13 For now should I have lain down and been quiet;

I should have slept; then had I been at rest,

14 With kings and counsellors of the earth,

Who built up waste places for themselves;

15 Or with princes that had gold, Who filled their houses with silver:

16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been,

As infants that never saw light. 17 There the wicked cease from troubling;

And there the weary are at rest, 18 There the prisoners are at ease together;

They hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

19 The small and the great are there :

And the servant is free from his master.

20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery,

And life unto the bitter in soul; 21 Who 5 long for death, but it cometh not,

Y solitary 3 Or, built solitary piles
4 Or, raging 5 Heb. wait.

And dig for it more than for hid treasures;

22 Who rejoice exceedingly,

And are glad, when they can find the grave?

23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid,

And whom God hath hedged in? 24 For my sighing cometh 7 before I eat,

8

And my groanings are poured out like water.

25 For 9 the thing which I fear cometh upon me,

And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.

26 I 10 am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; But trouble cometh.

3 Behold,

many,

thou hast instructed

And thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling,

And thou hast made firm the 11 feeble knees,

5 But now it is come unto thee, and thou 12 faintest;

It toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

6 Is not thy fear of God thy confidence,

And the integrity of thy ways thy hope?

7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent?

Or where were the upright cut off?

8 According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity,

And sow 13 trouble, reap the

10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion,

And the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey,

And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.

12 Now a thing was 1 secretly brought to me,

And mine ear received a whisper thereof.

13 In thoughts from the visions of the night,

When deep sleep falleth on men, 14 Fear came upon me, and trembling,

Which made all my bones to shake.

15 Then 2a spirit passed before my face;

The hair of my flesh stood up. 16 It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof; A form was before mine eyes: 3 There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

17 Shall mortal man be more just than God?

Shall a man 5 be more pure than

his Maker?

18 Behold, he putteth no trust in his servants;

And his angels he chargeth with folly:

19 How much more them that dwell in houses of clay,

Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!

207 Betwixt morning and evening they are destroyed:

They perish for ever without any regarding it.

21 Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them?

1 Heb. brought by stealth. 2 Or, a breath passed over 3 Or, I heard a still voice

4 Or, be just before God

5 Or, be pure before his Maker 7 Or, From morning to evening 8 Heb. broken in pieces.

6 Or, like

9 Or, Is not their excellency which is in them removed?

5

The Insecurity of the Wicked They die, and that without wisdom.

Call now; is there any that

will answer thee?

And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?

2 For vexation killeth the foolish

3 I have seen the foolish taking root:

But suddenly I cursed his habitation.

4 His children are far from safety, And they are crushed in the gate,

Neither is there any to deliver them:

5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up,

And taketh it even out of the thorns;

And 11 the snare gapeth for their substance.

6 For 12 affliction cometh not forth from the dust,

Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

7 But man is born unto trouble, As 13 the sparks fly upward.

8 But as for me, I would seek unto God,

And unto God would I commit my cause;

9 Who doeth great things and unsearchable,

Marvellous things without number:

10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, And sendeth waters upon the fields;

11 So that he setteth up on high those that are low,

And those that mourn are exalted to safety.

12 He frustrateth the devices of the crafty,

So that their hands 14 cannot perform their enterprise.

bles;

Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

20 In famine he will redeem thee from death;

And in war from the power of the sword.

21 Thou shalt be hid from the Scourge of the tongue;

Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. 22 At destruction and dearth thou shalt laugh;

Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field;

And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

24 And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace;

And thou shalt visit thy 3 fold, and shalt miss nothing.

25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great,

And thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in

a full age,

Job describes his Wretchedness

27

6

Like as a shock of grain cometh in in its season.

Lo this, we have searched it, so it is;

Hear it, and know thou it 5 for thy good.

Then Job answered and said,

2 Oh that my vexation were but weighed,

And all my calamity laid in the balances!

3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas:

Therefore have my words been rash.

4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,

The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up:

The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

5 Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass?

