10:1And king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land and the isles of the sea. 10:2And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 10:3For Mordecai the Jew was second to king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the welfare of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.
Job
1:1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and this man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and abstained from evil. 1:2And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 1:3And his substance was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and very many servants; and this man was greater than all the children of the east. 1:4And his sons went and made a feast in the house of each one on his day; and they sent and invited their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 1:5And it was so, when the days of the feasting were gone about, that Job sent and hallowed them; and he rose up early in the morning, and offered up burnt-offerings [according to] the number of them all; for Job said, It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. 1:6And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah; and Satan came also among them. 1:7And Jehovah said to Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 1:8And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and abstaineth from evil? 1:9And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 1:10Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is spread abroad in the land. 1:11But put forth thy hand now and touch all that he hath, [and see] if he will not curse thee to thy face! 1:12And Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand; only upon himself put not forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah. 1:13And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn. 1:14And there came a messenger to Job and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them; 1:15and [they of] Sheba fell [upon them] and took them, and the servants have they smitten with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped, alone, to tell thee. 1:16While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped, alone, to tell thee. 1:17While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and fell upon the camels and took them, and the servants have they smitten with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped, alone, to tell thee. 1:18While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn; 1:19and behold, there came a great wind from over the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they died; and I only am escaped, alone, to tell thee. 1:20And Job rose up, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshipped; 1:21and he said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah! 1:22In all this Job sinned not, nor ascribed anything unseemly to God.
2:1And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, and Satan also came among them to present himself before Jehovah. 2:2And Jehovah said to Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 2:3And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and abstaineth from evil? and still he remaineth firm in his integrity, though thou movedst me against him, to swallow him up without cause. 2:4And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life; 2:5but put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, [and see] if he will not curse thee to thy face! 2:6And Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand; only spare his life. 2:7And Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah; and he smote Job with a grievous botch from the sole of his foot unto his crown. 2:8And he took a potsherd to scrape himself with; and he sat among the ashes. 2:9And his wife said to him, Dost thou still remain firm in thine integrity? curse God and die. 2:10But he said to her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. We have also received good from God, and should we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips. 2:11And three friends of Job heard of all this evil that was come upon him. And they came each one from his place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to condole with him and to comfort him. 2:12And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice and wept. And they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward the heavens. 2:13And they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights; and none spoke a word to him; for they saw that [his] anguish was very great.
3:1After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. 3:2And Job answered and said, 3:3Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, There is a man child conceived. 3:4That day let it be darkness, let not God care for it from above, neither let light shine upon it: 3:5Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it; let clouds dwell upon it; let darkeners of the day terrify it. 3:6That night let gloom seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months. 3:7Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful sound come therein; 3:8Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse Leviathan; 3:9Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it wait for light, and have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the dawn: 3:10Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, and hid not trouble from mine eyes. 3:11Wherefore did I not die from the womb, come forth from the belly and expire? 3:12Why did the knees meet me? and wherefore the breasts, that I should suck? 3:13For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept: then had I been at rest, 3:14With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build desolate places for themselves, 3:15Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver; 3:16Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that have not seen the light. 3:17There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the wearied are at rest. 3:18The prisoners together are at ease; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. 3:19The small and great are there, and the bondman freed from his master. 3:20Wherefore is light given to him that is in trouble, and life to those bitter of soul, 3:21Who long for death, and it [cometh] not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures; 3:22Who rejoice even exultingly and are glad when they find the grave? 3:23To the man whose way is hidden, and whom God hath hedged in? 3:24For my sighing cometh before my bread, and my groanings are poured out like the waters. 3:25For I feared a fear, and it hath come upon me, and that which I dreaded hath come to me. 3:26I was not in safety, neither had I quietness, neither was I at rest, and trouble came.
4:1And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 4:2If a word were essayed to thee, wouldest thou be grieved? But who can refrain from speaking? 4:3Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands; 4:4Thy words have upholden him that was stumbling, and thou hast braced up the bending knees: 4:5But now it is come upon thee, and thou grievest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. 4:6Hath not thy piety been thy confidence, and the perfection of thy ways thy hope? 4:7Remember, I pray thee, who that was innocent has perished? and where were the upright cut off? 4:8Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity and sow mischief, reap the same. 4:9By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his nostrils are they consumed. 4:10The roar of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken; 4:11The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered. 4:12Now to me a word was secretly brought, and mine ear received a whisper thereof. 4:13In thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men: 4:14Fear came on me, and trembling, and made all my bones to shake; 4:15And a spirit passed before my face the hair of my flesh stood up 4:16It stood still; I could not discern the appearance thereof: a form was before mine eyes; I heard a slight murmur and a voice: 4:17Shall [mortal] man be more just than God? Shall a man be purer than his Maker? 4:18Lo, he trusteth not his servants, and his angels he chargeth with folly: 4:19How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed as the moth! 4:20From morning to evening are they smitten: without any heeding it, they perish for ever. 4:21Is not their tent-cord torn away in them? they die, and without wisdom.
