The calamities of the wicked. JOB. The misery of Job represented. 2 How long will it be ere ye make an not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no end of words? mark, and afterwards we judgment. will speak. 3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight? 4 He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place? 5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine. 6 The light shall be dark in his tabernaele, and his candle shall be put out with him. 7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down. 8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare. 9 The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him. 10 The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way. 11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet. 12 His strength shall be hunger-bitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side. 13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the first-born of death shall devour his strength. 14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall ring him to the king of terrors. 15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation. 16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off. 17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street. 18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. 19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings. 20 They that come after him shall be aston shed at his day,as they that went before were affrighted. 21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that. knoweth not God. CHAP. XIX. answered and said, 8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths. 9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. 10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and my hope hath he removed like a tree. 11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies. 12 His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle. 13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. 14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me. 15 They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight. 16 I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; entreated him with my mouth. 17 My breath is strange to my wife, though I entreated for the children's sake of mine own body. I 18 Yea, young children despised me; arose, and they spake against me. 19 All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me. 20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth. 21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me. 22 Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? 23 O that my words were now written! O that they were printed in a book! 24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! 25 For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and THEY Joans will ye ves my soul, mine eyes shall behold, and not another, and break me in pieces with words? 3 These ten times have ye reproached, me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me. 4 And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself. 5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach: though my reins be consumed within me. 28 But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me? 29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment. CHAP. XX. 6 Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net. 7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am to THEN answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, 2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me answer, and for this I make haste. Job shows cause for his grief. 27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; 3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth and the earth shall rise up against him. 7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shal! say, Where is he? 8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. 9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him. 10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore theirgoods. 11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust. 12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue: 13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: 14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of ass within him. 15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. 16 He shall suck the poison of asps : viper's tongue shall slay him. the 17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. 18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down:] according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein. 19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away a house which he builded not; 20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired. 28 The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. 29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God. CHAP. XXI. OUT Job answered and said, BU 2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations. 3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on. 4 As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? 5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth. 6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh. 7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, vea, are mighty in power? 8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. 9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. 10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not: their cow calveth,and casteth not her calf. 11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. 12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. 13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. 14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. 15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? 16 Lo, their good is not in their hand : the counsel of the wicked is far from me. 17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out? and how oft cometh their destruction upon them? God distributeth sorrows in his anger. 21 There shall none of his meat be left; 18 They are as stubble before the wind, therefore shall no man look for his goods. and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. 22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he 19 God layeth up his iniquity for his shall be in straits: every hand of the wick-children: he rewardeth him, and he shall ed shall come upon him. know it. 23 When he is about to fill his belly, God 20 His eyes shall see his destruction, shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Aland shall rain it upon him while he is eating. mighty. 24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, 21 For what pleasure hath he in his and the bow of steel shall strike him through. house after him, when the number of his 25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the months is cut off in the midst? body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him. 26 All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle. 22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high. 23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. 24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. Job accused of sundry sins. JOB. He is exhorted to repentance. 25 And another dieth in the bitterness] 16 Which were cut down out of time, of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. whose foundation was overflown with a 26 They shall lie down alike in the flood: dust, and the worms shall cover them. 27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me. 28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwellingplaces of the wicked? 29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know theirtokens, 30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. 17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? 18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. 19 The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn. 20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth. 21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come un 31 Who shall declare his way to his face? to thee. and who shall repay him what he hath done? 32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. 33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before bim. 34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood? THE CHAP. XXII. HEN Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? 3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect ? 4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? 5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? 22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart. 23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. 24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. 