ACV - Job

Chapter 1

1:1  There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil.

1:2  And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

1:3  His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-donkeys, and a very great household, so that this man was the greatest of all the sons of the east.

1:4  And his sons went and held a feast in the house of each one upon his day, and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

1:5  And it was so, when the days of their feasting were completed, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts. Thus Job did continually.

1:6  Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan also came among them.

1:7  And Jehovah said to Satan, From where do thou come? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.

1:8  And Jehovah said to Satan, Have thou considered my servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil.

1:9  Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Does Job fear God for nothing?

1:10  Have thou not made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has, on every side? Thou have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

1:11  But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce thee to thy face.

1:12  And Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in thy power, only upon himself do not put forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah.

1:13  And it fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house,

1:14  that there came a messenger to Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them,

1:15  and the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away. Yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and only I alone have escaped to tell thee.

1:16  While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God fell from heaven, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and only I alone have escaped to tell thee.

1:17  While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have taken them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and only I alone have escaped to tell thee.

1:18  While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house.

1:19  And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead, and only I alone have escaped to tell thee.

1:20  Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped.

1:21  And he said, Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away, blessed be the name of Jehovah.

1:22  In all this Job did not sin, nor foolishly accuse God.

Chapter 2

2:1  Again it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Jehovah.

2:2  And Jehovah said to Satan, From where did thou come? And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.

2:3  And Jehovah said to Satan, Have thou considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although thou moved me against him, to destroy him without cause.

2:4  And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man has he will give for his life.

2:5  But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce thee to thy face.

2:6  And Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand, only spare his life.

2:7  So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smote Job with severe boils from the sole of his foot to his crown.

2:8  And he took a potsherd for him to scrape himself with it, and he sat among the ashes.

2:9  Then his wife said to him, Do thou still hold fast thine integrity? Renounce God, and die.

2:10  But he said to her, Thou speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

2:11  Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that came upon him, they came each one from his own place-Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite-and they made an appointment together to come to bemoan him and to comfort him.

2:12  And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and did not recognize him, they lifted up their voice, and wept. And each one tore his robe, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

2:13  So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights. And none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.

Chapter 3

3:1  After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.

3:2  And Job answered and said,

3:3  Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night which said, There is a man-child conceived.

3:4  Let that day be darkness. Let not God from above seek for it, nor let the light shine upon it.

3:5  Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell upon it. Let blackness come upon it.

3:6  As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it. Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months.

3:7  Lo, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come in it.

3:8  Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.

3:9  Let the stars of the twilight of it be dark. Let it look for light, but have none, nor let it behold the eyelids of the morning.

3:10  Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.

3:11  Why did I not die from the womb? Why did I not give up the spirit when my mother bore me?

3:12  Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should suck?

3:13  For now I should have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept. Then I would have been at rest

3:14  with kings and counselors of the earth, who built waste places for themselves,

3:15  or with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.

3:16  Or I should have been as a hidden untimely birth, as infants that never saw light.

3:17  There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.

3:18  There the prisoners are at ease together. They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

3:19  The small and the great are there. And the servant is free from his master.

3:20  Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,

3:21  who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hid treasures,

3:22  who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the grave?

3:23  Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God has hedged in?

3:24  For my sighing comes before I eat, and my groanings are poured out like water.

3:25  For the thing which I fear comes upon me, and that which I am afraid of comes to me.

3:26  I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, neither have I rest, but trouble comes.

Chapter 4

4:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said,

4:2  If a man tries to converse with thee, will thou be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?

4:3  Behold, thou have instructed many, and thou have strengthened the weak hands.

4:4  Thy words have upheld him who was falling, and thou have made firm the feeble knees.

4:5  But now it comes to thee, and thou faint. It touches thee, and thou are troubled.

4:6  Is not thy fear of God thy confidence, the integrity of thy ways thy hope?

4:7  Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?

4:8  According as I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same.

4:9  By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.

4:10  The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

4:11  The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.

4:12  Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper of it.

4:13  In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

4:14  fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

4:15  Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.

4:16  It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance of it. A form was before my eyes. There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

4:17  Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker?

4:18  Behold, he puts no trust in his servants, and he charges his agents with folly.

4:19  How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!

4:20  Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it.

4:21  Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.

Chapter 5

5:1  Call now, is there any who will answer thee? And to which of the holy ones will thou turn?

5:2  For vexation kills the foolish man, and jealousy slays the silly one.

5:3  I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

5:4  His sons are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,

5:5  whose harvest the hungry eat up, and takes it even out of the thorns, and the snare gapes for their substance.

5:6  For affliction does not come forth from the dust, nor does trouble spring out of the ground,

5:7  but man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

5:8  But as for me, I would seek to God. And to God I would commit my cause,

5:9  who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number,

5:10  who gives rain upon the earth, and sends waters upon the fields,

5:11  so that he sets up on high those who are low, and those who mourn are exalted to safety.

5:12  He frustrates the devices of the crafty so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

5:13  He takes the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.

5:14  They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noonday as in the night.

5:15  But he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.

5:16  So a poor man has hope, and iniquity stops her mouth.

5:17  Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise thou the chastening of the Almighty.

5:18  For he injures, and binds up. He wounds, and his hands make whole.

5:19  He will deliver thee in six troubles. Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

5:20  In famine he will redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

5:21  Thou shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue. Neither shall thou be afraid of destruction when it comes.

5:22  At destruction and dearth thou shall laugh, nor shall thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

5:23  For thou shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

5:24  And thou shall know that thy tent is in peace, and thou shall visit thy fold, and shall miss nothing.

5:25  Thou shall know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

5:26  Thou shall come to thy grave in a full age, like a shock of grain comes in its season.

5:27  Lo this, we have searched it, so it is. Hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

Chapter 6

6:1  Then Job answered and said,

6:2  O that my grief were but weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!

6:3  For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas. Therefore my words have been rash.

6:4  For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison of which my spirit drinks up. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.

6:5  Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or the ox moo over his fodder?

6:6  Can that which has no savor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

6:7  My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me.

6:8  O that I might have my request, and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

6:9  Even that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

6:10  And be it still my consolation, yea, let me exult (in pain that does not spare), that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

6:11  What is my strength that I should wait? And what is my end that I should be patient?