5:1Call, I pray thee! Is there any that answereth thee? and to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn? 5:2For vexation killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the simple. 5:3I myself saw the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation. 5:4His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer: 5:5Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh even out of the thorns; and the snare gapeth for his substance. 5:6For evil cometh not forth from the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; 5:7For man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards. 5:8But as for me I will seek unto God, and unto God commit my cause; 5:9Who doeth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number; 5:10Who giveth rain on the face of the earth, and sendeth waters on the face of the fields; 5:11Setting up on high those that are low; and mourners are exalted to prosperity. 5:12He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, and their hands carry not out the enterprise. 5:13He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong: 5:14They meet with darkness in a the daytime, and grope at midday as in the night. 5:15And he saveth the needy from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. 5:16So the poor hath what he hopeth for, and unrighteousness stoppeth her mouth. 5:17Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty. 5:18For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole. 5:19He will deliver thee in six troubles, and in seven there shall no evil touch thee. 5:20In famine he will redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword. 5:21Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue; and thou shalt not be afraid of destruction when it cometh. 5:22At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, and of the beasts of the earth thou shalt not be afraid. 5:23For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. 5:24And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; and thou wilt survey thy fold, and miss nothing. 5:25And thou shalt know that thy seed is numerous, and thine offspring as the herb of the earth. 5:26Thou shalt come to the grave in a ripe age, as a shock of corn is brought in in its season. 5:27Behold this, we have searched it out, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thyself.
6:1And Job answered and said, 6:2Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! 6:3For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words are vehement. 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, their poison drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God are arrayed against me. 6:5Doth the wild ass bray by the grass? loweth an ox over his fodder? 6:6Shall that which is insipid be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg? 6:7What my soul refuseth to touch, that is as my loathsome food. 6:8Oh that I might have my request, and that God would grant my desire! 6:9And that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! 6:10Then should I yet have comfort; and in the pain which spareth not I would rejoice that I have not denied the words of the Holy One. 6:11What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should have patience? 6:12Is my strength the strength of stones? is my flesh of brass? 6:13Is it not that there is no help in me, and soundness is driven away from me? 6:14For him that is fainting kindness [is meet] from his friend; or he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. 6:15My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a stream, as the channel of streams which pass away, 6:16Which are turbid by reason of the ice, in which the snow hideth itself: 6:17At the time they diminish, they are dried up; when heat affecteth them, they vanish from their place: 6:18They wind about in the paths of their course, they go off into the waste and perish. 6:19The caravans of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba counted on them: 6:20They are ashamed at their hope; they come thither, and are confounded. 6:21So now ye are nothing; ye see a terrible object and are afraid. 6:22Did I say, Bring unto me, and make me a present from your substance? 6:23Or, rescue me from the hand of the oppressor, and redeem me from the hand of the violent? 6:24Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred. 6:25How forcible are right words! but what doth your upbraiding reprove? 6:26Do ye imagine to reprove words? The speeches of one that is desperate are indeed for the wind. 6:27Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and dig [a pit] for your friend. 6:28Now therefore if ye will, look upon me; and it shall be to your face if I lie. 6:29Return, I pray you, let there be no wrong; yea, return again, my righteousness shall be in it. 6:30Is there wrong in my tongue? cannot my taste discern mischievous things?
