The World English Bible (WEB) Part 47

What can you know? 11:9 Its measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. 11:10 If he pa.s.ses by, or confines, or convenes a court, then who can oppose him? 11:11 For he knows false men. He sees iniquity also, even though he doesn't consider it. 11:12 An empty-headed man becomes wise when a man is born as a wild donkey's colt. 11:13 "If you set your heart aright, stretch out your hands toward him. 11:14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away. Don't let unrighteousness dwell in your tents. 11:15 Surely then you shall lift up your face without spot; Yes, you shall be steadfast, and shall not fear: 11:16 for you shall forget your misery. You shall remember it as waters that are pa.s.sed away. 11:17 Life shall be clearer than the noonday. Though there is darkness, it shall be as the morning. 11:18 You shall be secure, because there is hope. Yes, you shall search, and shall take your rest in safety. 11:19 Also you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. Yes, many shall court your favor. 11:20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail. They shall have no way to flee. Their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit." 12:1 Then Job answered,

12:2 "No doubt, but you are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

12:3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you.

Yes, who doesn't know such things as these? 12:4 I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on G.o.d, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke. 12:5 In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune. It is ready for them whose foot slips.

12:6 The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke G.o.d are secure, who carry their G.o.d in their hands. 12:7 "But ask the animals, now, and they shall teach you; the birds of the sky, and they shall tell you. 12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you. The fish of the sea shall declare to you. 12:9 Who doesn't know that in all these, the hand of Yahweh has done this, 12:10 in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind? 12:11 Doesn't the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food? 12:12 With aged men is wisdom, in length of days understanding. 12:13 "With G.o.d is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding. 12:14 Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

12:15 Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up. Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth. 12:16 With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his. 12:17 He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools. 12:18 He loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waist with a belt. 12:19 He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty. 12:20 He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.

12:21 He pours contempt on princes, and loosens the belt of the strong.

12:22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death. 12:23 He increases the nations, and he destroys them. He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive. 12:24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. 12:25 They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man. 13:1 "Behold, my eye has seen all this. My ear has heard and understood it. 13:2 What you know, I know also. I am not inferior to you. 13:3 "Surely I would speak to the Almighty. I desire to reason with G.o.d. 13:4 But you are forgers of lies. You are all physicians of no value. 13:5 Oh that you would be completely silent! Then you would be wise. 13:6 Hear now my reasoning. Listen to the pleadings of my lips.

13:7 Will you speak unrighteously for G.o.d, and talk deceitfully for him?

13:8 Will you show partiality to him? Will you contend for G.o.d? 13:9 Is it good that he should search you out? Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive him? 13:10 He will surely reprove you if you secretly show partiality. 13:11 Shall not his majesty make you afraid, And his dread fall on you? 13:12 Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, Your defenses are defenses of clay. 13:13 "Be silent, leave me alone, that I may speak. Let come on me what will. 13:14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand? 13:15 Behold, he will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him. 13:16 This also shall be my salvation, that a G.o.dless man shall not come before him. 13:17 Hear diligently my speech. Let my declaration be in your ears. 13:18 See now, I have set my cause in order. I know that I am righteous. 13:19 Who is he who will contend with me? For then would I hold my peace and give up the spirit. 13:20 "Only don't do two things to me; then I will not hide myself from your face: 13:21 withdraw your hand far from me; and don't let your terror make me afraid. 13:22 Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you answer me. 13:23 How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my disobedience and my sin.

13:24 Why hide you your face, and hold me for your enemy? 13:25 Will you hara.s.s a driven leaf? Will you pursue the dry stubble? 13:26 For you write bitter things against me, and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth: 13:27 You also put my feet in the stocks, and mark all my paths.