6:12  Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass?

6:13  Is it not that I have no help in me, and that wisdom is driven quite from me?

6:14  To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be from his friend, even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

6:15  My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away,

6:16  which are black because of the ice, in which the snow hides itself.

6:17  What time they grow warm, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

6:18  The caravans that travel by the way of them turn aside. They go up into the waste, and perish.

6:19  The caravans of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.

6:20  They were put to shame because they had hoped. They came there, and were confounded.

6:21  For now ye are nothing. Ye see a terror, and are afraid.

6:22  Did I say, Give to me? Or, Offer a present for me from your substance?

6:23  Or, Deliver me from the adversary's hand? Or, Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?

6:24  Teach me, and I will be quiet. And cause me to understand how I have erred.

6:25  How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove?

6:26  Do ye think to reprove words, seeing that the speeches of a man who is desperate are as wind?

6:27  Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.

6:28  Now therefore be pleased to look upon me, for truly I shall not lie to your face.

6:29  Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice. Yea, return again, my cause is righteous.

6:30  Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?

Chapter 7

7:1  Is there not a warfare to man upon earth? And are not his days like the days of a hireling?

7:2  As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, and as a hireling who looks for his wages,

7:3  so I am made to possess months of misery, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

7:4  When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? And I am full of tossing to and fro to the dawning of the day.

7:5  My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.

7:6  My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

7:7  O remember that my life is a breath. My eye shall no more see good.

7:8  The eye of him who sees me shall behold me no more. Thine eyes shall be upon me, but I shall not be.

7:9  As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more.

7:10  He shall return no more to his house, nor shall his place know him any more.

7:11  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.

7:12  Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, that thou set a watch over me?

7:13  When I say, My bed shall comfort me. My couch shall ease my complaint.

7:14  Then thou scare me with dreams, and terrify me through visions,

7:15  so that my soul chooses strangling and death rather than these my bones.

7:16  I loathe my life. I would not live always. Let me alone, for my days are vanity.

7:17  What is man, that thou should magnify him, and that thou should set thy mind upon him,

7:18  and that thou should visit him every morning, and try him every moment?

7:19  How long will thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

7:20  If I have sinned, what do I do to thee, O thou watcher of men? Why have thou set me as a mark for thee, so that I am a burden to myself?

7:21  And why do thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie down in the dust, and thou will seek me diligently, but I shall not be.

Chapter 8

8:1  Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, and said,

8:2  How long will thou speak these things? And how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a mighty wind?

8:3  Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?

8:4  If thy sons have sinned against him, and he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression,

8:5  if thou would seek diligently to God, and make thy supplication to the Almighty,

8:6  if thou were pure and upright, surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

8:7  And though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end would greatly increase.

8:8  For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out

8:9  (for we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow).

8:10  Shall they not teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?

8:11  Can the rush grow up without mire? Can a reed grow without water?

8:12  While it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down, it withers before any other herb.

8:13  So are the paths of all who forget God. And the hope of the profane man shall perish,

8:14  whose confidence shall break apart, and whose trust is a spider's web.

8:15  He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand. He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.

8:16  He is green before the sun, and his shoots go forth over his garden.

8:17  His roots are wrapped around the stone heap. He beholds the place of stones.

8:18  If he is destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

8:19  Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth others shall spring.

8:20  Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, nor will he uphold the evildoers.

8:21  He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, and thy lips with shouting.

8:22  Those who hate thee shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked shall be no more.

Chapter 9

9:1  Then Job answered and said,

9:2  Of a truth I know that it is so. But how can man be just with God?

9:3  If he is pleased to contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.

9:4  He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against him, and prospered?

9:5  He who removes the mountains, and they do not know it when he overturns them in his anger,

9:6  who shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars of it tremble,

9:7  who commands the sun, and it does not rise, and seals up the stars,

9:8  who alone stretches out the heavens, and treads upon the waves of the sea,

9:9  who makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south,

9:10  who does great things past finding out, yea, marvelous things without number.

9:11  Lo, he goes by me, and I do not see him. He also passes on, but I do not perceive him.

9:12  Behold, he seizes; who can hinder him? Who will say to him, What are thou doing?

9:13  God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.

9:14  How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?

9:15  Whom, though I were righteous, yet I would not answer. I would make supplication to my judge.

9:16  If I had called, and he had answered me, yet I would not believe that he hearkened to my voice.

9:17  For he breaks me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause.

9:18  He will not allow me to take my breath, but fills me with bitterness.

9:19  If of strength, lo, he is mighty! And if of justice, who will summon me?

9:20  Though I be righteous, my own mouth shall condemn me. Though I be perfect, it shall prove me perverse.

9:21  Though I were perfect, I do not regard myself. I despise my life.

9:22  It is all one thing. Therefore I say, He destroys the perfect and the wicked.

9:23  If the scourge kills suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.

9:24  The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of the judges of it. If not he, who then is it?

9:25  Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away. They see no good,

9:26  They are passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that swoops on the prey.

9:27  If I say, I will forget my complaint. I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer,

9:28  I am afraid of all my sorrows. I know that thou will not hold me innocent.

9:29  I shall be condemned. Why then do I labor in vain?

9:30  If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands ever so clean,

9:31  yet thou will plunge me in the ditch, and my own clothes shall abhor me.

9:32  For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, that we should come together in judgment.

9:33  There is no umpire between us who might lay his hand upon us both.

9:34  Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his terror make me afraid.

9:35  Then I would speak, and not be afraid of him, for I am not so in myself.

Chapter 10

10:1  My soul is weary of my life. I will give free reign to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

10:2  I will say to God, Do not condemn me. Show me why thou contend with me.

10:3  Is it good to thee that thou should oppress, that thou should despise the work of thy hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

10:4  Have thou eyes of flesh? Or do thou see as man sees?

10:5  Are thy days as the days of man, or thy years as man's days,

10:6  that thou inquire after my iniquity, and search after my sin,

10:7  although thou know that I am not wicked. And there is none that can deliver out of thy hand?

10:8  Thy hands have made me and fashioned me together round about, yet thou destroy me.