7:1Hath not man a life of labour upon earth? and are not his days like the days of a hireling? 7:2As a bondman earnestly desireth the shadow, and a hireling expecteth his wages, 7:3So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. 7:4If I lie down, I say, When shall I rise up, and the darkness be gone? and I am full of tossings until the dawn. 7:5My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and suppurates. 7:6My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. 7:7Remember thou that my life is wind; mine eye shall no more see good. 7:8The eye of him that hath seen me shall behold me no [more]: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not. 7:9The cloud consumeth and vanisheth away; so he that goeth down to Sheol shall not come up. 7:10He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him again. 7:11Therefore I will not restrain my mouth: I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 7:12Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, that thou settest a watch over me? 7:13When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint; 7:14Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions; 7:15So that my soul chooseth strangling, death, rather than my bones. 7:16I loathe it; I shall not live always: let me alone, for my days are a breath. 7:17What is man, that thou makest much of him? and that thou settest thy heart upon him? 7:18And that thou visitest him every morning, triest him every moment? 7:19How long wilt thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? 7:20Have I sinned, what do I unto thee, thou Observer of men? Why hast thou set me as an object of assault for thee, so that I am become a burden to myself? 7:21And why dost not thou forgive my transgression and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I lie down in the dust, and thou shalt seek me early, and I shall not be.
8:1And Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 8:2How long wilt thou speak these things? and the words of thy mouth be a strong wind? 8:3Doth God pervert judgment, and the Almighty pervert justice? 8:4If thy children have sinned against him, he hath also given them over into the hand of their transgression. 8:5If thou seek earnestly unto God, and make thy supplication to the Almighty, 8:6If thou be pure and upright, surely now he will awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous; 8:7And though thy beginning was small, yet thine end shall be very great. 8:8For inquire, I pray thee, of the former generation, and attend to the researches of their fathers; 8:9For we are [but] of yesterday, and know nothing, for our days upon earth are a shadow. 8:10Shall not they teach thee, [and] tell thee, and utter words out of their heart? 8:11Doth the papyrus shoot up without mire? doth the reed-grass grow without water? 8:12Whilst it is yet in its greenness [and] not cut down, it withereth before any [other] grass. 8:13So are the paths of all that forget God; and the profane man's hope shall perish, 8:14Whose confidence shall be cut off, and his reliance is a spider's web. 8:15He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand; he shall lay hold on it, but it shall not endure. 8:16He is full of sap before the sun, and his sprout shooteth forth over his garden; 8:17His roots are entwined about the stoneheap; he seeth the place of stones. 8:18If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him: I have not seen thee! 8:19Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the dust shall others grow. 8:20Behold, God will not cast off a perfect man, neither will he take evil-doers by the hand. 8:21Whilst he would fill thy mouth with laughing and thy lips with shouting, 8:22They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked be no more.
9:1And Job answered and said, 9:2Of a truth I know it is so; but how can man be just with God? 9:3If he shall choose to strive with him, he cannot answer him one thing of a thousand. 9:4He is wise in heart and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and had peace? 9:5Who removeth mountains, and they know it not, when he overturneth them in his anger; 9:6Who shaketh the earth out of its place, and the pillars thereof tremble; 9:7Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, and he sealeth up the stars; 9:8Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the high waves of the sea; 9:9Who maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south; 9:10Who doeth great things past finding out, and wonders without number. 9:11Lo, he goeth by me, and I see [him] not; and he passeth along, and I perceive him not. 9:12Behold, he taketh away: who will hinder him? Who will say unto him, What doest thou? 9:13God withdraweth not his anger; the proud helpers stoop under him: 9:14How much less shall I answer him, choose out my words [to strive] with him? 9:15Whom, though I were righteous, [yet] would I not answer; I would make supplication to my judge. 9:16If I had called, and he had answered me, I would not believe that he hearkened to my voice, 9:17He, who crusheth me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause. 9:18He suffereth me not to take my breath, for he filleth me with bitternesses. 9:19Be it a question of strength, lo, [he is] strong; and be it of judgment, who will set me a time? 9:20If I justified myself, mine own mouth would condemn me; were I perfect, he would prove me perverse. 9:21Were I perfect, [yet] would I not know my soul: I would despise my life. 9:22It is all one; therefore I said, he destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. 9:23If the scourge kill suddenly, he mocketh at the trial of the innocent. 9:24The earth is given over into the hand of the wicked [man]; he covereth the faces of its judges. If not, who then is it? 9:25And my days are swifter than a runner: they flee away, they see no good. 9:26They pass by like skiffs of reed; as an eagle that swoops upon the prey. 9:27If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my [sad] countenance, and brighten up, 9:28I am afraid of all my sorrows; I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. 9:29Be it that I am wicked, why then do I labour in vain? 9:30If I washed myself with snow-water, and cleansed my hands in purity, 9:31Then wouldest thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes would abhor me. 9:32For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him; that we should come together in judgment. 9:33There is not an umpire between us, who should lay his hand upon us both. 9:34Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his terror make me afraid, 9:35[Then] I will speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.
