Job.21
[1] But Job answered and said,[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, yea, 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.
[18] They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
[19] God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
[20] His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
[21] For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
[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.
[25] And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
[26] They shall lie down alike in the 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 dwelling places of the wicked?
[29] Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,
[30] That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
[31] Who shall declare his way to his face? 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 him.
[34] How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?
Job.22
[1] Then 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?
[6] For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
[7] Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
[8] But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
[9] Thou has 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 the circuit of heaven.
[15] Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
[16] Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:
[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 unto thee.
[22] Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine 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 innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.
Job.23
[1] Then Job answered and said,[2] Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
[3] Oh 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 himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:
[10] But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
[11] My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
[12] Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
[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:
[17] Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.
Job.24
[1] Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that 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.
[5] Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and 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;
[11] Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
[12] Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.
[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.
[15] The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.
[16] In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.
[17] For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
[18] He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
[19] Drought and heat consume the snow waters: 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.
[21] He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.
[22] He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.
[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 nothing worth?
Job.25
[1] Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,[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?
Job.26
[1] But Job answered and said,[2] How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?
[3] How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?
[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 destruction hath no covering.
[7] He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
[8] He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under 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?
Job.27
[1] Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,[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.
[6] My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
[7] Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
[8] For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh 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.
[12] Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
[13] This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
[14] If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
[15] Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
[16] Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
[17] He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
[18] He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
[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 clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
Job.28
[1] Surely 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.
[7] There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:
[8] The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.
[9] He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
[10] He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.
[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: and the sea saith, It is not with me.
[15] It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
[16] It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
[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 above rubies.
[19] The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
[20] Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
[21] Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
[22] Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
[23] God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
[24] For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;
[25] To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.
[26] When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
[27] Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
[28] And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Job.29
[1] Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,[2] Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
[3] When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
[4] As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
[5] When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
[6] When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
[7] When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
[8] The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.
[9] The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
[10] The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
[11] When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
[12] Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
[13] The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
[14] I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
[15] I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
[16] I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
[17] And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
[18] Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
[19] My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
[20] My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.
[21] Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
[22] After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
[23] And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
[24] If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
[25] I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.
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