thick clouds,
and the cloud is not torn open by them.
9 He covers the face of the
full moon,
and spreads over it his cloud.
10 He has described a
circle on the face of the waters,
at the boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven
tremble,
and are astounded at his rebuke.
12 By his power he stilled
the Sea;
by his understanding he struck down Rahab.
13 By his wind the heavens
were made fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
14 These are indeed but the
outskirts of his ways;
and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
But the thunder of his power who can understand?"
1 Job again took up his
discourse and said:
2 "As God lives,
who has taken away my right,
and the Almighty,
who has made my soul bitter,
3 as long as my breath is
in me
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak
falsehood,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
5 Far be it from me to say
that you are right;
until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
6 I hold fast my
righteousness,
and will not let it go;
my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
7 "May my enemy be
like the wicked,
and may my opponent be like the unrighteous.
8 For what is the hope of
the godless when God cuts them off,
when God takes away their lives?
9 Will God hear their cry
when trouble comes upon them?
10 Will they take delight
in the Almighty?
Will they call upon God at all times?
11 I will teach you
concerning the hand of God;
that which is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 All of you have seen it
yourselves;
why then have you become altogether vain?
13 "This is the
portion of the wicked with God,
and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:
14 If their children are
multiplied, it is for the sword;
and their offspring have not enough to eat.
15 Those who survive them
the pestilence buries,
and their widows make no lamentation.
16 Though they heap up
silver like dust,
and pile up clothing like clay -
17 they may pile it up, but
the just will wear it,
and the innocent will divide the silver.
18 They build their houses
like nests,
like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard.
19 They go to bed with
wealth,
but will do so no more;
they open their eyes,
and it is gone.
20 Terrors overtake them
like a flood;
in the night a whirlwind carries them off.
21 The east wind lifts them
up and they are gone;
it sweeps them out of their place.
22 It hurls at them without
pity;
they flee from its power in headlong flight.
23 It claps its hands at
them,
and hisses at them from its place.
1 "Surely there is a
mine for silver,
and a place for gold to be refined.
2 Iron is taken out of the
earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Miners put an end to
darkness,
and search out to the farthest bound the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
4 They open shafts in a
valley away from human habitation;
they are forgotten by travelers,
they sway suspended,
remote from people.
5 As for the earth,
out of it comes bread;
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
6 Its stones are the place of
sapphires,
and its dust contains gold.
7 "That path no bird
of prey knows,
and the falcon's eye has not seen it.
8 The proud wild animals
have not trodden it;
the lion has not passed over it.
9 "They put their hand
to the flinty rock,
and overturn mountains by the roots.
10 They cut out channels in
the rocks,
and their eyes see every precious thing.
11 The sources of the
rivers they probe;
hidden things they bring to light.
12 "But where shall
wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Mortals do not know the
way to it,
and it is not found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, 'It is
not in me,'
and the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
15 It cannot be gotten for
gold,
and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
16 It cannot be valued in
the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Gold and glass cannot
equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made
of coral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above pearls.
19 The chrysolite of Ethiopia
cannot compare with it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20 "Where then does
wisdom come from?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the
eyes of all living,
and concealed from the birds of the air.
22 Abaddon and Death say,
'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'
23 "God understands
the way to it,
and he knows its place.
24 For he looks to the ends
of the earth,
and sees everything under the heavens.
5 When he gave to the wind
its weight,
and apportioned out the waters by measure;
26 when he made a decree
for the rain,
and a way for the thunderbolt;
27 then he saw it and
declared it;
he established it,
and searched it out.
28 And he said to
humankind, 'Truly,
the fear of the Lord,
that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.'"
1 Job again took up his
discourse and said:
2 "Oh, that I were as
in the months of old,
as in the days when God watched over me;
3 when his lamp shone over
my head,
and by his light I walked through darkness;
4 when I was in my prime,
when the friendship of God was upon my tent;
5 when the Almighty was
still with me,
when my children were around me;
6 when my steps were washed
with milk,
and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 When I went out to the
gate of the city,
when I took my seat in the square,
8 the young men saw me and
withdrew,
and the aged rose up and stood;
9 the nobles refrained from
talking,
and laid their hands on their mouths;
10 the voices of princes
were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
11 When the ear heard,
it commended me,
and when the eye saw,
it approved;
12 because I delivered the
poor who cried,
and the orphan who had no helper.