25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. 26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. 27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. 28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. 29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. 30 He shall deliver the island of the 6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy innocent: and it is delivered by the purebrother for nought, and stripped the na-ness of thy hands. ked of their clothing. CHAP. XXIII. 7 Thou hast not given water to the wea-THEN Job answered and said, bread from the hungry, 8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it. 9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. 10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; 11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee. 12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! 13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? 14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in tue circuit of heaven. 15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? bit ter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. 3 Ob that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! 4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. 5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. 6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me. 7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge. 8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: 9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth Dim as gold. God's decrees immutable. CHAP. XXIV, XXV, XXVI. Judgment for the wicked. self on the right hand, that I cannot see him:{ 15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth 10 But he knoweth the way that I take: for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see when he hath tried me, I shall come forth me: and disguiseth his face. 16 In the dark they dig through houses, 11 My foot hath held his steps, his way which they had marked for themselves in have I kept, and not declined. the day-time: they know not the light. 12 Neither have I gone back from the 17 For the morning is to them even as commandment of his lips; I have esteem- the shadow of death: if one know them, ed the words of his mouth more than my they are in the terrors of the shadow of necessary food. death. 13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. 14 For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him. 15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him. 16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me: 18 He is swift as the waters; their por tion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards. 19 Drought and heat consume the snowwaters: so doth the grave those which have sinned. 20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree. 17 Because I was not cut off before the 21 He evil-entreateth the barren that darkness, neither hath he covered the dark-beareth not: and doeth not good to the ness from my face. CHAP. XXIV. WHY, seeing times are not hidden widow. 22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure from the Almighty, do they that of life. know him not see his days? 2 Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof 3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. 4 They turn the needy out of the way the poor of the earth hide themselves together. 23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways. 24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. 25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech no5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert, thing worth? go they forth to their work; rising beCHAP. XXV. times for a prey : the wilderness yieldeth THEN answered Bildad the Shuhite, yieldethand said, food for them for their children. 6 They reap every one his corn in the field and they gather the vintage of the wicked. 7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold. 8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter. 9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor. 10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry; 2 Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places. 3 Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise? 4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? 5 Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. 6 How much less man, that is a worm; and the son of man, which is a worm? CHAP. XXVI. UT Job answered and said, 11 Which make oil within their walls, B How were helped him that is and tread their wine-presses, and suffer without power? how savest thou the arm thirst. that hath no strength? 12 Men groan from out of the city, and 3 How hast thou counselled him that the soul of the wounded crieth out yet hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plenGod layeth not folly to them. tifully declared the thing as it is? 13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. 14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. 4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee? 5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof. 6 Hell is naked before him, and deIstruction hath no covering. Job protests his nncerity. JOB. Wisdom an excellent gift of God. 7 He stretcheth out the north over the 17 He may prepare it, but the just shall empty place, and hangeth the earth upon put it on, and the innocent shall divide the nothing. silver. 8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick 18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and clouds; and the cloud is not rent under as a booth that the keeper maketh. them. 9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it. 10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end. 11 The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof. 12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud. 13 By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. 14 Lo, these are parts of his ways; but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand? CHAP. XXVII. 2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; 3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; 4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. 5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. 19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not. 20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night. 21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. 22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. 23 Men shall clip their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place. CHAP. XXVIII. SURE URELY there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. 3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. 4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men. 5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. 6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold. There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: 6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go my heart shall not reproach it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. me so long as I live. 8 The lion's whelps have not trodden 9 He putteth forth his hand upon the 7 Let mine enemy be as the wicked, rock; he overturneth the mountains by the and he that riseth up against me as the un-roots. righteous. 10 He cutteth out rivers among the 8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, rocks; and his eye seeth every precious though he hath gained, when God taketh thing. away his soul? 9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? 10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God? 11 I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. 11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. 12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? 13 Man knoweth not the price thereof ; neither is it found in the land of the living. 14 The depth saith, It is not in me: 12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen and the sea saith, It is not with me. it; why then are ye thus altogether vain? 15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither 13 This is the portion of a wicked man shall silver be weighed for the price with God, and the heritage of oppressors, thereof. which they shall receive of the Almighty. 16 It cannot be valued with the gold of 14 If his children be multiplied, it is Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the for the sword and his offspring shall not sapphire. be satisfied with bread. 15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death and his widows shall not 17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. 18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is Jabove rubies. |