You set a bound to the soles of my feet, 13:28 though I am decaying like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten. 14:1 "Man, who is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble. 14:2 He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn't continue. 14:3 Do you open your eyes on such a one, and bring me into judgment with you? 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. 14:5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he can't pa.s.s; 14:6 Look away from him, that he may rest, until he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day. 14:7 "For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, that the tender branch of it will not cease. 14:8 Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stock dies in the ground, 14:9 yet through the scent of water it will bud, and put forth boughs like a plant. 14:10 But man dies, and is laid low. Yes, man gives up the spirit, and where is he? 14:11 As the waters fail from the sea, and the river wastes and dries up, 14:12 so man lies down and doesn't rise. Until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake, nor be roused out of their sleep. 14:13 "Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would keep me secret, until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! 14:14 If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare would I wait, until my release should come. 14:15 You would call, and I would answer you. You would have a desire to the work of your hands. 14:16 But now you number my steps. Don't you watch over my sin? 14:17 My disobedience is sealed up in a bag. You fasten up my iniquity. 14:18 "But the mountain falling comes to nothing. The rock is removed out of its place; 14:19 The waters wear the stones. The torrents of it wash away the dust of the earth. So you destroy the hope of man. 14:20 You forever prevail against him, and he departs. You change his face, and send him away.

14:21 His sons come to honor, and he doesn't know it. They are brought low, but he doesn't perceive it of them. 14:22 But his flesh on him has pain, and his soul within him mourns." 15:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

15:2 "Should a wise man answer with vain knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind? 15:3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk, or with speeches with which he can do no good? 15:4 Yes, you do away with fear, and hinder devotion before G.o.d. 15:5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty. 15:6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I. Yes, your own lips testify against you.

15:7 "Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills? 15:8 Have you heard the secret counsel of G.o.d? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? 15:9 What do you know, that we don't know?

What do you understand, which is not in us? 15:10 With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men, much elder than your father. 15:11 Are the consolations of G.o.d too small for you, even the word that is gentle toward you? 15:12 Why does your heart carry you away? Why do your eyes flash, 15:13 That you turn your spirit against G.o.d, and let such words go out of your mouth? 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean?

What is he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? 15:15 Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones. Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight; 15:16 how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water! 15:17 "I will show you, listen to me; that which I have seen I will declare: 15:18 (Which wise men have told by their fathers, and have not hidden it; 15:19 to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger pa.s.sed among them): 15:20 the wicked man writhes in pain all his days, even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor. 15:21 A sound of terrors is in his ears.

In prosperity the destroyer shall come on him. 15:22 He doesn't believe that he shall return out of darkness. He is waited for by the sword.

15:23 He wanders abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?' He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. 15:24 Distress and anguish make him afraid. They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. 15:25 Because he has stretched out his hand against G.o.d, and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty; 15:26 he runs at him with a stiff neck, with the thick s.h.i.+elds of his bucklers; 15:27 because he has covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat on his thighs.

15:28 He has lived in desolate cities, in houses which no one inhabited, which were ready to become heaps. 15:29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth. 15:30 He shall not depart out of darkness. The flame shall dry up his branches. By the breath of G.o.d's mouth shall he go away. 15:31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; for emptiness shall be his reward. 15:32 It shall be accomplished before his time. His branch shall not be green. 15:33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive tree.

15:34 For the company of the G.o.dless shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery. 15:35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. Their heart prepares deceit." 16:1 Then Job answered,

16:2 "I have heard many such things. You are all miserable comforters!

16:3 Shall vain words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer?

16:4 I also could speak as you do. If your soul were in my soul's place, I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you, 16:5 but I would strengthen you with my mouth. The solace of my lips would relieve you. 16:6 "Though I speak, my grief is not subsided. Though I forbear, what am I eased? 16:7 But now, G.o.d, you have surely worn me out. You have made desolate all my company. 16:8 You have shriveled me up. This is a witness against me. My leanness rises up against me. It testifies to my face. 16:9 He has torn me in his wrath, and persecuted me. He has gnashed on me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his eyes on me. 16:10 They have gaped on me with their mouth. They have struck me on the cheek reproachfully. They gather themselves together against me.