13 The blessing of the
wretched came upon me,
and I caused the widow's hear to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness,
and it clothed me;
my justice was like a robe and a turban.
15 I was eyes to the blind,
and feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the
needy,
and I championed the cause of the stranger.
17 I broke the fangs of the
unrighteous,
and made them drop their prey from their teeth.
18 Then I thought, 'I shall
die in my nest,
and I shall multiply my days like the phoenix;
19 my roots spread out to
the waters,
with the dew all night on my branches;
20 my glory was fresh with
me,
and my bow ever new in my hand.'
21 "They listened to
me,
and waited,
and kept silence for my counsel.
22 After I spoke they did
not speak again,
and my word dropped upon them like dew.
23 They waited for me as
for the rain;
they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.
24 I smiled on them when
they had no confidence;
and the light of my countenance they did not extinguish.
25 I chose their way, and
sat as chief,
and I lived like a king among his troop,
like one who comforts mourners.
1 "But now they make
sport of me,
those who are younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 What could I gain from
the strength of their hands?
All their vigor is gone.
3 Through want and hard
hunger
they gnaw the dry and desolate ground,
4 they pick mallow and the
leaves of bushes,
and to warm themselves the roots of broom.
5 They are driven out from
society;
people shout after them as after a thief.
6 In the gullies of wadis
they must live,
in holes in the ground,
and in the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they
bray;
under the nettles they huddle together.
8 A senseless,
disreputable brood,
they have been whipped out of the land.
9 "And now they mock
me in song;
I am a byword to them.
10 They abhor me,
they keep aloof from me;
they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.
11 Because God has loosed
my bowstring and humbled me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.
12 On my right hand the
rabble rise up;
they send me spawling,
and build roads for my ruin.
13 They break up my path,
they promote my calamity;
no one restrains them.
14 As through a wide breach
they come;
amid the crash they roll on.
15 Terrors are turned upon
me;
my honor is pursued as by the wind,
and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
16 "And now my soul is
poured out within me;
days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 The night racks my
bones,
and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
18 With violence he seizes
my garment;
he grasps me by the collar of my tunic.
19 He has cast me into the
mire,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you and you do
not answer me;
I stand,
and you merely look at me.
21 You have turned cruel to
me;
with the might of your hand you persecute me.
22 You lift me up on the
wind,
you make me ride on it,
and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
23 I know that you will
bring me to death,
and to the house appointed for all living.
24 "Surely one does
not tur against the needy,
when in disaster they cry for help.
25 Did I not weep for those
whose day was hard?
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 But when I looked for
good,
evil came;
and when I waited for light,
darkness came.
27 My inward parts are in
turmoil,
and are never still;
days of affliction come to meet me.
28 I go about in sunless
gloom;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I am a brother of
jackals,
and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin turns black and
falls from me,
and my bones burn with heat.
31 My lyre is turned to
mourning,
and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.
1 "I have made a
covenant with my eyes;
how then could I look upon a virgin?
2 What would be my portion
from God above,
and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Does not calamity befall
the unrighteous,
and disaster the workers of iniquity?
4 Does he not see my ways,
and number all my steps?
5 "If I have walked
with falsehood,
and my foot has hurried to deceit -
6 let me be weighed in a
just balance,
and let God know my integrity! -
7 if my step has turned
aside from the way,
and my heart has followed my eyes,
and if any spot has clung to my hands;
8 then let me sow,
and another eat;
and let what grows for me be rooted out.
9 "If my heart has
been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbour's door;
10 then let my wife grind
for another,
and let other men kneel over her.
11 For that would be a
heinous crime;
that would be a criminal offense;
12 for that would be a fire
consuming down to Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my harvest.
13 "If I have rejected
the cause of my male or female slaves,
when they brought a complaint against me;
14 what then shall I do
when God rises up?
When he makes inquiry,
what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he who made me
in the womb make them?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 "If I have withheld
anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 or have eaten my morsel
alone,
and the orphan has not eaten from it -
18 for from my youth I
reared the orphan like a father,
and from my mother's womb I guided the widow -
19 if I have seen anyone
perish for lack of clothing,
or a poor person without covering,
20 whose loins have not
blessed me,
and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 if I have raised my hand
against the orphan,
because I saw I had supporters at the gate;
22 then let my shoulder
blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
23 For I was in terror of
calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty.