10:1My soul is weary of my life: I will give free course to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 10:2I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou strivest with me. 10:3Doth it please thee to oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thy hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? 10:4Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? 10:5Are thy days as the days of a mortal? are thy years as a man's days, 10:6That thou searchest after mine iniquity, and inquirest into my sin; 10:7Since thou knowest that I am not wicked, and that there is none that delivereth out of thy hand? 10:8Thy hands have bound me together and made me as one, round about; yet dost thou swallow me up! 10:9Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as clay, and wilt bring me into dust again. 10:10Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? 10:11Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews; 10:12Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy care hath preserved my spirit; 10:13And these things didst thou hide in thy heart; I know that this was with thee. 10:14If I sinned, thou wouldest mark me, and thou wouldest not acquit me of mine iniquity. 10:15If I were wicked, woe unto me! and righteous, I will not lift up my head, being [so] full of shame, and beholding mine affliction; 10:16And it increaseth: thou huntest me as a fierce lion; and ever again thou shewest thy marvellous power upon me. 10:17Thou renewest thy witnesses before me and increasest thy displeasure against me; successions [of evil] and a time of toil are with me. 10:18And wherefore didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? I had expired, and no eye had seen me. 10:19I should be as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. 10:20Are not my days few? cease then and let me alone, that I may revive a little, 10:21Before I go, and never to return, to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; 10:22A land of gloom, as darkness itself; of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as thick darkness.
11:1And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, 11:2Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man of much talk be justified? 11:3Should thy fictions make men hold their peace? and shouldest thou mock, and no one make [thee] ashamed? 11:4For thou sayest, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes. 11:5But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee; 11:6And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, how that they are the double of what is realised; and know that God passeth by [much] of thine iniquity! 11:7Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? 11:8[It is as] the heights of heaven; what wilt thou do? deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know? 11:9The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. 11:10If he pass by, and shut up, and call to judgment, who can hinder him? 11:11For he knoweth vain men, and seeth wickedness when [man] doth not consider it; 11:12Yet a senseless man will make bold, though man be born [like] the foal of a wild ass. 11:13If thou prepare thy heart and stretch out thy hands toward him, 11:14If thou put far away the iniquity which is in thy hand, and let not wrong dwell in thy tents; 11:15Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot, and thou shalt be stedfast and shalt not fear: 11:16For thou shalt forget misery; as waters that are passed away shalt thou remember it; 11:17And life shall arise brighter than noonday; though thou be enshrouded in darkness, thou shalt be as the morning, 11:18And thou shalt have confidence, because there shall be hope; and having searched about [thee], thou shalt take rest in safety. 11:19Yea, thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; and many shall seek thy favour. 11:20But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and [all] refuge shall vanish from them, and their hope [shall be] the breathing out of life.
12:1And Job answered and said, 12:2Truly ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you! 12:3I also have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you; and who knoweth not such things as these? 12:4I am to be one that is a derision to his friend, I who call upon God, and whom he will answer: a derision is the just upright [man]. 12:5He that is ready to stumble with the foot is a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease. 12:6The tents of desolators are in peace, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth. 12:7But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowl of the heavens, and they shall tell thee; 12:8Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. 12:9Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this? 12:10In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man. 12:11Doth not the ear try words, as the palate tasteth food? 12:12With the aged is wisdom, and in length of days understanding. 12:13With him is wisdom and might; he hath counsel and understanding. 12:14Behold, he breaketh down, and it is not built again; he shutteth up a man, and there is no opening. 12:15Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; and he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. 12:16With him is strength and effectual knowledge; the deceived and the deceiver are his. 12:17He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and judges maketh he fools; 12:18He weakeneth the government of kings, and bindeth their loins with a fetter; 12:19He leadeth priests away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty; 12:20He depriveth of speech the trusty, and taketh away the judgment of the elders; 12:21He poureth contempt upon nobles, and slackeneth the girdle of the mighty; 12:22He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out into light the shadow of death; 12:23He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them; he spreadeth out the nations, and bringeth them in; 12:24He taketh away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a pathless waste. 12:25They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunkard.