10:9  Remember, I beseech thee, that thou have fashioned me as clay. And will thou bring me into dust again?

10:10  Have thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

10:11  Thou have clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.

10:12  Thou have granted me life and loving kindness, and thy visitation has preserved my spirit.

10:13  Yet these things thou hid in thy heart. I know that this is with thee.

10:14  If I sin, then thou mark me. And thou will not acquit me from my iniquity.

10:15  If I be wicked, woe to me. And if I be righteous, yet I shall not lift up my head, being filled with shame, and looking upon my affliction.

10:16  And if my head exalts itself, thou hunt me as a lion. And again thou show thyself marvelous upon me.

10:17  Thou renew thy witnesses against me, and increase thine indignation upon me. Changes and warfare are with me.

10:18  Why then have thou brought me forth out of the womb? I would have given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me.

10:19  I should have been as though I had not been. I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

10:20  Are not my days few? Cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little

10:21  before I go where I shall not return, to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death,

10:22  the land dark as midnight, of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as midnight.

Chapter 11

11:1  Then Zophar the Naamathite answered, and said,

11:2  Should not the multitude of words be answered? And should a man full of talk be justified?

11:3  Should thy boastings make men hold their peace? And when thou mock, shall no man make thee ashamed?

11:4  For thou say, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.

11:5  But O that God would speak, and open his lips against thee,

11:6  and that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know therefore that God exacts of thee less than thine iniquity deserves.

11:7  Can thou find out God by searching? Can thou find out the Almighty to perfection?

11:8  It is high as heaven; what can thou do? Deeper than Sheol; what can thou know?

11:9  The measure of it is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

11:10  If he passes through, and shuts up, and all to judgment, then who can hinder him?

11:11  For he knows false men. He also sees iniquity. Will he not then consider it?

11:12  But vain man is void of understanding. Yea, man is born as a wild donkey's colt.

11:13  If thou set thy heart aright, and stretch out thy hands toward him,

11:14  if iniquity is in thy hand, put it far away, and let not unrighteousness dwell in thy tents.

11:15  Surely then thou shall lift up thy face without spot. Yea, thou shall be steadfast, and shall not fear.

11:16  For thou shall forget thy misery. Thou shall remember it as waters that are passed away.

11:17  And thy life shall be clearer than the noonday. Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.

11:18  And thou shall be secure, because there is hope. Yea, thou shall search about thee, and shall take thy rest in safety.

11:19  Also thou shall lie down, and none shall make thee afraid. Yea, many shall correspond with thee.

11:20  But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall have no way to flee. And their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit.

Chapter 12

12:1  Then Job answered and said,

12:2  No doubt but ye 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 does not know such things as these?

12:4  I am as a man who is a laughing-stock to his neighbor. I who called upon God, and he answered. The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.

12:5  In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for calamity. It is ready for those whose foot slips.

12:6  The tents of robbers prosper, and those who provoke God are secure. Into whose hand God brings abundantly.

12:7  But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee, and the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee.

12:8  Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare to thee.

12:9  Who does not know in all these, that the hand of Jehovah has wrought this,

12:10  in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?

12:11  Does not the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?

12:12  With aged men is wisdom, and in length of days understanding.

12:13  With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.

12:14  Behold, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again. He shuts up a man, and there can be no opening.

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, and he makes judges fools.

12:18  He loosens the bond of kings, and he binds their loins with a belt.

12:19  He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty.

12:20  He removes the speech of the trustworthy, and takes away the understanding of the elders.

12:21  He pours contempt upon rulers, and weakens the strength 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, and he makes them to stagger like a drunken man.

Chapter 13

13:1  Lo, my eye has seen all this. My ear has heard and understood it.

13:2  What ye know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.

13:3  Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.

13:4  But ye are forgers of lies. Ye are all physicians of no value.

13:5  O that ye would altogether be silent! And it would be your wisdom.

13:6  Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.

13:7  Will ye speak unrighteously for God, and talk deceitfully for him?

13:8  Will ye show partiality to him? Will ye contend for God?

13:9  Is it good that he should search you out? Or as deceiving a man, will ye deceive him?

13:10  He will surely reprove you if ye secretly show partiality.

13:11  Shall not his majesty make you afraid, and his dread fall upon you?

13:12  Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes. Your defenses are defenses of clay.

13:13  Be quiet. Let me alone that I may speak, and 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 profane man shall not come before him.

13:17  Hear diligently my speech, and let my declaration be in your ears.

13:18  Behold now, I have set my case in order. I know that I am righteous.

13:19  Who is he who will contend with me? For then I would keep silent and give up the spirit.

13:20  Only do not do two things to me, then I will not hide myself from thy face:

13:21  Withdraw thy hand far from me, and do not let thy dread make me afraid.

13:22  Then call thou, and I will answer, or let me speak, and answer thou me.

13:23  How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin.

13:24  Why do thou hide thy face, and reckon me for thine enemy?

13:25  Will thou harass a driven leaf? And will thou pursue the dry stubble?

13:26  For thou write bitter things against me, and make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth.

13:27  Thou also put my feet in the stocks, and mark all my paths. Thou set a bound to the soles of my feet.

13:28  Though I am like a rotten thing that decays, like a garment that is moth-eaten.

Chapter 14

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 too flees as a shadow, and does not continue.

14:3  And do thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and bring me into judgment with thee?

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 thee, and thou have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass,

14:6  look away from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

14:7  For there is hope of a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch of it will not cease.

14:8  Though the root of it grows old in the earth, and the trunk of it 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. Yea, man gives up the spirit, and where is he?

14:11  As the waters fail from the sea, and the river wastes away and dries up,

14:12  so man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be roused out of their sleep.

14:13  O that thou would hide me in Sheol, that thou would keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou would appoint for me a set time, and remember me!

14:14  If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare I would wait till my release should come.

14:15  Thou would call, and I would answer thee. Thou would have a desire to the work of thy hands.

14:16  But now thou number my steps. Do thou not watch over my sin?

14:17  My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou fasten up my iniquity.

14:18  But the falling mountain comes to nothing, and the rock is removed out of its place.

14:19  The waters wear the stones. The overflowings of it wash away the dust of the earth. So thou destroy the hope of man.