16:11 G.o.d delivers me to the unG.o.dly, and casts me into the hands of the wicked. 16:12 I was at ease, and he broke me apart. Yes, he has taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces. He has also set me up for his target. 16:13 His archers surround me. He splits my kidneys apart, and does not spare. He pours out my gall on the ground. 16:14 He breaks me with breach on breach. He runs on me like a giant. 16:15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and have thrust my horn in the dust. 16:16 My face is red with weeping. Deep darkness is on my eyelids. 16:17 Although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure. 16:18 "Earth, don't cover my blood. Let my cry have no place to rest. 16:19 Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven. He who vouches for me is on high. 16:20 My friends scoff at me. My eyes pour out tears to G.o.d, 16:21 that he would maintain the right of a man with G.o.d, of a son of man with his neighbor! 16:22 For when a few years are come, I shall go the way from whence I shall not return. 17:1 "My spirit is consumed. My days are extinct, And the grave is ready for me. 17:2 Surely there are mockers with me. My eye dwells on their provocation. 17:3 "Now give a pledge, be collateral for me with yourself. Who is there who will strike hands with me? 17:4 For you have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore you shall not exalt them. 17:5 He who denounces his friends for a prey, Even the eyes of his children shall fail. 17:6 "But he has made me a byword of the people. They spit in my face. 17:7 My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. All my members are as a shadow. 17:8 Upright men shall be astonished at this. The innocent shall stir up himself against the G.o.dless. 17:9 Yet shall the righteous hold on his way. He who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger. 17:10 But as for you all, come on now again; I shall not find a wise man among you. 17:11 My days are past, my plans are broken off, as are the thoughts of my heart. 17:12 They change the night into day, saying 'The light is near' in the presence of darkness. 17:13 If I look for Sheol as my house, if I have spread my couch in the darkness, 17:14 If I have said to corruption, 'You are my father;' to the worm, 'My mother,' and 'my sister;' 17:15 where then is my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? 17:16 Shall it go down with me to the gates of Sheol, or descend together into the dust?" 18:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

18:2 "How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and afterwards we will speak. 18:3 Why are we counted as animals, which have become unclean in your sight? 18:4 You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you? Or shall the rock be removed out of its place? 18:5 "Yes, the light of the wicked shall be put out, The spark of his fire shall not s.h.i.+ne. 18:6 The light shall be dark in his tent. His lamp above him shall be put out. 18:7 The steps of his strength shall be shortened. His own counsel shall cast him down. 18:8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he wanders into its mesh. 18:9 A snare will take him by the heel. A trap will catch him. 18:10 A noose is hidden for him in the ground, a trap for him in the way. 18:11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall chase him at his heels. 18:12 His strength shall be famished. Calamity shall be ready at his side. 18:13 The members of his body shall be devoured. The firstborn of death shall devour his members. 18:14 He shall be rooted out of his tent where he trusts. He shall be brought to the king of terrors. 18:15 There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his. Sulfur shall be scattered on his habitation. 18:16 His roots shall be dried up beneath. Above shall his branch be cut off. 18:17 His memory shall perish from the earth. He shall have no name in the street. 18:18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. 18:19 He shall have neither son nor grandson among his people, nor any remaining where he sojourned. 18:20 Those who come after shall be astonished at his day, as those who went before were frightened. 18:21 Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous. This is the place of him who doesn't know G.o.d." 19:1 Then Job answered,

19:2 "How long will you torment me, and crush me with words? 19:3 You have reproached me ten times. You aren't ashamed that you attack me.

19:4 If it is true that I have erred, my error remains with myself. 19:5 If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach; 19:6 know now that G.o.d has subverted me, and has surrounded me with his net. 19:7 "Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard. I cry for help, but there is no justice. 19:8 He has walled up my way so that I can't pa.s.s, and has set darkness in my paths. 19:9 He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. 19:10 He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone. My hope he has plucked up like a tree. 19:11 He has also kindled his wrath against me. He counts me among his adversaries. 19:12 His troops come on together, build a siege ramp against me, and encamp around my tent. 19:13 "He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

19:14 My relatives have gone away. My familiar friends have forgotten me. 19:15 Those who dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger. I am an alien in their sight. 19:16 I call to my servant, and he gives me no answer. I beg him with my mouth. 19:17 My breath is offensive to my wife. I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.

