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Job
| But Job answered and said, |
| How hast thou helped him that is without power? how
savest thou the arm that hath no strength? |
| How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom?
and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is? |
| To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit
came from thee? |
| Dead things are formed from under the waters, and
the inhabitants thereof. |
| Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no
covering. |
| He stretcheth out the north over the empty place,
and hangeth the earth upon nothing. |
| He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and
the cloud is not rent under them. |
| He holdeth back the face of his throne, and
spreadeth his cloud upon it. |
| He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the
day and night come to an end. |
| The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at
his reproof. |
| He divideth the sea with his power, and by his
understanding he smiteth through the proud. |
| By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his
hand hath formed the crooked serpent. |
| 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? |
| Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, |
| As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and
the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; |
| All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of
God is in my nostrils; |
| My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue
utter deceit. |
| God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I
will not remove mine integrity from me. |
| My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it
go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live. |
| Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth
up against me as the unrighteous. |
| For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he
hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? |
| Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? |
| Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he
always call upon God? |
| I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is
with the Almighty will I not conceal. |
| Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are
ye thus altogether vain? |
| This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and
the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty. |
| If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword:
and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. |
| Those that remain of him shall be buried in death:
and his widows shall not weep. |
| Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare
raiment as the clay; |
| He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and
the innocent shall divide the silver. |
| He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that
the keeper maketh. |
| The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be
gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not. |
| Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest
stealeth him away in the night. |
| The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth:
and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. |
| For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would
fain flee out of his hand. |
| Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss
him out of his place. |
| Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place
for gold where they fine it. |
| Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten
out of the stone. |
| He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all
perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. |
| The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the
waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from
men. |
| As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under
it is turned up as it were fire. |
| 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: |
| The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the
fierce lion passed by it. |
| He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he
overturneth the mountains by the roots. |
| He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye
seeth every precious thing. |
| He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the
thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. |
| But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the
place of understanding? |
| Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it
found in the land of the living. |
| The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith,
It is not with me. |
| It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver
be weighed for the price thereof. |
| It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the
precious onyx, or the sapphire. |
| The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the
exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. |
| No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for
the price of wisdom is above rubies. |
| The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither
shall it be valued with pure gold. |
| Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of
understanding? |
| Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and
kept close from the fowls of the air. |
| Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame
thereof with our ears. |
| God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth
the place thereof. |
| For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth
under the whole heaven; |
| To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth
the waters by measure. |
| When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for
the lightning of the thunder: |
| Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it,
yea, and searched it out. |
| And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord,
that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. |
| Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, |
| Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days
when God preserved me; |
| When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his
light I walked through darkness; |
| As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of
God was upon my tabernacle; |
| When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children
were about me; |
| When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock
poured me out rivers of oil; |
| When I went out to the gate through the city, when I
prepared my seat in the street! |
| The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the
aged arose, and stood up. |
| The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand
on their mouth. |
| The nobles held their peace, and their tongue
cleaved to the roof of their mouth. |
| When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when
the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: |
| Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the
fatherless, and him that had none to help him. |
| The blessing of him that was ready to perish came
upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. |
| I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my
judgment was as a robe and a diadem. |
| I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. |
| I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I
knew not I searched out. |
| And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the
spoil out of his teeth. |
| Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall
multiply my days as the sand. |
| My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew
lay all night upon my branch. |
| My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in
my hand. |
| Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence
at my counsel. |
| After my words they spake not again; and my speech
dropped upon them. |
| And they waited for me as for the rain; and they
opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain. |
| If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the
light of my countenance they cast not down. |
| I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a
king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners. |
| But now they that are younger than I have me in
derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs
of my flock. |
| Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands
profit me, in whom old age was perished? |
| For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into
the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. |
| Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots
for their meat. |
| They were driven forth from among men, (they cried
after them as after a thief;) |
| To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of
the earth, and in the rocks. |
| Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they
were gathered together. |
| They were children of fools, yea, children of base
men: they were viler than the earth. |
| And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. |
| They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not
to spit in my face. |
| Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me,
they have also let loose the bridle before me. |
| Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my
feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction. |
| They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they
have no helper. |
| They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters:
in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me. |
| Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as
the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud. |
| And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of
affliction have taken hold upon me. |
| My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and
my sinews take no rest. |
| By the great force of my disease is my garment
changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. |
| He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like
dust and ashes. |
| I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand
up, and thou regardest me not. |
| Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand
thou opposest thyself against me. |
| Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to
ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance. |
| For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to
the house appointed for all living. |
| Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the
grave, though they cry in his destruction. |
| Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not
my soul grieved for the poor? |
| When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and
when I waited for light, there came darkness. |
| My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of
affliction prevented me. |
| I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I
cried in the congregation. |
| I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. |
| My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned
with heat. |
| My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ
into the voice of them that weep. |
| I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I
think upon a maid? |
| For what portion of God is there from above? and
what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? |
| Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange
punishment to the workers of iniquity? |
| Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? |
| If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath
hasted to deceit; |
| Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may
know mine integrity. |
| If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine
heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine
hands; |
| Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my
offspring be rooted out. |
| If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I
have laid wait at my neighbour's door; |
| Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others
bow down upon her. |
| For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity
to be punished by the judges. |
| For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and
would root out all mine increase. |
| If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my
maidservant, when they contended with me; |
| What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he
visiteth, what shall I answer him? |
| Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and
did not one fashion us in the womb? |
| If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or
have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; |
| Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the
fatherless hath not eaten thereof; |
| (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as
with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;) |
| If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or
any poor without covering; |
| If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not
warmed with the fleece of my sheep; |
| If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
when I saw my help in the gate: |
| Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and
mine arm be broken from the bone. |
| For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by
reason of his highness I could not endure. |
| If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the
fine gold, Thou art my confidence; |
| If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and
because mine hand had gotten much; |
| If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon
walking in brightness; |
| And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth
hath kissed my hand: |
| This also were an iniquity to be punished by the
judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. |
| If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated
me, or lifted up myself when evil found him: |
| Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a
curse to his soul. |
| If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had
of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied. |
| The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I
opened my doors to the traveller. |
| If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding
mine iniquity in my bosom: |
| Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of
families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door? |
| Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is,
that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a
book. |
| Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it
as a crown to me. |
| I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as
a prince would I go near unto him. |
| If my land cry against me, or that the furrows
likewise thereof complain; |
| If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or
have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: |
| Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle
instead of barley. The words of Job are ended. |
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