24 "If I have made
gold my trust,
or called fine gold my confidence;
25 if I have rejoiced
because my wealth was great,
or because my hand had gotten much;
26 if I have looked at the
sun when it shone,
or the moon moving in splendor,
27 and my heart has been secretly
enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand;
28 this also would be an
iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I should have been false to God above.
29 "If I have rejoiced
at the ruin of those who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook them -
30 I have not let my mouth
sin by asking for their lives with a curse -
31 if those of my tent ever
said, 'O that we might be sated with his flesh!' -
32 the stranger has not
lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the traveler -
33 if I have concealed my
transgressions as others do,
by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
34 because I stood in great
fear of the multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence,
an did not go out of doors -
35 Oh, that I had one to
hear me! (Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!)
Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
36 Surely I would carry it
on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me like a crown;
37 I would give him an
account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
38 "If my land has
cried out against me,
and its furrows have wept together;
39 if I have eaten its
yield without payment,
and caused the death of its owners;
40 let thorns grow instead
of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley."
The words of Job are ended.
1 So these three men ceased
to answer Job,
because he was righteous in his own eyes.
2 Then Elihu son of
Barachel the Buzite,
of the family of Ram,
became angry.
He was angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God;
3 he was angry also at
Job's three friends because they had found no answer,
though they had declared Job to be in the wrong.
4 Now Elihu had waited to
speak to Job,
because they were older than he.
5 But when Elihu saw that
there was no answer in the mouths of these three men,
he became angry.
6 Elihu son of Barachel the
Buzite answered:
"I am young in years, and you are aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.
7 I said, 'Let days speak,
and many years teach wisdom.'
8 But truly it is the
spirit in a mortal,
the breath of the Almighty,
that makes for understanding.
9 It is not the old that
are wise,
nor the aged that understand what is right.
10 Therefore I say, 'Listen
to me;
let me also declare my opinion.'
11 "See, I waited for
your words, I listened for your wise sayings,
while you searched out what to say.
12 I gave you my attention,
but there was in fact no one that confuted Job,
no one among you that answered his words.
13 Yet do not say, 'We have
found wisdom;
God may vanquish him,
not a human.'
14 He has not directed his
words against me,
and I will not answer him with your speeches.
15 "They are dismayed,
they answer no more;
they have not a word to say.
16 And am I to wait,
because they do not speak,
because they stand there,
and answer no more?
17 I also will give my
answer;
I also will declare my opinion.
18 For I am full of words;
the spirit within me constrains me.
19 My heart is indeed like
wine that has no vent;
like new wineskins,
it is ready to burst.
20 I must speak,
so that I may find relief;
I must open my lips and answer.
21 I will not show
partiality to any person
or use flattery toward anyone.
22 For I do not know how to
flatter -
or my Maker would soon put an end to me!
1 "But now,
hear my speech, O Job,
and listen to all my words.
2 See, I open my mouth;
the tongue in my mouth speaks.
3 My words declare the
uprightness of my heart,
and what my lips know they speak sincerely.
4 The spirit of God has
made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 Answer me,
if you can;
set your words in order before me;
take your stand.
6 See,
before God I am as you are;
I too was formed from a piece of clay.
7 No fear of me need
terrify you;
my pressure will not be heavy on you.
8 "Surely,
you have spoken in my hearing,
and I have heard the sound of your words.
9 You say, 'I am clean,
without transgression;
I am pure,
and there is no iniquity in me.
10 Look,
he finds occasions against me,
he counts me as his enemy;
11 he puts my feet in the stocks,
and watches all my paths.'
12 "But in this you
are not right.
I will answer you: God is greater than any mortal.
13 Why do you contend
against him,
saying, 'He will answer none of my words'?
For God speaks in one way,
and in two,
though people do not perceive it.
15 In a dream,
in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on mortals,
while they slumber on their beds,
16 then he opens their
ears,
and terrifies them with warnings,
17 that he may turn them
aside from their deeds,
and keep them from pride,
18 to spare their souls
from the Pit,
their lives from traversing the River.
19 They are also chastened
with pain upon their beds,
and with continual strife in their bones,
20 so that their lives
loathe bread,
and their appetites dainty food.
21 Their flesh is so wasted
away that it cannot be seen;
and their bones, once invisible, now stick out.