13:1Lo, mine eye hath seen all [this], mine ear hath heard and understood it. 13:2What ye know, I know also: I am not inferior to you. 13:3But I will speak to the Almighty, and will find pleasure in reasoning with God; 13:4For ye indeed are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value. 13:5Oh that ye would be altogether silent! and it would be your wisdom. 13:6Hear now my defence, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips. 13:7Will ye speak unrighteously for God? and for him speak deceit? 13:8Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God? 13:9Will it be well if he should search you out? or as one mocketh at a man, will ye mock at him? 13:10He will certainly reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons. 13:11Shall not his excellency terrify you? and his dread fall upon you? 13:12Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, your bulwarks are bulwarks of mire. 13:13Hold your peace from me, and I will speak, and let come on me what [will]! 13:14Wherefore should I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand? 13:15Behold, if he slay me, yet would I trust in him; but I will defend mine own ways before him. 13:16This also shall be my salvation, that a profane man shall not come before his face. 13:17Hear attentively my speech and my declaration with your ears. 13:18Behold now, I have ordered the cause; I know that I shall be justified. 13:19Who is he that contendeth with me? For if I were silent now, I should expire. 13:20Only do not two things unto me; then will I not hide myself from thee. 13:21Withdraw thy hand far from me; and let not thy terror make me afraid: 13:22Then call, and I will answer; or I will speak, and answer thou me. 13:23How many are mine iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin. 13:24Wherefore dost thou hide thy face, and countest me for thine enemy? 13:25Wilt thou terrify a driven leaf? and wilt thou pursue dry stubble? 13:26For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth; 13:27And thou puttest my feet in the stocks, and markest all my paths; thou settest a bound about the soles of my feet; 13:28One who, as a rotten thing consumeth, as a garment that the moth eateth.
14:1Man, born of woman, is of few days, and full of trouble. 14:2He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; and he fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not. 14:3Yet dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? 14:4Who can bring a clean [man] out of the unclean? Not one! 14:5If his days are determined, if the number of his months is with thee, [and] thou hast appointed his bounds which he must not pass, 14:6Look away from him; and let him rest, till he accomplish, as a hireling, his day. 14:7For there is hope for a tree: if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender branch will not cease; 14:8Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stock die in the ground, 14:9Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and put forth boughs like a young plant. 14:10But a man dieth, and is prostrate; yea, man expireth, and where is he? 14:11The waters recede from the lake, and the river wasteth and drieth up: 14:12So man lieth down, and riseth not again; till the heavens be no more, they do not awake, nor are raised out of their sleep. 14:13Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, that thou wouldest keep me secret until thine anger be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me, 14:14(If a man die, shall he live [again]?) all the days of my time of toil would I wait, till my change should come: 14:15Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee; thou wouldest have a desire after the work of thy hands. 14:16For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin? 14:17My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou heapest up mine iniquity. 14:18And indeed a mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of its place; 14:19The waters wear the stones, the floods thereof wash away the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man. 14:20Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth away; thou changest his countenance, and dismissest him. 14:21His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, and he perceiveth it not. 14:22But his flesh hath pain for himself alone, and his soul mourneth for himself.
15:1And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 15:2Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind, 15:3Reasoning with unprofitable talk, and with speeches which do no good? 15:4Yea, thou makest piety of none effect, and restrainest meditation before God. 15:5For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou hast chosen the tongue of the crafty. 15:6Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; and thy lips testify against thee. 15:7Art thou the first man that was born? and wast thou brought forth before the hills? 15:8Hast thou listened in the secret council of God? And hast thou absorbed wisdom for thyself? 15:9What knowest thou that we know not? [what] understandest thou which is not in us? 15:10Both the greyheaded and the aged are with us, older than thy father. 15:11Are the consolations of God too small for thee? and the word gently spoken to thee? 15:12Why doth thy heart carry thee away? and why do thine eyes wink? 15:13That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest words go out of thy mouth? 15:14What is man, that he should be pure? and he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? 15:15Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight: 15:16How much less the abominable and corrupt, man, that drinketh unrighteousness like water! 15:17I will shew thee, listen to me; and what I have seen I will declare; 15:18Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hidden; 15:19Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them. 15:20All his days the wicked man is tormented, and numbered years are allotted to the violent. 15:21The sound of terrors is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer cometh upon him. 15:22He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is singled out for the sword. 15:23He wandereth abroad for bread, where may it be? He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. 