14:20  Thou prevail forever against him, and he passes. Thou change his countenance, and send him away.

14:21  His sons come to honor, and he does not know it, and they are brought low, but he does not perceive it of them.

14:22  But his flesh upon him has pain, and his soul within him mourns.

Chapter 15

15:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said,

15:2  Should a wise man make 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  Yea, thou do away with fear, and hinder devotion before God.

15:5  For thine iniquity teaches thy mouth. And thou choose the tongue of the crafty.

15:6  Thine own mouth condemns thee, and not I. Yes, thine own lips testify against thee.

15:7  Are thou the first man who was born? Or were thou brought forth before the hills?

15:8  Have thou heard the secret counsel of God? And do thou limit wisdom to thyself?

15:9  What do thou know, that we do not know? What do thou understand, which is not in us?

15:10  With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men, much older than thy father.

15:11  Are the consolations of God too small for thee, even the word that is gentle toward thee?

15:12  Why does thy heart carry thee away? And why do thine eyes flash,

15:13  that against God thou turn thy spirit, and let words go out of thy mouth?

15:14  What is man, that he should be clean? And he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

15:15  Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones. Yea, 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 thee. Hear thou me, and that which I have seen I will declare,

15:18  which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it,

15:19  to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them:

15:20  The wicked man travails with 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 upon him.

15:22  He does not believe that he shall return out of darkness. And he is awaited 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 God, and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty.

15:26  He runs upon him with a stiff neck, with the thick studs of his bucklers,

15:27  because he has covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat upon his loins.

15:28  And he has dwelt in desolate cities, in houses which no man 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, and by the breath of God's mouth he shall go away.

15:31  Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself. For vanity shall be his recompense.

15:32  It shall be accomplished before his time, and 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 hypocrites shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

15:35  They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, and their heart prepares deceit.

Chapter 16

16:1  Then Job answered, and said,

16:2  I have heard many such things. Miserable comforters are ye all.

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

16:4  I also could speak as ye do, if your soul were in my soul's stead. I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you.

16:5  But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your grief.

16:6  Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged, and though I forbear, what am I eased?

16:7  But now he has made me weary. Thou have made desolate all my company.

16:8  And thou have laid fast hold on me, which is a witness against me. And 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 upon me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his eyes upon me.

16:10  They have gaped upon me with their mouth. They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully. They gather themselves together against me.

16:11  God delivers me to the perverse, and casts me into the hands of the wicked.

16:12  I was at ease, and he broke me apart. Yea, he has taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces. He has also set me up for his mark.

16:13  His archers encompass me round about. He splits my reins apart, and does not spare. He pours out my gall upon the ground.

16:14  He breaks me with breach upon breach. He runs upon me like a giant.

16:15  I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have laid my horn in the dust.

16:16  My face is red with weeping, and the shadow of death is on my eyelids,

16:17  although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.

16:18  O earth, do not cover thou my blood, and let my cry have no resting place.

16:19  Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who vouches for me is on high.

16:20  My friends scoff at me. My eye pours out tears to God

16:21  that he would maintain the right of a man with God, and of a son of man with his neighbor!

16:22  For when a few years are come, I shall go the way where I shall not return.

Chapter 17

17:1  My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me.

17:2  Surely there are mockers with me, and my eye dwells upon their provocation.

17:3  Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself. Who is there that will strike hands with me?

17:4  For thou have hid their heart from understanding. Therefore thou shall not exalt them.

17:5  He who denounces his friends for a prey, even the eyes of his sons shall fail.

17:6  But he has made me a byword of the people, and they spit in my face.

17:7  My eye also is dim because of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.

17:8  Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall stir himself up against the profane.

17:9  Yet the righteous shall hold on his way. And he who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger.

17:10  But as for you all, come on now again, and I shall not find a wise man among you.

17:11  My days are past. My purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.

17:12  They change the night into day. The light, they say, is near to the 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, Thou are my father, to the worm, My mother, and my sister,

17:15  where then is my hope? And as for my hope, who shall see it?

17:16  It shall go down to the bars of Sheol when once there is rest in the dust.

Chapter 18

18:1  Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, and said,

18:2  How long will ye hunt for words? Consider, and afterwards we will speak.

18:3  Why are we counted as beasts, and have become unclean in your eyes?

18:4  Thou who tear thyself in thine anger, shall the earth be forsaken for thee? Or shall the rock be removed out of its place?

18:5  Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

18:6  The light shall be dark in his tent, and his lamp above him shall be put out.

18:7  The steps of his strength shall be restricted, and his own counsel shall cast him down.

18:8  For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks upon the toils.

18:9  A trap shall take him by the heel. A snare shall lay hold on him.

18:10  A noose is hid for him in the ground, and 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 weakened by hunger, and calamity shall be ready at his side.

18:13  The members of his body shall be devoured. The firstborn of death shall devour his body-parts.

18:14  He shall be rooted out of his tent where he trusts, and he shall be brought to the king of terrors.

18:15  There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his. Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.

18:16  His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.

18:17  His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and 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 son's son 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, and this is the place of him who does not know God.

Chapter 19

19:1  Then Job answered, and said,

19:2  How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?

19:3  These ten times ye have reproached me. Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.

19:4  And be it indeed that I have erred, my error remains with myself.

19:5  If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach,

19:6  know now that God has subverted me, and has encompassed 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 that I cannot pass, 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. And he has plucked up my hope like a tree.

19:11  He has also kindled his wrath against me. And he considers me to him as his adversaries.

19:12  His troops come on together, and cast up their way against me, and encamp round about my tent.

19:13  He has put my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

19:14  My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

19:15  Those who dwell in my house, and my maids, reckon 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 entreat him with my mouth.

19:17  My breath is strange to my wife, and my supplication to the sons 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, and those whom I loved are turned against me.

19:20  My bone cleaves to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped with the skin of my teeth.

19:21  Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God has touched me.

19:22  Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

19:23  O that my words were now written! O that they were inscribed in a book,

19:24  that they were engraved in the rock forever with an iron pen and lead!

19:25  But as for me I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand up upon the earth.

19:26  And after my skin, this body, is destroyed, then outside my flesh I shall see God,

19:27  whom I, even I, shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me.

