11:1Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said, 11:2Are all these words to go unanswered? and is a man seen to be right because he is full of talk? 11:3Are your words of pride to make men keep quiet? and are you to make sport, with no one to put you to shame? 11:4You may say, My way is clean, and I am free from sin in your eyes. 11:5But if only God would take up the word, opening his lips in argument with you; 11:6And would make clear to you the secrets of wisdom, and the wonders of his purpose! 11:7Are you able to take God's measure, to make discovery of the limits of the Ruler of all? 11:8They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge; 11:9Longer in measure than the earth, and wider than the sea. 11:10If he goes on his way, shutting a man up and putting him to death, who may make him go back from his purpose? 11:11For in his eyes men are as nothing; he sees evil and takes note of it. 11:12And so a hollow-minded man will get wisdom, when a young ass of the field gets teaching. 11:13But if you put your heart right, stretching out your hands to him; 11:14If you put far away the evil of your hands, and let no wrongdoing have a place in your tent; 11:15Then truly your face will be lifted up, with no mark of sin, and you will be fixed in your place without fear: 11:16For your sorrow will go from your memory, like waters flowing away: 11:17And your life will be brighter than day; though it is dark, it will become like the morning. 11:18And you will be safe because there is hope; after looking round, you will take your rest in quiet; 11:19Sleeping with no fear of danger; and men will be desiring to have grace in your eyes; 11:20But the eyes of the evil-doers will be wasting away; their way of flight is gone, and their only hope is the taking of their last breath.
12:1And Job made answer and said, 12:2No doubt you have knowledge, and wisdom will come to an end with you. 12:3But I have a mind as well as you; I am equal to you: yes, who has not knowledge of such things as these? 12:4It seems that I am to be as one who is a cause of laughing to his neighbour, one who makes his prayer to God and is answered! the upright man who has done no wrong is to be made sport of! 12:5In the thought of him who is in comfort there is no respect for one who is in trouble; such is the fate of those whose feet are slipping. 12:6There is wealth in the tents of those who make destruction, and those by whom God is moved to wrath are safe; even those whose god is their strength. 12:7But put now a question to the beasts, and get teaching from them; or to the birds of the heaven, and they will make it clear to you; 12:8Or to the things which go flat on the earth, and they will give you wisdom; and the fishes of the sea will give you news of it. 12:9Who does not see by all these that the hand of the Lord has done this? 12:10In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all flesh of man. 12:11Are not words tested by the ear, even as food is tasted by the mouth? 12:12Old men have wisdom, and a long life gives knowledge. 12:13With him there is wisdom and strength; power and knowledge are his. 12:14Truly, there is no building up of what is pulled down by him; when a man is shut up by him, no one may let him loose. 12:15Truly, he keeps back the waters and they are dry; he sends them out and the earth is overturned. 12:16With him are strength and wise designs; he who is guided into error, together with his guide, are in his hands; 12:17He takes away the wisdom of the wise guides, and makes judges foolish; 12:18He undoes the chains of kings, and puts his band on them; 12:19He makes priests prisoners, overturning those in safe positions; 12:20He makes the words of responsible persons without effect, and takes away the good sense of the old; 12:21He puts shame on chiefs, and takes away the power of the strong; 12:22Uncovering deep things out of the dark, and making the deep shade bright; 12:23Increasing nations, and sending destruction on them; making wide the lands of peoples, and then giving them up. 12:24He takes away the wisdom of the rulers of the earth, and sends them wandering in a waste where there is no way. 12:25They go feeling about in the dark without light, wandering without help like those overcome with wine.