19:18 Even young children despise me. If I arise, they speak against me.

19:19 All my familiar friends abhor me. They whom I loved have turned against me. 19:20 My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. 19:21 "Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends; for the hand of G.o.d has touched me. 19:22 Why do you persecute me as G.o.d, and are not satisfied with my flesh? 19:23 "Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! 19:24 That with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!

19:25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth. 19:26 After my skin is destroyed, then in my flesh shall I see G.o.d, 19:27 Whom I, even I, shall see on my side. My eyes shall see, and not as a stranger. "My heart is consumed within me. 19:28 If you say, 'How we will persecute him!' because the root of the matter is found in me, 19:29 be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment." 20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,

20:2 "Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me, even by reason of my haste that is in me. 20:3 I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame. The spirit of my understanding answers me. 20:4 Don't you know this from old time, since man was placed on earth, 20:5 that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the G.o.dless but for a moment? 20:6 Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds, 20:7 yet he shall perish forever like his own dung.

Those who have seen him shall say, 'Where is he?' 20:8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found. Yes, he shall be chased away like a vision of the night. 20:9 The eye which saw him shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more see him. 20:10 His children shall seek the favor of the poor. His hands shall give back his wealth. 20:11 His bones are full of his youth, but youth shall lie down with him in the dust. 20:12 "Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue, 20:13 though he spare it, and will not let it go, but keep it still within his mouth; 20:14 yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him. 20:15 He has swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again. G.o.d will cast them out of his belly. 20:16 He shall suck cobra venom. The viper's tongue shall kill him. 20:17 He shall not look at the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and b.u.t.ter. 20:18 That for which he labored he shall restore, and shall not swallow it down. According to the substance that he has gotten, he shall not rejoice. 20:19 For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up. 20:20 "Because he knew no quietness within him, he shall not save anything of that in which he delights. 20:21 There was nothing left that he didn't devour, therefore his prosperity shall not endure. 20:22 In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress shall overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery shall come on him. 20:23 When he is about to fill his belly, G.o.d will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating. 20:24 He shall flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow shall strike him through. 20:25 He draws it forth, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver.

Terrors are on him. 20:26 All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire shall devour him. It shall consume that which is left in his tent. 20:27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity. The earth shall rise up against him. 20:28 The increase of his house shall depart. They shall rush away in the day of his wrath. 20:29 This is the portion of a wicked man from G.o.d, the heritage appointed to him by G.o.d." 21:1 Then Job answered,

21:2 "Listen diligently to my speech. Let this be your consolation. 21:3 Allow me, and I also will speak; After I have spoken, mock on. 21:4 As for me, is my complaint to man? Why shouldn't I be impatient? 21:5 Look at me, and be astonished. Lay your hand on your mouth. 21:6 When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh. 21:7 "Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power? 21:8 Their child is established with them in their sight, their offspring before their eyes. 21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of G.o.d upon them. 21:10 Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and don't miscarry. 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock.

Their children dance. 21:12 They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe. 21:13 They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol. 21:14 They tell G.o.d, 'Depart from us, for we don't want to know about your ways. 21:15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?' 21:16 Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand.

The counsel of the wicked is far from me. 21:17 "How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes on them, that G.o.d distributes sorrows in his anger? 21:18 How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away? 21:19 You say, 'G.o.d lays up his iniquity for his children.' Let him recompense it to himself, that he may know it. 21:20 Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

21:21 For what does he care for his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off? 21:22 "Shall any teach G.o.d knowledge, seeing he judges those who are high? 21:23 One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. 21:24 His pails are full of milk. The marrow of his bones is moistened. 21:25 Another dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good. 21:26 They lie down alike in the dust. The worm covers them. 21:27 "Behold, I know your thoughts, the devices with which you would wrong me. 21:28 For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?' 21:29 Haven't you asked wayfaring men? Don't you know their evidences, 21:30 that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, That they are led forth to the day of wrath? 21:31 Who shall declare his way to his face? Who shall repay him what he has done? 21:32 Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men shall keep watch over the tomb. 21:33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him. All men shall draw after him, as there were innumerable before him. 21:34 So how can you comfort me with nonsense, seeing that in your answers there remains only falsehood?" 22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

22:2 "Can a man be profitable to G.o.d? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself. 22:3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous? Or does it benefit him, that you make your ways perfect?