19:28  If ye say, How we will persecute him! And that the root of the matter is found in me,

19:29  be ye afraid of the sword. For wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

Chapter 20

20:1  Then Zophar the Naamathite answered, and said,

20:2  Therefore my thoughts cause me to answer, even because of my haste that is in me.

20:3  I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame, and the spirit of my understanding answers me.

20:4  Know thou this of old time, since man was placed upon earth,

20:5  that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the profane but for a moment?

20:6  Though his height mounts up to the heavens, and his head reaches 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. Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

20:9  The eye which saw him shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him.

20:10  His sons shall seek the favor of the poor, and his hands shall give back his wealth.

20:11  His bones are full of his youth, but it shall lie down with him in the dust.

20:12  Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue,

20:13  though he spares 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 the gall of asps within him.

20:15  He has swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again. God will cast them out of his belly.

20:16  He shall suck the poison of asps. The viper's tongue shall kill him.

20:17  He shall not look upon the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and butter.

20:18  That which he labored for shall he 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 any of that in which he delights.

20:21  There was nothing left that he did not devour, therefore his prosperity shall not endure.

20:22  In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits. The hand of everyone who is in misery shall come upon him.

20:23  When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath upon him, and will rain it upon him while he is eating.

20:24  He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of brass shall strike him through.

20:25  He draws it forth, and it comes out of his body, yea, the glittering point comes out of his gall. Terrors are upon him.

20:26  All darkness is laid up for his treasures. A fire not blown shall devour him. It shall consume that which is left in his tent.

20:27  The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.

20:28  The increase of his house shall depart, flowed away in the day of his wrath.

20:29  This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God.

Chapter 21

21:1  Then Job answered, and said,

21:2  Hear diligently my speech, And let this be your consolations.

21:3  Allow me, and I also will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.

21:4  As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient?

21:5  Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.

21:6  Even when I remember, I am troubled, and horror takes hold on my flesh.

21:7  Why do the wicked live, become old, yea, grow mighty in power?

21:8  Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.

21:9  Their houses are safe from fear, nor is the rod of God upon them.

21:10  Their bull breeds, and does not fail. Their cow brings forth safely, and does not miscarry.

21:11  They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

21:12  They sing to the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.

21:13  They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment they go down to Sheol.

21:14  And they say to God, Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of thy ways.

21:15  What is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what profit should we have, if we pray to him?

21:16  Lo, is their prosperity not in their hand. (The counsel of the wicked is far from me.)

21:17  How often is it that the lamp of the profane is put out, that their calamity comes upon them, that God distributes sorrows in his anger,

21:18  that they are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carries away?

21:19  Ye say, God lays up his iniquity for his sons. Let him recompense it to himself that he may know it.

21:20  Let his own eyes see his destruction, and 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 God knowledge, seeing he judges those who are high?

21:23  One man dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.

21:24  His pails are full of milk, and the marrow of his bones is moistened.

21:25  And another man dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good.

21:26  They lie down alike in the dust, and the worm covers them.

21:27  Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices with which ye would wrong me.

21:28  For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? And where is the tent in which the wicked dwelt?

21:29  Have ye not asked wayfaring men? And do ye not 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? And who shall repay him what he has done?

21:32  Yet he shall be borne to the grave, and men shall keep watch over the tomb.

21:33  The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him. And all men shall draw after him, as there were innumerable before him.

21:34  How then ye comfort me in vain, seeing in your answers there remains falsehood?

Chapter 22

22:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said,

22:2  Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.

22:3  Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou are righteous? Or is it gain to him that thou make thy ways perfect?

22:4  Is it for thy fear of him that he reproves thee, that he enters with thee into judgment?

22:5  Is not thy wickedness great? Neither is there any end to thine iniquities.

22:6  For thou have taken pledges from thy brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

22:7  Thou have not given water to the weary to drink, and thou have withheld bread from the hungry.

22:8  But as for the mighty man, he had the land. And the honorable man, he dwelt in it.

22:9  Thou have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

22:10  Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubles thee,

22:11  or darkness, so that thou cannot see, and abundance of waters cover thee.

22:12  Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

22:13  And thou say, What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?

22:14  Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.

22:15  Will thou keep the old way which wicked men have trodden?

22:16  Who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream,

22:17  who said to God, 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. And the innocent laugh them to scorn,

22:20  Saying, Surely those who rose up against us are cut off, and the remnant of them, the fire has consumed.

22:21  Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace. By this good shall come to thee.

22:22  Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.

22:23  If thou return to the Almighty, thou shall be built up, thou put away unrighteousness far from thy tents.

22:24  Then thou shall lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

22:25  Yea, the Almighty will be thy treasure, and precious silver to thee.

22:26  For then shall thou delight thyself in the Almighty, and shall lift up thy face to God.

22:27  Thou shall make thy prayer to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shall pay thy vows.

22:28  Thou shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to thee. And light shall shine upon thy ways.

22:29  When they cast thee down, thou shall say, There is lifting up, and he will save the humble man.

22:30  He will deliver even him who is not innocent. Yea, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thy hands.

Chapter 23

23:1  Then Job answered and said,

23:2  Even today my complaint is rebellious. My stroke is heavier than my groaning.

23:3  O that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!

23:4  I would set my case 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 say to me.

23:6  Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No, but he would give heed to me.

23:7  There the upright might reason with him. So I should be delivered forever from my judge.

23:8  Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive him,

23:9  on the left hand, when he works, but I cannot behold him. He hides himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him.

23:10  But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

23:11  My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned aside.

23:12  I have not 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 is in one mind, and who can turn him? And what his soul desires, even that he does.

23:14  For he performs that which is appointed for me. And 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 God has made my heart faint, and the Almighty has terrified me,

23:17  because I was not cut off before the darkness, nor did he cover the thick darkness from my face.

Chapter 24

24:1  Why are times not laid up by the Almighty? And why do those who know him not see his days?

24:2  There are men who remove the landmarks. They take away flocks violently, and feed them.

24:3  They drive away the donkey of the fatherless. 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 sons.

24:6  They cut their provender in the field, and they glean the vintage 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 want of a shelter.