22 Their souls draw near
the Pit,
and their lives to those who bring death.
23 Then, if there should be
for one of them an angel,
a mediator, one of a thousand,
one who declares a person upright,
24 and he is gracious to
that person,
and says, 'Deliver him from going down into the Pit;
I have found a ransom.
25 Let his flesh become
fresh with youth;
let him return to the days of his youthful vigor.'
26 Then he prays to God,
and is accepted by him,
he comes into his presence with joy,
and God repays him for his righteousness.
27 That person sings to
others and says, 'I sinned,
and perverted what was right,
and it was not paid back to me.
28 He has redeemed my soul
from going down to the Pit,
and my life shall see the light.'
29 "God indeed does
all these things,
twice, three times, with mortals,
30 to bring back their
souls from the Pit,
so that they may see the light of life.
31 Pay heed, Job,
listen to me;
be silent,
and I will speak.
32 If you have anything to
say,
answer me; speak,
for I desire to justify you.
33 If not, listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."
1 Then Elihu continued and
said:
2 "Hear my words,
you wise men,
and give ear to me,
you who know;
3 for the ear tests words
as the palate tastes food.
4 Let us choose what is
right;
let us determine among ourselves what is good.
5 For Job has said, 'I am
innocent,
and God has taken away my right;
6 in spite of being right I
am counted a liar;
my wound is incurable,
though I am without transgression.'
7 Who is there like Job,
who drinks up scoffing like water,
8 who goes in company with
evildoers and walks with the wicked?
9 For he has said, 'It
profits one nothing to take delight in God.'
10 "Therefore,
hear me,
you who have sense,
far be it from God that he should do wickedness,
and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.
11 For according to their
deeds he will repay them,
and according to their ways he will make it befall them.
12 Of a truth, God will not
do wickedly,
and the Almighty will not pervert justice.
13 Who gave him charge over
the earth
and who laid on him the whole world?
14 If he should take back
his spirit to himself,
and gather to himself his breath,
15 all flesh would perish
together,
and all mortals return to dust.
16 "If you have
understanding,
hear this;
listen to what I say.
17 Shall one who hates
justice govern?
Will you condemn one who is righteous and mighty,
18 who says to a king, 'You
scoundrel!'
and to princes, 'You wicked men!';
19 who shows no partiality
to nobles,
nor regards the rich more than the poor,
for they are all the work of his hands?
20 In a moment they die;
at midnight the people are shaken and pass away,
and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.
21 "For his eyes are
upon the ways of mortals,
and he sees all their steps.
22 There is no gloom or
deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves.
23 For he has not appointed
a time for anyone to go before God in judgment.
24 He shatters the mighty
without investigation,
and sets others in their place.
25 Thus,
knowing their works,
he overturns them in the night,
and they are crushed.
26 He strikes them for
their wickedness while others look on,
27 because they turned
aside from following him,
and had no regard for any of his ways,
28 so that they caused the
cry of the poor to come to him,
and he heard the cry of the afflicted -
29 When he is quiet,
who can condemn?
When he hides his face,
who can behold him,
whether it be a nation or an individual?
-
30 so that the godless
should not reign,
or those who ensnare the people.
31 "For has anyone
said to God, 'I have endured punishment;
I will not offend any more;
32 teach me what I do not
see;
if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more'?
33 Will he then pay back to
suit you,
because you reject it?
For you must choose,
and not I;
therefore declare what you know.
34 Those who have sense
will say to me,
and the wise who hear me will say,
35 'Job speaks without
knowledge,
his words are without insight.'
36 Would that Job were
tried to the limi,
because his answers are those of the wicked.
37 For he adds rebellion to
his sin;
he claps his hands among us,
and multiplies his words against God."
1 Elihu continued and said:
2 "Do you think this
to be just?
You say, 'I am in the right before God.'
3 If you ask, 'What
advantage have I?
How am I better off than if I had sinned?'
4 I will answer you and
your friends with you.
5 Look at the heavens and
see;
observe the clouds,
which are higher than you.
6 If you have sinned,
what do you accomplish against him?
And if your transgressions are multiplied,
what do you do to him?
7 If you are righteous,
what do you give to him;
or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness affects
others like you,
and your righteousness,
other human beings.
9 "Because of the
multitude of oppressions people cry out;
they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.