13:1Truly, my eye has seen all this, word of it has come to my ear, and I have knowledge of it. 13:2The same things are in my mind as in yours; I am equal to you. 13:3But I would have talk with the Ruler of all, and my desire is to have an argument with God. 13:4But you put a false face on things; all your attempts to put things right are of no value. 13:5If only you would keep quiet, it would be a sign of wisdom! 13:6Give ear to the argument of my mouth, and take note of the words of my lips. 13:7Will you say in God's name what is not right, and put false words into his mouth? 13:8Will you have respect for God's person in this cause, and put yourselves forward as his supporters? 13:9Will it be good for you to be searched out by him, or have you the thought that he may be guided into error like a man? 13:10He will certainly put you right, if you have respect for persons in secret. 13:11Will not his glory put you in fear, so that your hearts will be overcome before him? 13:12Your wise sayings are only dust, and your strong places are only earth. 13:13Keep quiet, and let me say what is in my mind, whatever may come to me. 13:14I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand. 13:15Truly, he will put an end to me; I have no hope; but I will not give way in argument before him; 13:16And that will be my salvation, for an evil-doer would not come before him, 13:17Give ear with care to my words, and keep what I say in your minds. 13:18See now, I have put my cause in order, and I am certain that I will be seen to be right. 13:19Is any one able to take up the argument against me? If so, I would keep quiet and give up my breath. 13:20Only two things do not do to me, then I will come before your face: 13:21Take your hand far away from me; and let me not be overcome by fear of you. 13:22Then at the sound of your voice I will give answer; or let me put forward my cause for you to give me an answer. 13:23What is the number of my evil-doings and my sins? give me knowledge of them. 13:24Why is your face veiled from me, as if I was numbered among your haters? 13:25Will you be hard on a leaf in flight before the wind? will you make a dry stem go more quickly on its way? 13:26For you put bitter things on record against me, and send punishment on me for the sins of my early years; 13:27And you put chains on my feet, watching all my ways, and making a limit for my steps; 13:28Though a man comes to nothing like a bit of dead wood, or like a robe which has become food for the worm.
14:1As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble. 14:2He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again. 14:3Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him? 14:4If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible. 14:5If his days are ordered, and you have knowledge of the number of his months, having given him a fixed limit past which he may not go; 14:6Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment. 14:7For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end. 14:8Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust; 14:9Still, at the smell of water, it will make buds, and put out branches like a young plant. 14:10But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he? 14:11The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry; 14:12So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep. 14:13If only you would keep me safe in the underworld, putting me in a secret place till your wrath is past, giving me a fixed time when I might come to your memory again! 14:14If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free. 14:15At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands. 14:16For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked. 14:17My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe. 14:18But truly a mountain falling comes to dust, and a rock is moved from its place; 14:19The stones are crushed small by the force of the waters; the dust of the earth is washed away by their overflowing: and so you put an end to the hope of man. 14:20You overcome him for ever, and he is gone; his face is changed in death, and you send him away. 14:21His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it. 14:22Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.
15:1And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said, 15:2Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind? 15:3Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value? 15:4Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry. 15:5For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself. 15:6It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you. 15:7Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills? 15:8Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself? 15:9What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours? 15:10With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father. 15:11Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you? 15:12Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up; 15:13So that you are turning your spirit against God, and letting such words go out of your mouth? 15:14What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright? 15:15Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes; 15:16How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water! 15:17Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen: 15:18(The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us; 15:19For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them:) 15:20The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small. 15:21A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him: 15:22He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword; 15:23He is wandering about in search of bread, saying, Where is it? and he is certain that the day of trouble is ready for him: 15:24He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him: 15:25Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all, 15:26Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight, 15:27Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick; 15:28And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls. 15:29He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth. 15:30He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud. 15:31Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward. 15:32His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green. 15:33He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers. 15:34For the band of the evil-doers gives no fruit, and the tents of those who give wrong decisions for reward are burned with fire. 15:35Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.
16:1And Job made answer and said, 16:2Such things have frequently come to my ears: you are comforters who only give trouble. 16:3May words which are like the wind be stopped? or what is troubling you to make answer to them? 16:4It would not be hard for me to say such things if your souls were in my soul's place; joining words together against you, and shaking my head at you: 16:5I might give you strength with my mouth, and not keep back the comfort of my lips. 16:6If I say what is in my mind, my pain becomes no less: and if I keep quiet, how much of it goes from me? 16:7But now he has overcome me with weariness and fear, and I am in the grip of all my trouble. 16:8It has come up as a witness against me, and the wasting of my flesh makes answer to my face. 16:9I am broken by his wrath, and his hate has gone after me; he has made his teeth sharp against me: my haters are looking on me with cruel eyes; 16:10Their mouths are open wide against me; the blows of his bitter words are falling on my face; all of them come together in a mass against me. 16:11God gives me over to the power of sinners, sending me violently into the hands of evil-doers. 16:12I was in comfort, but I have been broken up by his hands; he has taken me by the neck, shaking me to bits; he has put me up as a mark for his arrows. 16:13His bowmen come round about me; their arrows go through my body without mercy; my life is drained out on the earth. 16:14I am broken with wound after wound; he comes rushing on me like a man of war. 16:15I have made haircloth the clothing of my skin, and my horn is rolled in the dust. 16:16My face is red with weeping, and my eyes are becoming dark; 16:17Though my hands have done no violent acts, and my prayer is clean. 16:18O earth, let not my blood be covered, and let my cry have no resting-place! 16:19Even now my witness is in heaven, and the supporter of my cause is on high. 16:20My friends make sport of me; to God my eyes are weeping, 16:21So that he may give decision for a man in his cause with God, and between a son of man and his neighbour. 16:22For in a short time I will take the journey from which I will not come back.