22:4 Is it for your piety that he reproves you, that he enters with you into judgment? 22:5 Isn't your wickedness great? Neither is there any end to your iniquities. 22:6 For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing. 22:7 You haven't given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. 22:8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth. The honorable man, he lived in it. 22:9 You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. 22:10 Therefore snares are around you. Sudden fear troubles you, 22:11 or darkness, so that you can not see, and floods of waters cover you. 22:12 "Isn't G.o.d in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high they are! 22:13 You say, 'What does G.o.d know? Can he judge through the thick darkness? 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he doesn't see. He walks on the vault of the sky.' 22:15 Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden, 22:16 who were s.n.a.t.c.hed away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream, 22:17 who said to G.o.d, 'Depart from us;' and, 'What can the Almighty do for us?' 22:18 Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. 22:19 The righteous see it, and are glad. The innocent ridicule them, 22:20 saying, 'Surely those who rose up against us are cut off.

The fire has consumed the remnant of them.' 22:21 "Acquaint yourself with him, now, and be at peace. Thereby good shall come to you. 22:22 Please receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. 22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents. 22:24 Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.

22:25 The Almighty will be your treasure, and precious silver to you.

22:26 For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and shall lift up your face to G.o.d. 22:27 You shall make your prayer to him, and he will hear you. You shall pay your vows. 22:28 You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you. Light shall s.h.i.+ne on your ways. 22:29 When they cast down, you shall say, 'be lifted up.' He will save the humble person. 22:30 He will even deliver him who is not innocent. Yes, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of your hands." 23:1 Then Job answered,

23:2 "Even today my complaint is rebellious. His hand is heavy in spite of my groaning. 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat! 23:4 I would set my cause in order before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. 23:5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would tell me. 23:6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No, but he would listen to me. 23:7 There the upright might reason with him, so I should be delivered forever from my judge. 23:8 "If I go east, he is not there; if west, I can't find him; 23:9 He works to the north, but I can't see him.

He turns south, but I can't catch a glimpse of him. 23:10 But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I shall come forth like gold.

23:11 My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned aside. 23:12 I haven't gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. 23:13 But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? What his soul desires, even that he does. 23:14 For he performs that which is appointed for me. Many such things are with him. 23:15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence. When I consider, I am afraid of him. 23:16 For G.o.d has made my heart faint. The Almighty has terrified me. 23:17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face. 24:1 "Why aren't times laid up by the Almighty? Why don't those who know him see his days? 24:2 There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them. 24:3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow's ox for a pledge. 24:4 They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves. 24:5 Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children. 24:6 They cut their provender in the field. They glean the vineyard of the wicked.

24:7 They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. 24:8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter. 24:9 There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor, 24:10 So that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves. 24:11 They make oil within the walls of these men. They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst. 24:12 From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet G.o.d doesn't regard the folly. 24:13 "These are of those who rebel against the light. They don't know its ways, nor abide in its paths. 24:14 The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.

24:15 The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye shall see me.' He disguises his face. 24:16 In the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They don't know the light. 24:17 For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness. 24:18 "They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They don't turn into the way of the vineyards. 24:19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned. 24:20 The womb shall forget him. The worm shall feed sweetly on him. He shall be no more remembered. Unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree. 24:21 He devours the barren who don't bear. He shows no kindness to the widow.

24:22 Yet G.o.d preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no a.s.surance of life. 24:23 G.o.d gives them security, and they rest in it.

His eyes are on their ways. 24:24 They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone. Yes, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.

24:25 If it isn't so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?" 25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

25:2 "Dominion and fear are with him. He makes peace in his high places.