24:9  There are men who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,

24:10  so that they go about naked without clothing, and being hungry they carry the sheaves.

24:11  They make oil within the walls of these men. They tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.

24:12  From out of the populous city men groan, and the soul of the wounded cries out. Yet God does not regard the folly.

24:13  These are of those who rebel against the light. They do not know the ways of it, nor abide in the paths of it.

24:14  The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. And in the night he is as a thief.

24:15  The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me. And he disguises his face.

24:16  In the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They do not know the light.

24:17  For the morning is to all of them as thick darkness. For they know the terrors of the thick darkness.

24:18  Swiftly they pass away upon the face of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They do not turn into the way of the vineyards.

24:19  Drought and heat consume the snow waters, and 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. And unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree.

24:21  He devours the barren who do not bear, and does no good to the widow.

24:22  Yet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.

24:23  God gives them to be in security, and they rest in it. And his eyes are upon their ways.

24:24  They are exalted. Yet a little while, and they are gone. Yea, 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  And if it be not so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?

Chapter 25

25:1  Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, and said,

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

25:3  Is there any number of his armies? And upon whom does his light not arise?

25:4  How then can man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of a woman?

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! And the son of man, who is a worm!

Chapter 26

26:1  Then Job answered, and said,

26:2  How thou have helped him who is without power! How thou have saved the arm that has no strength!

26:3  How thou have counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge!

26:4  To whom have thou uttered words? And whose spirit came forth from thee?

26:5  Those who are deceased tremble beneath the waters and the inhabitants of it.

26:6  Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.

26:7  He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth upon 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 upon it.

26:10  He has described a boundary upon the face of the waters, 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 smites through Rahab.

26:13  By his Spirit the heavens are garnished. His hand has pierced the swift serpent.

26:14  Lo, these are but the periphery of his ways. And how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?

Chapter 27

27:1  And Job again took up his discourse, and said,

27:2  As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has vexed my soul.

27:3  (For my life is yet whole in me. And the spirit of God is in my nostrils.)

27:4  Surely my lips shall not speak unrighteousness, nor shall my tongue utter deceit.

27:5  Far be it from me that I should justify you. Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

27:6  I hold fast 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, and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.

27:8  For what is the hope of the profane, though he gets him gain, when God takes away his soul?

27:9  Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him?

27:10  Will he delight himself in the Almighty, and call upon God at all times?

27:11  I will teach you concerning the hand of God. That which is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

27:12  Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it. Why then have ye become altogether vain?

27:13  This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty.

27:14  If his sons be multiplied, it is for the sword. And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

27:15  Those who remain of him shall be buried in death, and his widows shall make no lamentation.

27:16  Though he heaps up silver as the dust, and prepares raiment 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, and as a booth which the keeper makes.

27:19  He lies down rich, but he shall not be gathered to his fathers. He opens his eyes, and he is not.

27:20  Terrors overtake him like waters. A tempest steals him away in the night.

27:21  The east wind carries him away, and he departs, and it sweeps him out of his place.

27:22  For God shall hurl at him, and not spare. He would gladly flee out of his hand.

27:23  Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

Chapter 28

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 molten out of the stone.

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 men sojourn, paths forgotten by the foot. They hang afar from men; they swing to and fro.

28:5  As for the earth, out of it comes bread, and underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.

28:6  The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold.

28:7  No bird of prey knows that path, nor has the falcon's eye seen it.

28:8  The proud beasts have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed thereby.

28:9  He puts forth his hand upon the flinty rock. He overturns the mountains by the roots.

28:10  He cuts out channels among the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing.

28:11  He binds the streams that they not trickle. And the thing that is hid he brings forth to light.

28:12  But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

28:13  Man does not know the price of it, nor is it found in the land of the living.

28:14  The deep says, It is not in me. And the sea says, It is not with me.

28:15  It cannot be gotten for gold, nor shall silver be weighed for the price of it.

28:16  It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

28:17  Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

28:18  No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies.

28:19  The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, nor shall it be valued with pure gold.

28:20  Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding?

28:21  Since it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept closed from the birds of the heavens.

28:22  Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.

28:23  God understands the way of it, and he knows the place of it.

28:24  For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole heaven,

28:25  to make a weight for the wind. Yea, he distributes 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, yea, and searched it out.

28:28  And to man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.

Chapter 29

29:1  And Job again took up his discourse, and said,

29:2  O that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me,

29:3  when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,

29:4  as I was in the ripeness of my days, when the friendship of God was upon my tent,

29:5  when the Almighty was yet with me, and my sons were about me,

29:6  when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out streams of oil to me,

29:7  when I went forth to the gate to the city, when I prepared my seat in the street.

29:8  The young men saw me and hid themselves, and the aged rose up and stood.

29:9  The rulers refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.

29:10  The voice of the ranking men 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 gave witness to me.

29:12  Because I delivered the poor who cried, also the fatherless who had none to help him.

29:13  The blessing of him who was ready to perish came upon 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 I was feet to the lame.

29:16  I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the case of him whom I did not know.

29:17  And 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 nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.

29:19  My root is spread out to the waters, and the dew lays all night upon my branch.

29:20  My glory is fresh in me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.

29:21  To me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence for my counsel.

29:22  After my words they spoke not again, and my speech distilled upon them.

29:23  And they waited for me as for the rain. And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

29:24  I smiled on them when they had no confidence, and they did not cast down the light of my countenance.

29:25  I chose out their way, and sat as chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as a man who comforts the mourners.

Chapter 30

30:1  But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

30:2  Yea, the strength of their hands, to what should it profit me? Men in whom ripe age is perished.

30:3  They are gaunt with want and famine. They gnaw the dry ground in the gloom of waste and desolation.

30:4  They pluck mallows by the bushes, and the roots of the juniper are their food.

30:5  They are driven forth from the midst of men. They cry out after them as after a thief,

30:6  so that they dwell in frightful valleys, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.

30:7  Among the bushes they bray, under the nettles they are gathered together.

30:8  They are sons of fools, yea, sons of base men. They were scourged out of the land.

30:9  And now I have become their song, Yea, I am a byword to them.

30:10  They abhor me. They stand aloof from me, and do not spare to spit in my face.