17:1My spirit is broken, my days are ended, the last resting-place is ready for me. 17:2Truly, those who make sport of me are round about me, and my eyes become dark because of their bitter laughing. 17:3Be pleased, now, to be responsible for me to yourself; for there is no other who will put his hand in mine. 17:4You have kept their hearts from wisdom: for this cause you will not give them honour. 17:5As for him who is false to his friend for a reward, light will be cut off from the eyes of his children. 17:6He has made me a word of shame to the peoples; I have become a mark for their sport. 17:7My eyes have become dark because of my pain, and all my body is wasted to a shade. 17:8The upright are surprised at this, and he who has done no wrong is troubled because of the evil-doers. 17:9Still the upright keeps on his way, and he who has clean hands gets new strength. 17:10But come back, now, all of you, come; and I will not see a wise man among you. 17:11My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the desires of my heart. 17:12They are changing night into day; they say, The light is near the dark. 17:13If I am waiting for the underworld as my house, if I have made my bed in the dark; 17:14If I say to the earth, You are my father; and to the worm, My mother and my sister; 17:15Where then is my hope? and who will see my desire? 17:16Will they go down with me into the underworld? Will we go down together into the dust?
18:1Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said, 18:2How long will it be before you have done talking? Get wisdom, and then we will say what is in our minds. 18:3Why do we seem as beasts in your eyes, and as completely without knowledge? 18:4But come back, now, come: you who are wounding yourself in your passion, will the earth be given up because of you, or a rock be moved out of its place? 18:5For the light of the sinner is put out, and the flame of his fire is not shining. 18:6The light is dark in his tent, and the light shining over him is put out. 18:7The steps of his strength become short, and by his design destruction overtakes him. 18:8His feet take him into the net, and he goes walking into the cords. 18:9His foot is taken in the net; he comes into its grip. 18:10The twisted cord is put secretly in the earth to take him, and the cord is placed in his way. 18:11He is overcome by fears on every side, they go after him at every step. 18:12His strength is made feeble for need of food, and destruction is waiting for his falling footstep. 18:13His skin is wasted by disease, and his body is food for the worst of diseases. 18:14He is pulled out of his tent where he was safe, and he is taken away to the king of fears. 18:15In his tent will be seen that which is not his, burning stone is dropped on his house. 18:16Under the earth his roots are dry, and over it his branch is cut off. 18:17His memory is gone from the earth, and in the open country there is no knowledge of his name. 18:18He is sent away from the light into the dark; he is forced out of the world. 18:19He has no offspring or family among his people, and in his living-place there is no one of his name. 18:20At his fate those of the west are shocked, and those of the east are overcome with fear. 18:21Truly, these are the houses of the sinner, and this is the place of him who has no knowledge of God.