25:3 Can his armies be counted? On whom does his light not arise? 25:4 How then can man be just with G.o.d? Or how can he who is born of a woman be clean? 25:5 Behold, even the moon has no brightness, and the stars are not pure in his sight; 25:6 How much less man, who is a worm, the son of man, who is a worm!" 26:1 Then Job answered,

26:2 "How have you helped him who is without power! How have you saved the arm that has no strength! 26:3 How have you counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge! 26:4 To whom have you uttered words? Whose spirit came forth from you? 26:5 "Those who are deceased tremble, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

26:6 Sheol is naked before G.o.d, and Abaddon has no covering. 26:7 He stretches out the north over empty s.p.a.ce, and hangs the earth on nothing. 26:8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not burst under them. 26:9 He encloses the face of his throne, and spreads his cloud on it. 26:10 He has described a boundary on the surface of the waters, and to the confines of light and darkness. 26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke. 26:12 He stirs up the sea with his power, and by his understanding he strikes through Rahab. 26:13 By his Spirit the heavens are garnished. His hand has pierced the swift serpent. 26:14 Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways. How small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?" 27:1 Job again took up his parable, and said,

27:2 "As G.o.d lives, who has taken away my right, the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter. 27:3 (For the length of my life is still in me, and the spirit of G.o.d is in my nostrils); 27:4 surely my lips shall not speak unrighteousness, neither shall my tongue utter deceit. 27:5 Far be it from me that I should justify you. Until I die I will not put away my integrity from me. 27:6 I hold fast to my righteousness, and will not let it go. My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live. 27:7 "Let my enemy be as the wicked. Let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous. 27:8 For what is the hope of the G.o.dless, when he is cut off, when G.o.d takes away his life? 27:9 Will G.o.d hear his cry when trouble comes on him? 27:10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty, and call on G.o.d at all times? 27:11 I will teach you about the hand of G.o.d.

That which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. 27:12 Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?

27:13 "This is the portion of a wicked man with G.o.d, the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty. 27:14 If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword. His offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. 27:15 Those who remain of him shall be buried in death. His widows shall make no lamentation. 27:16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay; 27:17 he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver. 27:18 He builds his house as the moth, as a booth which the watchman makes. 27:19 He lies down rich, but he shall not do so again.

He opens his eyes, and he is not. 27:20 Terrors overtake him like waters. A storm steals him away in the night. 27:21 The east wind carries him away, and he departs. It sweeps him out of his place. 27:22 For it hurls at him, and does not spare, as he flees away from his hand.

27:23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place. 28:1 "Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine. 28:2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore. 28:3 Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness. 28:4 He breaks open a shaft away from where people live. They are forgotten by the foot. They hang far from men, they swing back and forth. 28:5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread; Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire. 28:6 Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold. 28:7 That path no bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon's eye seen it. 28:8 The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion pa.s.sed by there. 28:9 He puts forth his hand on the flinty rock, and he overturns the mountains by the roots. 28:10 He cuts out channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing. 28:11 He binds the streams that they don't trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings forth to light. 28:12 "But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding? 28:13 Man doesn't know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living. 28:14 The deep says, 'It isn't in me.' The sea says, 'It isn't with me.' 28:15 It can't be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price. 28:16 It can't be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

28:17 Gold and gla.s.s can't equal it, neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. 28:18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies. 28:19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

28:20 Whence then comes wisdom? Where is the place of understanding?

28:21 Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky. 28:22 Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.' 28:23 "G.o.d understands its way, and he knows its place. 28:24 For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky. 28:25 He establishes the force of the wind.

Yes, he measures out the waters by measure. 28:26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; 28:27 then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out.

28:28 To man he said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.'" 29:1 Job again took up his parable, and said,

29:2 "Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when G.o.d watched over me; 29:3 when his lamp shone on my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, 29:4 as I was in the ripeness of my days, when the friends.h.i.+p of G.o.d was in my tent, 29:5 when the Almighty was yet with me, and my children were around me, 29:6 when my steps were washed with b.u.t.ter, and the rock poured out streams of oil for me, 29:7 when I went forth to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street. 29:8 The young men saw me and hid themselves. The aged rose up and stood.