30:11  For he has loosed his cord, and afflicted me. And they have cast off the bridle before me.

30:12  Upon my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet, and they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

30:13  They mar my path. They set forward my calamity, even men who have no helper.

30:14  As through a wide breach they come. In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me.

30:15  Terrors are turned upon me. They chase my honor as the wind, and my welfare is passed away as a cloud.

30:16  And now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold upon 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 the great force my garment is disfigured. It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

30:19  He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.

30:20  I cry to thee, and thou do not answer me. I stand up, and thou gaze at me.

30:21  Thou have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of thy hand thou persecute me.

30:22  Thou lift me up to the wind. Thou cause me to ride upon it, and thou disintegrate me in the storm.

30:23  For I know that thou will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

30:24  However does not a man stretch out the hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?

30:25  Did I not weep for him who was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?

30:26  When I looked for good, then evil came. And when I waited for light, there came darkness.

30:27  My heart is troubled, and does not rest. Days of affliction have come upon me.

30:28  I go mourning without the sun. I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

30:29  I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.

30:30  My skin is black, and falls from me. And 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.

Chapter 31

31:1  I made a covenant with my eyes. How then should I look upon a virgin?

31:2  For what is the portion from God 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  Does he not see my ways, and number all my steps?

31:5  If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hastened to deceit

31:6  (let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity);

31:7  if my step has turned out of the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands,

31:8  then let me sow, and let another eat, yea, 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 to another, and let others bow down upon her.

31:11  For that is a heinous crime, yea, it is 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 case of my man-servant or of my maid-servant when they contended with me,

31:14  what then shall I do when God rises up? And when he visits, what shall I answer him?

31:15  Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion 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, and her I have guided from my mother's womb);

31:19  if I have seen any perish for lack of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;

31:20  if his loins have not blessed me, and if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

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 God is a terror to me, and I can do nothing because of his majesty.

31:24  If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, Thou 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 beheld the sun when it shone, or the moon walking in brightness,

31:27  and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand

31:28  (this also is an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have denied the God that 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  (yea, 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 food?

31:32  (the sojourner 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 bosom

31:34  because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me so that I kept silence, and did not go out of the door-

31:35  O that I had someone to hear me (Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me), and that I had the indictment which my adversary has written!

31:36  Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder. I would bind it to me as a crown.

31:37  I would declare to him the number of my steps. I would go near to him as a prince.

31:38  If my land cries out against me, and the furrows of it weep together;

31:39  if I have eaten the fruits of it without money, or have caused the owners of it to lose their lives,

31:40  let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

Chapter 32

32:1  So these three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his own eyes.

32:2  Then the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was kindled. His anger was kindled against Job because he justified himself rather than God.

32:3  His anger was also 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 older than he.

32:5  And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his anger was kindled.

32:6  And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old. Therefore I held back, and dared not show you my opinion.

32:7  I said, Days should speak, and multitude 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, Hearken to me, I also will show my opinion.

32:11  Behold, I waited for your words, I listened for your reasonings, while ye searched out what to say.

32:12  Yea, I attended to you. And, behold, there was none who convinced Job, or who answered his words among you.

32:13  Beware lest ye say, We have found wisdom. God may vanquish 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 have not a word to say.

32:16  And shall I wait because they do not speak, because they stand still, and answer no more?

32:17  I also will answer my part. I also will show my opinion,

32:18  for I am full of words. The spirit within me compels me.

32:19  Behold, my breast is as wine which has no vent. Like new wine-skins it is ready to burst.

32:20  I will speak that I may be refreshed. I will open my lips and answer.

32:21  Let me not, I pray you, respect any man's person. Neither will I give flattering titles to any man.

32:22  For I know not to give flattering titles, else my maker would soon take me away.

Chapter 33

33:1  However, Job, I pray thee, hear my speech, and hearken to all my words.

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

33:3  My words shall utter the uprightness of my heart, and that which my lips know they shall speak sincerely.

33:4  The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

33:5  If thou can, answer thou me. Set thy words in order before me. Stand forth.

33:6  Behold, I am toward God even as thou are. I also am formed out of the clay.

33:7  Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, nor shall my pressure be heavy upon thee.

33:8  Surely thou have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,

33:9  I am clean, without transgression. I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me.

33:10  Thou say, 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 thee. In this thou are not just, for God is greater than man.

33:13  Why do thou strive against him because he does not give account of any of his matters?

33:14  For God speaks once, yea twice, though man does not regard it.

33:15  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumberings upon 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 perishing by the sword.

33:19  He also is chastened with pain upon his bed, and with continual strife in his bones,

33:20  so that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty food.

33:21  His flesh is consumed away that it cannot be seen. And his bones that were not seen stick out.

33:22  Yea, his soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers.

33:23  If there be with him an agent, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him,

33:24  then God 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 God, and he is favorable to him, so that he sees his face with joy, and 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 did not profit me.

33:28  He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit, and my life shall behold the light.

33:29  Lo, all these things God works twice, yea thrice, 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, O Job, hearken to me. Keep silent, and I will speak.

33:32  If thou have anything to say, answer me. Speak, for I desire to justify thee.

33:33  If not, hearken thou to me. Keep silent, and I will teach thee.

Chapter 34

34:1  Moreover Elihu answered, and said,

34:2  Hear my words, ye wise men, and give ear to me, ye who have knowledge.

34:3  For the ear tries words as the palate tastes food.

34:4  Let us choose for us that which is right. Let us know among ourselves what is good.

34:5  For Job has said, I am righteous, and God has taken away my right.

34:6  Notwithstanding my right I am accounted a liar. My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.

34:7  What man is like Job, who drinks up scorning like water,

34:8  saying, I have not sinned, nor committed unrighteousness, nor had fellowship with workers of iniquity to go with the profane.

34:9  For thou should not say, There shall be no visitation to a man, whereas visitation is to him from the Lord.

34:10  Therefore hearken to me, ye men of understanding. Far be it from me to sin before the Lord, and pervert righteousness before the Almighty.

34:11  For the work of a man he will render to him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.

34:12  Yea, certainly God will not do wrong. Neither will the Almighty pervert justice.