10 But no one says, 'Where
is God my Maker,
who gives strength in the night,
11 who teaches us more than
the animals of the earth,
and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?'
12 There they cry out,
but he does not answer,
because of the pride of evildoers.
3513 Surely God does not hear an empty cry,
nor does the Almighty regard it.
14 How much less when you
say that you do not see him,
that the case is before him,
and you are waiting for him!
15 And now,
because his anger does not punish,
and he does not greatly heed transgression,
16 Job opens his mouth in
empty talk,
he multiplies words without knowledge."
1 Elihu continued and said:
2 "Bear with me a
little,
and I will show you,
for I have yet something to say on God's behalf.
3 I will bring my knowledge
from far away,
and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
4 For truly my words are
not false;
one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.
5 "Surely God is
mighty and does not despise any;
he is mighty in strength of understanding.
6 He does not keep the
wicked alive,
but gives the afflicted their right.
7 He does not withdraw his
eyes from the righteous,
but with kings on the throne he sets them forever,
and they are exalted.
8 And if they are bound in
fetters and caught in the cords of affliction,
9 then he declares to them
their work and their transgressions,
that they are behaving arrogantly.
10 He opens their ears to
instruction,
and commands that they return from iniquity.
11 If they listen,
and serve him,
they complete their days in prosperity,
and their years in pleasantness.
12 But if they do not
listen,
they shall perish by the sword,
and die without knowledge.
13 "The godless in
heart cherish anger;
they do not cry for help when he binds them.
14 They die in their youth,
and their life ends in shame.
15 He delivers the
afflicted by their affliction,
and opens their ear by adversity.
16 He also allured you out
of distress into a broad place
where there was no constraint,
and what was set on your table was full of fatness.
17 "But you are
obsessed with the case of the wicked;
judgment and justice seize you.
18 Beware that wrath does
not entice you into scoffing,
and do not let the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.
19 Will your cry avail to
keep you from distress,
or will all the force of your strength?
20 Do not long for the
night,
when peoples are cut off in their place.
21 Beware!
Do not turn to iniquity;
because of that you have been tried by affliction.
22 See, God is exalted in
his power;
who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has prescribed for
him his way,
or who can say, 'You have done wrong'?
24 "Remember to extol
his work,
of which mortals have sung.
25 All people have looked
on it;
everyone watches it from far away.
26 Surely God is great,
and we do not know him;
the number of his years is unsearchable.
27 For he draws up the
drops of water;
he distills his mist in rain,
28 which the skies pour
down
and drop upon mortals abundantly.
29 Can anyone understand
the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion?
30 See,
he scatters his lightning around him and covers the roots of the sea.
31 For by these he governs
peoples;
he gives food in abundance.
32 He covers his hands with
the lightning,
and commands it to strike the mark.
33 Its crashing tells about
him;
he is jealous with anger against iniquity.
1 "At this also my
heart trembles,
and leaps out of its place.
2 Listen,
listen to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his
mouth.
3 Under the whole heaven he
lets it loose,
and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
4 After it his voice roars;
he thunders with his majestic voice
and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders wondrously
with his voice;
he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
6 For to the snow he says,
'Fall on the earth';
and the shower of rain,
his heavy shower of rain,
7 serves as a sign on
everyone's hand,
so that all whom he has made may know it.
8 Then the animals go into
their lairs and remain in their dens.
9 From its chamber comes
the whirlwind,
and cold from the scattering winds.
10 By the breath of God ice
is given,
and the broad waters are frozen fast.
11 He loads the thick cloud
with moisture;
the clouds scatter his lightning.
12 They turn round and
round by his guidance,
to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.
13 Whether for correction,
or for his land,
or for love,
he causes it to happen.
14 "Hear this, O Job;
stop and consider the wondrous works of God.
15 Do you know how God lays
his command upon them,
and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
16 Do you know the
balancings of the clouds,
the wondrous works of the one whose knowledge is perfect,
17 you whose garments are
hot
when the earth is still because of the south wind?
18 Can you,
like him,
spread out the skies,
hard as a molten mirror?
19 Teach us what we shall
say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.
20 Should he be told that I
want to speak?
Did anyone ever wish to be swallowed up?
21 Now,
no one can look on the light when it is bright in the skies,
when the wind has passed and cleared them.
22 Out of the north comes
golden splendor;
around God is awesome majesty.