19:1And Job made answer and said, 19:2How long will you make my life bitter, crushing me with words? 19:3Ten times now you have made sport of me; it gives you no sense of shame to do me wrong. 19:4And, truly, if I have been in error, the effect of my error is only on myself. 19:5If you make yourselves great against me, using my punishment as an argument against me, 19:6Be certain that it is God who has done me wrong, and has taken me in his net. 19:7Truly, I make an outcry against the violent man, but there is no answer: I give a cry for help, but no one takes up my cause. 19:8My way is walled up by him so that I may not go by: he has made my roads dark. 19:9He has put off my glory from me, and taken the crown from my head. 19:10I am broken down by him on every side, and I am gone; my hope is uprooted like a tree. 19:11His wrath is burning against me, and I am to him as one of his haters. 19:12His armies come on together, they make their road high against me, and put up their tents round mine. 19:13He has taken my brothers far away from me; they have seen my fate and have become strange to me. 19:14My relations and my near friends have given me up, and those living in my house have put me out of their minds. 19:15I am strange to my women-servants, and seem to them as one from another country. 19:16At my cry my servant gives me no answer, and I have to make a prayer to him. 19:17My breath is strange to my wife, and I am disgusting to the offspring of my mother's body. 19:18Even young children have no respect for me; when I get up their backs are turned on me. 19:19All the men of my circle keep away from me; and those dear to me are turned against me. 19:20My bones are joined to my skin, and I have got away with my flesh in my teeth. 19:21Have pity on me, have pity on me, O my friends! for the hand of God is on me. 19:22Why are you cruel to me, like God, for ever saying evil against me? 19:23If only my words might be recorded! if they might be put in writing in a book! 19:24And with an iron pen and lead be cut into the rock for ever! 19:25But I am certain that he who will take up my cause is living, and that in time to come he will take his place on the dust; 19:26And ... without my flesh I will see God; 19:27Whom I will see on my side, and not as one strange to me. My heart is broken with desire. 19:28If you say, How cruel we will be to him! because the root of sin is clearly in him: 19:29Be in fear of the sword, for the sword is the punishment for such things, so that you may be certain that there is a judge.
20:1Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said, 20:2For this cause my thoughts are troubling me and driving me on. 20:3I have to give ear to arguments which put me to shame, and your answers to me are wind without wisdom. 20:4Have you knowledge of this from early times, when man was placed on the earth, 20:5That the pride of the sinner is short, and the joy of the evil-doer but for a minute? 20:6Though he is lifted up to the heavens, and his head goes up to the clouds; 20:7Like the waste from his body he comes to an end for ever: those who have seen him say, Where is he? 20:8He is gone like a dream, and is not seen again; he goes in flight like a vision of the night. 20:9The eye which saw him sees him no longer; and his place has no more knowledge of him. 20:10His children are hoping that the poor will be kind to them, and his hands give back his wealth. 20:11His bones are full of young strength, but it will go down with him into the dust. 20:12Though evil-doing is sweet in his mouth, and he keeps it secretly under his tongue; 20:13Though he takes care of it, and does not let it go, but keeps it still in his mouth; 20:14His food becomes bitter in his stomach; the poison of snakes is inside him. 20:15He takes down wealth as food, and sends it up again; it is forced out of his stomach by God. 20:16He takes the poison of snakes into his mouth, the tongue of the snake is the cause of his death. 20:17Let him not see the rivers of oil, the streams of honey and milk. 20:18He is forced to give back the fruit of his work, and may not take it for food; he has no joy in the profit of his trading. 20:19Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up; 20:20There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight. 20:21He had never enough for his desire; for this cause his well-being will quickly come to an end. 20:22Even when his wealth is great, he is full of care, for the hand of everyone who is in trouble is turned against him. 20:23God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain. 20:24He may go in flight from the iron spear, but the arrow from the bow of brass will go through him; 20:25He is pulling it out, and it comes out of his back; and its shining point comes out of his side; he is overcome by fears. 20:26All his wealth is stored up for the dark: a fire not made by man sends destruction on him, and on everything in his tent. 20:27The heavens make clear his sin, and the earth gives witness against him. 20:28The produce of his house is taken away into another country, like things given into the hands of others in the day of wrath. 20:29This is the reward of the evil man, and the heritage given to him by God.