29:9 The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. 29:10 The voice of the n.o.bles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth. 29:11 For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it commended me: 29:12 Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had none to help him, 29:13 the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem.

29:15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. 29:16 I was a father to the needy. The cause of him who I didn't know, I searched out.

29:17 I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, and plucked the prey out of his teeth. 29:18 Then I said, 'I shall die in my own house, I shall number my days as the sand. 29:19 My root is spread out to the waters.

The dew lies all night on my branch. 29:20 My glory is fresh in me. My bow is renewed in my hand.' 29:21 "Men listened to me, waited, and kept silence for my counsel. 29:22 After my words they didn't speak again. My speech fell on them. 29:23 They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain. 29:24 I smiled on them when they had no confidence. They didn't reject the light of my face. 29:25 I chose out their way, and sat as chief. I lived as a king in the army, as one who comforts the mourners. 30:1 "But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs. 30:2 Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has perished? 30:3 They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.

30:4 They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom are their food. 30:5 They are driven out from the midst of men. They cry after them as after a thief; 30:6 So that they dwell in frightful valleys, and in holes of the earth and of the rocks. 30:7 Among the bushes they bray; and under the nettles they are gathered together. 30:8 They are children of fools, yes, children of base men. They were flogged out of the land. 30:9 "Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to them. 30:10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, and don't hesitate to spit in my face. 30:11 For he has untied his cord, and afflicted me; and they have thrown off restraint before me. 30:12 On my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet, They cast up against me their ways of destruction. 30:13 They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, without anyone's help. 30:14 As through a wide breach they come, in the midst of the ruin they roll themselves in.

30:15 Terrors have turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has pa.s.sed away as a cloud. 30:16 "Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold on me. 30:17 In the night season my bones are pierced in me, and the pains that gnaw me take no rest. 30:18 By great force is my garment disfigured. It binds me about as the collar of my coat. 30:19 He has cast me into the mire. I have become like dust and ashes. 30:20 I cry to you, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me. 30:21 You have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of your hand you persecute me. 30:22 You lift me up to the wind, and drive me with it. You dissolve me in the storm. 30:23 For I know that you will bring me to death, To the house appointed for all living. 30:24 "However doesn't one stretch out a hand in his fall?

Or in his calamity therefore cry for help? 30:25 Didn't I weep for him who was in trouble? Wasn't my soul grieved for the needy? 30:26 When I looked for good, then evil came; When I waited for light, there came darkness. 30:27 My heart is troubled, and doesn't rest. Days of affliction have come on me. 30:28 I go mourning without the sun. I stand up in the a.s.sembly, and cry for help. 30:29 I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches. 30:30 My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat. 30:31 Therefore my harp has turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep. 31:1 "I made a covenant with my eyes, how then should I look l.u.s.tfully at a young woman? 31:2 For what is the portion from G.o.d above, and the heritage from the Almighty on high? 31:3 Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity? 31:4 Doesn't he see my ways, and number all my steps? 31:5 "If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit 31:6 (let me be weighed in an even balance, that G.o.d may know my integrity); 31:7 if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands, 31:8 then let me sow, and let another eat. Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out. 31:9 "If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbor's door, 31:10 then let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her. 31:11 For that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges: 31:12 For it is a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase. 31:13 "If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me; 31:14 What then shall I do when G.o.d rises up? When he visits, what shall I answer him? 31:15 Didn't he who made me in the womb make him? Didn't one fas.h.i.+on us in the womb? 31:16 "If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, 31:17 or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it 31:18 (no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, her have I guided from my mother's womb); 31:19 if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering; 31:20 if his heart hasn't blessed me, if he hasn't been warmed with my sheep's fleece; 31:21 if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate, 31:22 then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone. 31:23 For calamity from G.o.d is a terror to me. Because his majesty, I can do nothing. 31:24 "If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence;' 31:25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much; 31:26 if I have seen the sun when it s.h.i.+ned, or the moon moving in splendor, 31:27 and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, 31:28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the G.o.d who is above. 31:29 "If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him; 31:30 (yes, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse); 31:31 if the men of my tent have not said, 'Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?' 31:32 (the foreigner has not lodged in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler); 31:33 if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart, 31:34 because I feared the great mult.i.tude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and didn't go out of the door--31:35 oh that I had one to hear me! (behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); let the accuser write my indictment! 31:36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; and I would bind it to me as a crown. 31:37 I would declare to him the number of my steps. as a prince would I go near to him. 31:38 If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; 31:39 if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life, 31:40 let briars grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.