23 The Almighty - we cannot
find him;
he is great in power and justice,
and abundant righteousness he will not violate.
24 Therefore mortals fear
him;
he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit."
God's words to Job
1 Then the Lord answered
Job out of the whirlwind:
2 "Who is this that darkens
counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a
man, I will question you,
and you shall declare to me.
4 "Where were you when
I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me,
if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its
measurements - surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases
sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars
sang together
and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
8 "Or who shut in the
sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?
-
9 when I made the clouds
its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed bounds
for it,
and set bars and doors,
11 and said, 'Thus far
shall you come,
and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stopped'?
12 "Have you commanded
the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 so that it might take
hold of the skirts of the earth
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It is changed like clay
under the seal,
and it is dyed like a garment.
15 Light is withheld from
the wicked,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
16 "Have you entered
into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death
been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you comprehended
the expanse of the earth?
Declare,
if you know all this.
19 "Where is the way
to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
20 that you may take it to
its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21 Surely you know,
for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!
22 "Have you entered
the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I have reserved
for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
24 What is the way to the
place where the light is distributed,
or where the east wind is scattered pon the earth?
25 "Who has cut a
channel for the torrents of rain,
and a way for the thunderbolt,
26 to bring rain on a land
where no one lives,
on the desert,
which is empty of human life,
27 to satisfy the waste and
desolate land,
and to make the ground put forth grass?
28 "Has the rain a
father,
or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb did the
ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?
30 The waters become hard
like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 "Can you bind the
chains of the Pleiades,
or loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you lead forth the
Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know the
ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?
34 "Can you lift up
your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth
lightnings,
so that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'?
36 Who has put wisdom in
the inward parts,
or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who has the wisdom to
number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 when the dust runs into
a mass
and the clods cling together?
39 "Can you hunt the
prey for the lion,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in
their dens,
or lie in wait in their covert?
41 Who provides for the
raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God,
and wander about for lack of food?
1 "Do you know when
the mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe the calving of the deer?
2 Can you number the months
that they fulfill,
and do you know the time when they give birth,
3 when they crouch to give
birth to their offspring,
and are delivered of their young?
4 Their young ones become
strong,
they grow up in the open;
they go forth,
and do not return to them.
5 "Who has let the
wild ass go free?
Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
6 to which I have given the
steppe for its home,
the salt land for its dwelling place?
7 It scorns the tumult of
the city;
it does not hear the shouts of the driver.
8 It ranges the mountains
as its pasture,
and it searches after every green thing.
9 "Is the wild ox
willing to serve you?
Will it spend the night at your crib?
10 Can you tie it in the
furrow with ropes,
or will it harrow the valleys after you?
11 Will you depend on it
because its strength is great,
and will you hand over your labor to it?
12 Do you have faith in it
that it will return,
and bring your grain to your threshing floor?
13 "The ostrich's
wings flap wildly,
though its pinions lack plumage.
14 For it leaves its eggs
to the earth,
and lets them be warmed on the ground,
15 forgetting that a foot
may crush them,
and that a wild animal may trample them.
16 It deals cruelly with
its young,
as if they were not its own;
though its labor should be in vain,
yet it has no fear;
17 because God has made it
forget wisdom,
and given it no share in understanding.
18 When it spreads its
plumes aloft,
it laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 "Do you give the
horse its might?
Do you clothe its neck with mane?
20 Do you make it leap like
the locust?
Its majestic snorting is terrible.
21 It paws violently,
exults mightily;
it goes out to meet the weapons.
22 It laughs at fear,
and is not dismayed;
it does not turn back from the sword.
23 Upon it rattle the
quiver,
the flashing spear,
and the javelin.
24 With fierceness and rage
it swallows the ground;
it cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
25 When the trumpet sounds,
it says 'Aha!' From a distance it smells the battle,
the thunder of the captains,
and the shouting.
26 "Is it by your
wisdom that the hawk soars,
and spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that
the eagle mounts up
and makes its nest on high?
28 It lives on the rock
and makes its home in the fastness of the rocky crag.
29 From there it spies the
prey;
its eyes see it from far away.
30 Its young ones suck up
blood;
and where the slain are,
there it is."
1 And the Lord said to Job:
2 "Shall a faultfinder
contend with the Almighty?
Anyone who argues with God must respond."