21:1Then Job made answer and said, 21:2Give attention with care to my words; and let this be your comfort. 21:3Let me say what is in my mind, and after that, go on making sport of me. 21:4As for me, is my outcry against man? is it then to be wondered at if my spirit is troubled? 21:5Take note of me and be full of wonder, put your hand on your mouth. 21:6At the very thought of it my flesh is shaking with fear. 21:7Why is life given to the evil-doers? why do they become old and strong in power? 21:8Their children are ever with them, and their offspring before their eyes. 21:9Their houses are free from fear, and the rod of God does not come on them. 21:10Their ox is ready at all times to give seed; their cow gives birth, without dropping her young. 21:11They send out their young ones like a flock, and their children have pleasure in the dance, 21:12They make songs to the instruments of music, and are glad at the sound of the pipe. 21:13Their days come to an end without trouble, and suddenly they go down to the underworld. 21:14Though they said to God, Go away from us, for we have no desire for the knowledge of your ways. 21:15What is the Ruler of all, that we may give him worship? and what profit is it to us to make prayer to him? 21:16Truly, is not their well-being in their power? (The purpose of the evil-doers is far from me.) 21:17How frequently is the light of the evil-doers put out, or does trouble come on them? how frequently does his wrath take them with cords? 21:18How frequently are they as dry stems before the wind, or as grass taken away by the storm-wind? 21:19You say, God keeps punishment stored up for his children. Let him send it on the man himself, so that he may have the punishment of it! 21:20Let his eyes see his trouble, and let him be full of the wrath of the Ruler of all! 21:21For what interest has he in his house after him, when the number of his months is ended? 21:22Is anyone able to give teaching to God? for he is the judge of those who are on high. 21:23One comes to his end in complete well-being, full of peace and quiet: 21:24His buckets are full of milk, and there is no loss of strength in his bones. 21:25And another comes to his end with a bitter soul, without ever tasting good. 21:26Together they go down to the dust, and are covered by the worm. 21:27See, I am conscious of your thoughts, and of your violent purposes against me; 21:28For you say, Where is the house of the ruler, and where is the tent of the evil-doer? 21:29Have you not put the question to the travellers, and do you not take note of their experience? 21:30How the evil man goes free in the day of trouble, and has salvation in the day of wrath? 21:31Who will make his way clear to his face? and if he has done a thing, who gives him punishment for it? 21:32He is taken to his last resting-place, and keeps watch over it. 21:33The earth of the valley covering his bones is sweet to him, and all men come after him, as there were unnumbered before him. 21:34Why then do you give me comfort with words in which there is no profit, when you see that there is nothing in your answers but deceit?
22:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said, 22:2Is it possible for a man to be of profit to God? No, for a man's wisdom is only of profit to himself. 22:3Is it of any interest to the Ruler of all that you are upright? or is it of use to him that your ways are without sin? 22:4Is it because you give him honour that he is sending punishment on you and is judging you? 22:5Is not your evil-doing great? and there is no end to your sins. 22:6For you have taken your brother's goods when he was not in your debt, and have taken away the clothing of those who have need of it. 22:7You do not give water to the tired traveller, and from him who has no food you keep back bread. 22:8For it was the man with power who had the land, and the man with an honoured name who was living in it. 22:9You have sent widows away without hearing their cause, and you have taken away the support of the child who has no father. 22:10For this cause nets are round your feet, and you are overcome with sudden fear. 22:11Your light is made dark so that you are unable to see, and you are covered by a mass of waters. 22:12Is not God as high as heaven? and see the stars, how high they are! 22:13And you say, What knowledge has God? is he able to give decisions through the deep dark? 22:14Thick clouds are covering him, so that he is unable to see; and he is walking on the arch of heaven. 22:15Will you keep the old way by which evil men went? 22:16Who were violently taken away before their time, who were overcome by the rush of waters: 22:17Who said to God, Go away from us; and, What is the Ruler of all able to do to us? 22:18Though he made their houses full of good things: but the purpose of the evil-doers is far from me! 22:19The upright saw it and were glad: and those who had done no wrong made sport of them, 22:20Saying, Truly, their substance is cut off, and their wealth is food for the fire. 22:21Put yourself now in a right relation with him and be at peace: so will you do well in your undertakings. 22:22Be pleased to take teaching from his mouth, and let his words be stored up in your heart. 22:23If you come back to the Ruler of all, making yourself low before him; if you put evil far away from your tents; 22:24And put your gold in the dust, even your gold of Ophir among the rocks of the valleys; 22:25Then the Ruler of all will be your gold, and his teaching will be your silver; 22:26For then you will have delight in the Ruler of all, and your face will be lifted up to God. 22:27You will make your prayer to him, and be answered; and you will give effect to your oaths. 22:28Your purposes will come about, and light will be shining on your ways. 22:29For God makes low those whose hearts are lifted up, but he is a saviour to the poor in spirit. 22:30He makes safe the man who is free from sin, and if your hands are clean, salvation will be yours.