32:1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 32:2 Then the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was kindled against Job. His wrath was kindled because he justified himself rather than G.o.d. 32:3 Also his wrath was kindled against his three friends, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. 32:4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were elder than he. 32:5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was kindled.

32:6 Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered,

"I am young, and you are very old; Therefore I held back, and didn't dare show you my opinion. 32:7 I said, 'Days should speak, and mult.i.tude of years should teach wisdom.' 32:8 But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. 32:9 It is not the great who are wise, nor the aged who understand justice. 32:10 Therefore I said, 'Listen to me; I also will show my opinion.' 32:11 "Behold, I waited for your words, and I listened for your reasoning, while you searched out what to say. 32:12 Yes, I gave you my full attention, but there was no one who convinced Job, or who answered his words, among you. 32:13 Beware lest you say, 'We have found wisdom, G.o.d may refute him, not man;' 32:14 for he has not directed his words against me; neither will I answer him with your speeches. 32:15 "They are amazed.

They answer no more. They don't have a word to say. 32:16 Shall I wait, because they don't speak, because they stand still, and answer no more?

32:17 I also will answer my part, and I also will show my opinion. 32:18 For I am full of words. The spirit within me constrains me. 32:19 Behold, my breast is as wine which has no vent; like new wineskins it is ready to burst. 32:20 I will speak, that I may be refreshed. I will open my lips and answer. 32:21 Please don't let me respect any man's person, neither will I give flattering t.i.tles to any man. 32:22 For I don't know how to give flattering t.i.tles; or else my Maker would soon take me away.

33:1 "However, Job, Please hear my speech, and listen to all my words.

33:2 See now, I have opened my mouth. My tongue has spoken in my mouth.

33:3 My words shall utter the uprightness of my heart. That which my lips know they shall speak sincerely. 33:4 The Spirit of G.o.d has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. 33:5 If you can, answer me. Set your words in order before me, and stand forth. 33:6 Behold, I am toward G.o.d even as you are. I am also formed out of the clay. 33:7 Behold, my terror shall not make you afraid, neither shall my pressure be heavy on you. 33:8 "Surely you have spoken in my hearing, I have heard the voice of your words, saying, 33:9 'I am clean, without disobedience. I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me. 33:10 Behold, he finds occasions against me. He counts me for his enemy. 33:11 He puts my feet in the stocks. He marks all my paths.' 33:12 "Behold, I will answer you. In this you are not just, for G.o.d is greater than man.

33:13 Why do you strive against him, because he doesn't give account of any of his matters? 33:14 For G.o.d speaks once, yes twice, though man pays no attention. 33:15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, in slumbering on the bed; 33:16 Then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, 33:17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. 33:18 He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from peris.h.i.+ng by the sword. 33:19 He is chastened also with pain on his bed, with continual strife in his bones; 33:20 So that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty food. 33:21 His flesh is so consumed away, that it can't be seen. His bones that were not seen stick out. 33:22 Yes, his soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers. 33:23 "If there is beside him an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him; 33:24 then G.o.d is gracious to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.' 33:25 His flesh shall be fresher than a child's. He returns to the days of his youth. 33:26 He prays to G.o.d, and he is favorable to him, so that he sees his face with joy. He restores to man his righteousness. 33:27 He sings before men, and says, 'I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it didn't profit me. 33:28 He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit.

My life shall see the light.' 33:29 "Behold, G.o.d works all these things, twice, yes three times, with a man, 33:30 to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of the living. 33:31 Mark well, Job, and listen to me. Hold your peace, and I will speak.