15:24Distress and anguish make him afraid; they prevail against him, as a king ready for the battle. 15:25For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and strengthened himself against the Almighty: 15:26He runneth against him, with [outstretched] neck, with the thick bosses of his bucklers; 15:27For he hath covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat upon [his] flanks. 15:28And he dwelleth in desolate cities, in houses that no man inhabiteth, which are destined to become heaps. 15:29He shall not become rich, neither shall his substance continue, and their possessions shall not extend upon the earth. 15:30He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches; and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away. 15:31Let him not trust in vanity: he is deceived, for vanity shall be his recompense; 15:32It shall be complete before his day, and his branch shall not be green. 15:33He shall shake off his unripe grapes as a vine, and shall cast his flower as an olive. 15:34For the family of the ungodly shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery. 15:35They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
16:1And Job answered and said, 16:2I have heard many such things: grievous comforters are ye all. 16:3Shall words of wind have an end? or what provoketh thee that thou answerest? 16:4I also could speak as ye: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could join together words against you, and shake my head at you; 16:5[But] I would encourage you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips should assuage [your pain]. 16:6If I speak, my pain is not assuaged; and if I forbear, what am I eased? 16:7But now he hath made me weary; thou hast made desolate all my family; 16:8Thou hast shrivelled me up! it is become a witness; and my leanness riseth up against me, it beareth witness to my face. 16:9His anger teareth and pursueth me; he gnasheth with his teeth against me; [as] mine adversary he sharpeneth his eyes at me. 16:10They gape upon me with their mouth; they smite my cheeks reproachfully; they range themselves together against me. 16:11God hath delivered me over to the iniquitous man, and hurled me into the hands of the wicked. 16:12I was at rest, but he hath shattered me; he hath taken me by the neck and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. 16:13His arrows encompass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground. 16:14He breaketh me with breach upon breach; he runneth upon me like a mighty man. 16:15I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and rolled my horn in the dust. 16:16My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; 16:17Although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure. 16:18O earth, cover not my blood, and let there be no place for my cry! 16:19Even now, behold, my Witness is in the heavens, and he that voucheth for me is in the heights. 16:20My friends are my mockers; mine eye poureth out tears unto God. 16:21Oh that there were arbitration for a man with God, as a son of man for his friend! 16:22For years [few] in number shall pass, and I shall go the way [whence] I shall not return.
17:1My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are mine. 17:2Are there not mockers around me? and doth [not] mine eye abide in their provocation? 17:3Lay down now [a pledge], be thou surety for me with thyself: who is he that striketh hands with me? 17:4For thou hast hidden their heart from understanding; therefore thou wilt not exalt [them]. 17:5He that betrayeth friends for a prey even the eyes of his children shall fail. 17:6And he hath made me a proverb of the peoples; and I am become one to be spit on in the face. 17:7And mine eye is dim by reason of grief, and all my members are as a shadow. 17:8Upright men [shall be] astonished at this, and the innocent shall be stirred up against the ungodly; 17:9But the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall increase in strength. 17:10But as for you all, pray come on again; and I shall not find one wise man among you. 17:11My days are past, my purposes are broken off, the cherished thoughts of my heart. 17:12They change the night into day; the light [they imagine] near in presence of the darkness. 17:13If I wait, Sheol is my house; I spread my bed in the darkness: 17:14I cry to the grave, Thou art my father! to the worm, My mother, and my sister! 17:15And where is then my hope? yea, my hope, who shall see it? 17:16It shall go down to the bars of Sheol, when [our] rest shall be together in the dust.
18:1And Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 18:2How long will ye hunt for words? Be intelligent, and then we will speak. 18:3Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed stupid in your sight? 18:4Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger, shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of its place? 18:5Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the flame of his fire shall not shine. 18:6The light shall become dark in his tent, and his lamp over him shall be put out. 18:7The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down. 18:8For he is sent into the net by his own feet, and he walketh on the meshes; 18:9The gin taketh [him] by the heel, the snare layeth hold on him; 18:10A cord is hidden for him in the ground, and his trap in the way. 18:11Terrors make him afraid on every side, and chase him at his footsteps. 18:12His strength is hunger-bitten, and calamity is ready at his side. 18:13The firstborn of death devoureth the members of his body; it will devour his members. 18:14His confidence shall be rooted out of his tent, and it shall lead him away to the king of terrors: 18:15They who are none of his shall dwell in his tent; brimstone shall be showered upon his habitation: 18:16His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off; 18:17His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name on the pasture-grounds. 18:18He is driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. 18:19He hath neither son nor grandson among his people, nor any remaining in the places of his sojourn. 18:20They that come after shall be astonished at his day, as they that went before [them] were affrighted. 18:21Surely, such are the dwellings of the unrighteous man, and such the place of him that knoweth not God.