3 Then Job answered the
Lord:
4 "See, I am of small
account;
what shall I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
5 I have spoken once,
and I will not answer;
twice,
but will proceed no further."
6 Then the Lord answered
Job out of the whirlwind:
7 "Gird up your loins
like a man;
I will question you,
and you declare to me.
8 Will you even put me in
the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be justified?
9 Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 "Deck yourself with
majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11 Pour out the
overflowings of your anger,
and look on all who are proud,
and abase them.
12 Look on all who are
proud,
and bring them low;
tread down the wicked where they stand.
13 Hide them all in the
dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.
14 Then I will also
acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can give you victory.
15 "Look at Behemoth,
which I made just as I made you;
it eats grass like an ox.
16 Its strength is in its
loins,
and its power in the muscles of its belly.
17 It makes its tail stiff
like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are knit together.
18 Its bones are tubes of
bronze,
its limbs like bars of iron.
19 "It is the first of
the great acts of God -
only its Maker can approach it with the sword.
20 For the mountains yield
food for it
where all the wild animals play.
21 Under the lotus plants
it lies,
in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.
22 The lotus trees cover it
for shade;
the willows of the wadi surround it.
23 Even if the river is
turbulent,
it is not frightened;
it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.
24 Can one take it with
hooks or pierce its nose with a snare?
1 "Can you draw out
Leviathan with a fishhook,
or press down its tongue with a cord?
2 Can you put a rope in its
nose,
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it make many
supplications to you?
Will it speak soft words to you?
4 Will it make a covenant
with you
to be taken as your servant forever?
5 Will you play with it as
with a bird,
or will you put it on leash for your girls?
6 Will traders bargain over
it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its skin
with harpoons,
or its head with fishing spears?
8 Lay hands on it;
think of the battle;
you will not do it again!
9 Any hope of capturing it
will be disappointed;
were not even the gods overwhelmed at the sight of it?
10 No one is so fierce as
to dare to stir it up.
Who can stand before it?
11 Who can confront it and
be safe?
- under the whole heaven,
who?
12 "I will not keep
silence concerning its limbs,
or its mighty strength,
or its splendid frame.
13 Who can strip off its
outer garment?
Who can penetrate its double coat of mail?
14 Who can open the doors
of its face?
There is terror all around its teeth.
15 Its back is made of
shields in rows,
shut up closely as with a seal.
16 One is so near to
another
that no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to
another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 Its sneezes flash forth
light,
and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
19 From its mouth go
flaming torches;
sparks of fire leap out.
20 Out of its nostrils
comes smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 Its breath kindles
coals,
and a flame comes out of its mouth.
22 In its neck abides
strength,
and terror dances before it.
23 The folds of its flesh cling
together;
it is firmly cast and immovable.
24 Its heart is as hard as
stone,
as hard as the lower millstone.
25 When it raises itself up
the gods are afraid;
at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26 Though the sword reaches
it,
it does not avail,
nor does the spear,
the dart,
or the javelin.
27 It counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make it
flee;
slingstones,
for it,
are turned to chaff.
29 Clubs are counted as
chaff;
it laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30 Its underparts are like
sharp potsherds;
it spreads itself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 It makes the deep boil
like a pot;
it makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 It leaves a shining wake
behind it;
one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33 On earth it has no
equal,
a creature without fear.
34 It surveys everything
that is lofty;
it is king over all that are proud."
1 Then Job answered the
Lord:
2 "I know that you can
do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 'Who is this that hides
counsel without knowledge?'
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me,
which I did not know.
4 'Hear,
and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you declare to me.'
5 I had heard of you by the
hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise
myself,
and repent in dust and ashes."
7 After the Lord had spoken
these words to Job,
the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My wrath is kindled against you
and against your two friends;
for you have not spoken of me what is right,
as my servant Job has.
8 Now therefore take seven
bulls 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 I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly;
for you have not spoken of me what is right,
as my servant Jobhas done."
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite
and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord
had told them; and the Lord accepted Job's prayer.
10 And the Lord restored
the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job
twice as much as he had before. 11
Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him
before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy
and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and
each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. 12 The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning;
and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of
oxen, and a thousand donkeys. 13
He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third
Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land there
were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters; and their father gave them an
inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his
children, and his children's children, four generations.
17 And Job died, old and
full of days.
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