Or loweth the ox over his fodder? 6 Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt?

Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

77 My soul refuseth to touch them; They are as loathsome food to

me.

8 Oh that I might have my request;

And that God would grant me the thing that I long for! 9 Even that it would please God to crush me;

That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

10 And be it still my consolation, 8 Yea, let me exult in pain 10 that spareth not,

That I have not 11 denied the words of the Holy One.

11 What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is mine end, that I should be patient?

5 Heb. for thyself. Or, the juice of purslain 7 Or, What things my soul refused to touch, these are as my loathsome food

8 Or, Though I shrink back 9 Or, harden myself 10 Or, though he spare not

11 Or, concealed

14 To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his friend;

1 Even to him that forsaketh the

fear of the Almighty.

15 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook,

As the channel of brooks that pass away;

16 Which are black by reason of the ice,

And wherein the snow hideth itself:

17 What time they 2 wax warm, they vanish;

When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

18 3 The caravans that travel by the way of them turn aside;

They go up into the waste, and perish.

19 The caravans of Tema looked, The companies of Sheba waited for them.

20 They were put to shame because they had hoped;

They came thither, and were confounded.

21 For now ye are nothing;

Ye see a terror, and are afraid.

22 Did I say, Give unto me?

Or, Offer a present for me of your substance?

23 Or, Deliver me from the adversary's hand?

Or, Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?

24 Teach me, and I will hold my peace;

And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

25 How forcible are words of uprightness!

1 Or, Else might he forsake Or, But he forsaketh 2 Or, shrink

3 Or, The paths of their way are turned aside 4 Another reading is, are like thereto.

But your reproof, what doth it reprove?

26 Do ye think to reprove words, Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate wind?

are

5 as

27 Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless,

And make merchandise of your friend.

28 Now therefore be pleased to look upon me;

29

30

7

6 For surely I shall not lie to your face.

Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice;

Yea, return again, 7my cause is righteous.

Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?

Is there not a 8 warfare to man upon earth?

And are not his days like the days of a hireling?

2 As a servant that earnestly desireth the shadow,

And as a hireling that looketh for his wages:

3 So am I made to possess months of misery,

And wearisome nights are appointed to me.

4 When I lie down, I say,

When shall I arise, and the night be gone?

And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust;

My skin closeth up, and breaketh out afresh.

6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,

And are spent without hope. 7 Oh remember that my life is a breath:

Mine eye shall no more see good. 8 The eye of him that seeth me shall behold me no more;

11 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

12 Am I a sea, or a sea-monster,

That thou settest a watch over me?

13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me,

My couch shall ease my complaint;

14 Then thou scarest me with dreams,

And terrifiest me through visions:

15 So that my soul chooseth strangling,

And death rather than these my bones.

16 I loathe my life; I 2 would not live alway:

Let me alone; for my days are 3 vanity.

17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him,

And that thou shouldest set thy mind upon him,

18 And that thou shouldest visit him every morning,

And try him every moment? 19 How long wilt thou not look away from me,

Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

20 If I have sinned, what 4 do unto thee, O thou 5 watcher of men?

8

my transgression, and take away mine iniquity?

For now shall I lie down in the dust;

And thou wilt seek me diligently, but I shall not be.

Then answered Bildad Shuhite, and said,

the

2 How long wilt thou speak these things?

And how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a mighty wind?

3 Doth God pervert justice?

Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness?

4 6 If thy children have sinned against him,

And he hath delivered them into the hand of their transgression; 5 If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God,

And make thy supplication to the Almighty;

6 If thou wert pure and upright: Surely now he would awake for thee,

And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

7 And though thy beginning was small,

Yet thy latter end would greatly increase.

8 For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age,

And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out

9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing,

Because our days upon earth are a shadow);

10 Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee,

And utter words out of their heart?

for thee,

1 Or, I waste away

4 Or, can I do

5 Or, preserver

7 Or, papyrus

8 Or, reed-grass