23:1And Job made answer and said, 23:2Even today my outcry is bitter; his hand is hard on my sorrow. 23:3If only I had knowledge of where he might be seen, so that I might come even to his seat! 23:4I would put my cause in order before him, and my mouth would be full of arguments. 23:5I would see what his answers would be, and have knowledge of what he would say to me. 23:6Would he make use of his great power to overcome me? No, but he would give attention to me. 23:7There an upright man might put his cause before him; and I would be free for ever from my judge. 23:8See, I go forward, but he is not there; and back, but I do not see him; 23:9I am looking for him on the left hand, but there is no sign of him; and turning to the right, I am not able to see him. 23:10For he has knowledge of the way I take; after I have been tested I will come out like gold. 23:11My feet have gone in his steps; I have kept in his way, without turning to one side or to the other. 23:12I have never gone against the orders of his lips; the words of his mouth have been stored up in my heart. 23:13But his purpose is fixed and there is no changing it; and he gives effect to the desire of his soul. 23:14For what has been ordered for me by him will be gone through to the end: and his mind is full of such designs. 23:15For this cause I am in fear before him, my thoughts of him overcome me. 23:16For God has made my heart feeble, and my mind is troubled before the Ruler of all. 23:17For I am overcome by the dark, and by the black night which is covering my face.
24:1Why are times not stored up by the Ruler of all, and why do those who have knowledge of him not see his days? 24:2The landmarks are changed by evil men, they violently take away flocks, together with their keepers. 24:3They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt. 24:4The crushed are turned out of the way; all the poor of the earth go into a secret place together. 24:5Like asses in the waste land they go out to their work, looking for food with care; from the waste land they get bread for their children. 24:6They get mixed grain from the field, and they take away the late fruit from the vines of those who have wealth. 24:7They take their rest at night without clothing, and have no cover in the cold. 24:8They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and get into the cracks of the rock for cover. 24:9The child without a father is forced from its mother's breast, and they take the young children of the poor for debt. 24:10Others go about without clothing, and though they have no food, they get in the grain from the fields. 24:11Between the lines of olive-trees they make oil; though they have no drink, they are crushing out the grapes. 24:12From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer. 24:13Then there are those who are haters of the light, who have no knowledge of its ways, and do not go in them. 24:14He who is purposing death gets up before day, so that he may put to death the poor and those in need. 24:15And the man whose desire is for the wife of another is waiting for the evening, saying, No eye will see me; and he puts a cover on his face. And in the night the thief goes about; 24:16In the dark he makes holes in the walls of houses: in the daytime they are shutting themselves up, they have no knowledge of the light. 24:17For the middle of the night is as morning to them, they are not troubled by the fear of the dark. 24:18They go quickly on the face of the waters; their heritage is cursed in the earth; the steps of the crusher of grapes are not turned to their vine-garden. 24:19Snow waters become dry with the heat: so do sinners go down into the underworld. 24:20The public place of his town has no more knowledge of him, and his name has gone from the memory of men: he is rooted up like a dead tree. 24:21He is not kind to the widow, and he has no pity for her child. 24:22But God by his power gives long life to the strong; he gets up again, though he has no hope of life. 24:23He takes away his fear of danger and gives him support; and his eyes are on his ways. 24:24For a short time they are lifted up; then they are gone; they are made low, they are pulled off like fruit, and like the heads of grain they are cut off. 24:25And if it is not so, now, who will make it clear that my words are false, and that what I say is of no value?
25:1Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said, 25:2Rule and power are his; he makes peace in his high places. 25:3Is it possible for his armies to be numbered? and on whom is not his light shining? 25:4How then is it possible for man to be upright before God? or how may he be clean who is a son of woman? 25:5See, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not clean in his eyes: 25:6How much less man who is an insect, and the son of man who is a worm!
26:1Then Job made answer and said, 26:2How have you given help to him who has no power! how have you been the salvation of the arm which has no strength! 26:3How have you given teaching to him who has no wisdom, and fully made clear true knowledge! 26:4To whom have your words been said? and whose spirit came out from you? 26:5The shades in the underworld are shaking; the waters and those living in them. 26:6The underworld is uncovered before him, and Destruction has no veil. 26:7By his hand the north is stretched out in space, and the earth is hanging on nothing. 26:8By him the waters are shut up in his thick clouds, and the cloud does not give way under them. 26:9By him the face of his high seat is veiled, and his cloud stretched out over it. 26:10By him a circle is marked out on the face of the waters, to the limits of the light and the dark. 26:11The pillars of heaven are shaking, and are overcome by his sharp words. 26:12By his power the sea was made quiet; and by his wisdom Rahab was wounded. 26:13By his wind the heavens become bright: by his hand the quickly moving snake was cut through. 26:14See, these are only the outskirts of his ways; and how small is that which comes to our ears about him! But the thunder of his acts of power is outside all knowledge.
27:1And Job again took up the word and said, 27:2By the life of God, who has taken away my right; and of the Ruler of all, who has made my soul bitter; 27:3(For all my breath is still in me, and the spirit of God is my life;) 27:4Truly, there is no deceit in my lips, and my tongue does not say what is false. 27:5Let it be far from me! I will certainly not say that you are right! I will come to death before I give up my righteousness. 27:6I will keep it safe, and will not let it go: my heart has nothing to say against any part of my life. 27:7Let my hater be like the evil man, and let him who comes against me be as the sinner. 27:8For what is the hope of the sinner when he is cut off, when God takes back his soul? 27:9Will his cry come to the ears of God when he is in trouble? 27:10Will he take delight in the Ruler of all, and make his prayer to God at all times? 27:11I will give you teaching about the hand of God; I will not keep secret from you what is in the mind of the Ruler of all. 27:12Truly, you have all seen it yourselves; why then have you become completely foolish? 27:13This is the punishment of the evil-doer from God, and the heritage given to the cruel by the Ruler of all. 27:14If his children are increased, it is for the sword; and his offspring have not enough bread. 27:15When those of his house who are still living come to their end by disease, they are not put into the earth, and their widows are not weeping for them. 27:16Though he may get silver together like dust, and make ready great stores of clothing; 27:17He may get them ready, but the upright will put them on, and he who is free from sin will take the silver for a heritage. 27:18His house has no more strength than a spider's thread, or a watchman's tent. 27:19He goes to rest full of wealth, but does so for the last time: on opening his eyes, he sees it there no longer. 27:20Fears overtake him like rushing waters; in the night the storm-wind takes him away. 27:21The east wind takes him up and he is gone; he is forced violently out of his place. 27:22God sends his arrows against him without mercy; he goes in flight before his hand. 27:23Men make signs of joy because of him, driving him from his place with sounds of hissing.
28:1Truly there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is washed out. 28:2Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone is changed into brass by the fire. 28:3Man puts an end to the dark, searching out to the farthest limit the stones of the deep places of the dark. 28:4He makes a deep mine far away from those living in the light of day; when they go about on the earth, they have no knowledge of those who are under them, who are hanging far from men, twisting from side to side on a cord. 28:5As for the earth, bread comes out of it; but under its face it is turned up as if by fire. 28:6Its stones are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold. 28:7No bird has knowledge of it, and the hawk's eye has never seen it. 28:8The great beasts have not gone over it, and the cruel lion has not taken that way. 28:9Man puts out his hand on the hard rock, overturning mountains by the roots. 28:10He makes deep ways, cut through the rock, and his eye sees everything of value. 28:11He keeps back the streams from flowing, and makes the secret things come out into the light. 28:12But where may wisdom be seen? and where is the resting-place of knowledge? 28:13Man has not seen the way to it, and it is not in the land of the living. 28:14The deep waters say, It is not in me: and the sea says, It is not with me. 28:15Gold may not be given for it, or a weight of silver in payment for it. 28:16It may not be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the onyx of great price, or the sapphire. 28:17Gold and glass are not equal to it in price, and it may not be exchanged for jewels of the best gold. 28:18There is no need to say anything about coral or crystal; and the value of wisdom is greater than that of pearls. 28:19The topaz of Ethiopia is not equal to it, and it may not be valued with the best gold. 28:20From where then does wisdom come, and where is the resting-place of knowledge? 28:21For it is kept secret from the eyes of all living, unseen by the birds of the air. 28:22Destruction and Death say, We have only had word of it with our ears. 28:23God has knowledge of the way to it, and of its resting-place; 28:24For his eyes go to the ends of the earth, and he sees everything under heaven. 28:25When he made a weight for the wind, measuring out the waters; 28:26When he made a law for the rain, and a way for the thunder-flames; 28:27Then he saw it, and put it on record; he gave it its fixed form, searching it out completely. 28:28And he said to man, Truly the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to keep from evil is the way to knowledge.
29:1And Job again took up the word and said, 29:2If only I might again be as I was in the months which are past, in the days when God was watching over me! 29:3When his light was shining over my head, and when I went through the dark by his light. 29:4As I was in my flowering years, when my tent was covered by the hand of God; 29:5While the Ruler of all was still with me, and my children were round me; 29:6When my steps were washed with milk, and rivers of oil were flowing out of the rock for me. 29:7When I went out of my door to go up to the town, and took my seat in the public place, 29:8The young men saw me, and went away, and the old men got up from their seats; 29:9The rulers kept quiet, and put their hands on their mouths; 29:10The chiefs kept back their words, and their tongues were joined to the roofs of their mouths. 29:11For when it came to their ears, men said that I was truly happy; and when their eyes saw, they gave witness to me; 29:12For I was a saviour to the poor when he was crying for help, to the child with no father, and to him who had no supporter. 29:13The blessing of him who was near to destruction came on me, and I put a song of joy into the widow's heart. 29:14I put on righteousness as my clothing, and was full of it; right decisions were to me a robe and a head-dress. 29:15I was eyes to the blind, and feet to him who had no power of walking. 29:16I was a father to the poor, searching out the cause of him who was strange to me. 29:17By me the great teeth of the evil-doer were broken, and I made him give up what he had violently taken away. 29:18Then I said, I will come to my end with my children round me, my days will be as the sand in number; 29:19My root will be open to the waters, and the night mist will be on my branches, 29:20My glory will be ever new, and my bow will be readily bent in my hand. 29:21Men gave ear to me, waiting and keeping quiet for my suggestions. 29:22After I had said what was in my mind, they were quiet and let my words go deep into their hearts; 29:23They were waiting for me as for the rain, opening their mouths wide as for the spring rains. 29:24I was laughing at them when they had no hope, and the light of my face was never clouded by their fear. 29:25I took my place as a chief, guiding them on their way, and I was as a king among his army. ...
30:1But now those who are younger than I make sport of me; those whose fathers I would not have put with the dogs of my flocks. 30:2Of what use is the strength of their hands to me? all force is gone from them. 30:3They are wasted for need of food, biting the dry earth; their only hope of life is in the waste land. 30:4They are pulling off the salt leaves from the brushwood, and making a meal of roots. 30:5They are sent out from among their townsmen, men are crying after them as thieves 30:6They have to get a resting-place in the hollows of the valleys, in holes of the earth and rocks. 30:7They make noises like asses among the brushwood; they get together under the thorns. 30:8They are sons of shame, and of men without a name, who have been forced out of the land. 30:9And now I have become their song, and I am a word of shame to them. 30:10I am disgusting to them; they keep away from me, and put marks of shame on me. 30:11For he has made loose the cord of my bow, and put me to shame; he has sent down my flag to the earth before me. 30:12The lines of his men of war put themselves in order, and make high their ways of destruction against me: 30:13They have made waste my roads, with a view to my destruction; his bowmen come round about me; 30:14As through a wide broken place in the wall they come on, I am overturned by the shock of their attack. 30:15Fears have come on me; my hope is gone like the wind, and my well-being like a cloud. 30:16But now my soul is turned to water in me, days of trouble overtake me: 30:17The flesh is gone from my bones, and they give me no rest; there is no end to my pains. 30:18With great force he takes a grip of my clothing, pulling me by the neck of my coat. 30:19Truly God has made me low, even to the earth, and I have become like dust. 30:20You give no answer to my cry, and take no note of my prayer. 30:21You have become cruel to me; the strength of your hand is hard on me. 30:22Lifting me up, you make me go on the wings of the wind; I am broken up by the storm. 30:23For I am certain that you will send me back to death, and to the meeting-place ordered for all living. 30:24Has not my hand been stretched out in help to the poor? have I not been a saviour to him in his trouble? 30:25Have I not been weeping for the crushed? and was not my soul sad for him who was in need? 30:26For I was looking for good, and evil came; I was waiting for light, and it became dark. 30:27My feelings are strongly moved, and give me no rest; days of trouble have overtaken me. 30:28I go about in dark clothing, uncomforted; I get up in the public place, crying out for help. 30:29I have become a brother to the jackals, and go about in the company of ostriches. 30:30My skin is black and dropping off me; and my bones are burning with the heat of my disease. 30:31And my music has been turned to sorrow, and the sound of my pipe into the noise of weeping.