34:13  Who gave him a charge over the earth? Or who has disposed the whole world?

34:14  If he sets his heart upon himself, if he gathers his spirit and his breath to himself,

34:15  all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again to dust.

34:16  If now thou be understanding, hear this. Hearken to the voice of words.

34:17  Behold thou him who hates lawlessness, and who destroys evil men, who is forever righteousness,

34:18  him who says to a king, Thou are vile, to ranking men, Ye are wicked,

34:19  who does not respect the persons of rulers, nor regards the rich more than the poor. For they all are the work of his hands.

34:20  In a moment they die, even at midnight. The people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away without hand.

34:21  For his eyes are upon the ways of a man, and he sees all his goings.

34:22  There is no darkness, nor thick gloom where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

34:23  For he needs no further to consider a man, that he should go before God in judgment.

34:24  He breaks in pieces mighty men in ways past finding out, and sets others in their stead.

34:25  Therefore he takes knowledge of their works, and he overturns them in the night, so that they are destroyed.

34:26  He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others

34:27  because they turned aside from following him, and would not have regard in any of his ways,

34:28  so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him, and he heard the cry of the afflicted.

34:29  When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? And when he hides his face, who then can behold him? It is the same whether to a nation, or to a man,

34:30  that the profane man not reign, that there be none to ensnare the people.

34:31  For has any said to God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more.

34:32  Teach thou me that which I do not see. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more?

34:33  Shall his recompense be as thou desire, that thou refuse it? For thou must choose, and not I. Therefore speak what thou know.

34:34  Men of understanding will say to me, yes, every wise man who hears me,

34:35  Job speaks without knowledge, and his words are without wisdom.

34:36  But surely not. Learn thou Job not to still give an answer like the foolish,

34:37  so that we may not add to our sins, and lawlessness will be reckoned against us, speaking many words before the Lord.

Chapter 35

35:1  Moreover Elihu answered, and said,

35:2  What is this thou think in judgment? Who are thou that thou said, I am righteousness before the Lord?

35:3  That thou said, What advantage will it be to thee? And, What profit shall I have more than if I had sinned?

35:4  I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee.

35:5  Look to the heavens, and see. And behold the skies, which are higher than thou.

35:6  If thou have sinned, what do thou effect against him? And if thy transgressions be multiplied, what do thou to him?

35:7  If thou be righteous, what do thou give him? Or what does he receive of thy hand?

35:8  Thy wickedness is a man as thou are, and thy righteousness is a son of man.

35:9  Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out. They cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.

35:10  But none says, Where is God my maker who gives songs in the night,

35:11  who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?

35:12  There they cry, but none gives answer, because of the pride of evil men.

35:13  Surely God will not hear an empty cry, nor will the Almighty regard it.

35:14  How much less when thou say thou do not behold him. The case is before him, and thou wait for him!

35:15  But now, because he has not visited in his anger, nor does he greatly regard folly,

35:16  so Job opens his mouth in vanity. He multiplies words without knowledge.

Chapter 36

36:1  Elihu also proceeded, and said,

36:2  Allow me a little, and I will show thee. For I have yet somewhat to say on God's behalf.

36:3  I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my maker.

36:4  (For truly my words are not false.) He who is perfect in knowledge is with thee.

36:5  Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise. He is mighty in strength of understanding.

36:6  He does not preserve the life of the wicked, but gives to the afflicted their right.

36:7  He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but he sets them forever with kings upon the throne, and they are exalted.

36:8  And if they be bound in fetters, and be taken in the cords of afflictions,

36:9  then he shows them their work, and their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly.

36:10  He also opens their ear to instruction, and commands that they return from iniquity.

36:11  If they hearken and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.

36:12  But if they do not hearken, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.

36:13  But those who are godless in heart lay up anger. They do not cry for help when he binds them.

36:14  They die in youth, and their life perishes among the unclean.

36:15  He delivers the afflicted by their affliction, and opens their ear in oppression.

36:16  Yea, he would have allured thee out of distress into a broad place, where there is no confinement, and that which is set on thy table would be full of fatness.

36:17  But thou have fulfilled the judgment of the wicked. Judgment and justice take hold,

36:18  and there shall be wrath upon the impious because of the ungodliness of bribes which the unrighteous receive.

36:19  Will thy cry not avail in distress, or all the forces of strength?

36:20  Do not desire the night, when peoples are cut off in their place.

36:21  Take heed. Do not turn to iniquity, for thou have fixed on this because of affliction.

36:22  Behold, God does loftily in his power. Who is a teacher like him?

36:23  Who has enjoined him his way? Or who can say, Thou have wrought unrighteousness?

36:24  Remember that thou magnify his work, of which men have sung.

36:25  All men have looked on it. Man beholds it afar off.

36:26  Behold, God is great, and we do not know him. The number of his years is unsearchable.

36:27  For he draws up the drops of water, which distil in rain from his vapor,

36:28  which the skies pour down and drop upon man abundantly.

36:29  Yea, can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion?

36:30  Behold, he spreads his light around him, and he covers the bottom of the sea.

36:31  For by these he judges the peoples. He gives food in abundance.

36:32  He covers his hands with the lightning, and gives it a command that it strike the mark.

36:33  The noise of it tells concerning him. The cattle also concerning the storm that comes up.

Chapter 37

37:1  Yea, at this my heart trembles, and is moved out of its place.

37:2  Hear, O, hear the noise of his voice, and the sound that goes out of his mouth.

37:3  He sends it forth under the whole heaven, and his lightning to the ends of the earth.

37:4  After it a voice roars. He thunders with the voice of his majesty, and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.

37:5  God thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things which we cannot comprehend.

37:6  For he says to the snow, Fall thou on the earth, likewise to the shower of rain, and to the showers of his mighty rain.

37:7  He seals up the hand of every man, that all men whom he has made may know it.

37:8  Then the beasts go into coverts, and remain in their dens.

37:9  Out of the chamber of the south comes the storm, and cold out of the north.

37:10  By the breath of God ice is given, and the breadth of the waters is narrowed.

37:11  Yea, he loads the thick cloud with moisture. He spreads abroad the cloud of his lightning,

37:12  and it is turned round about by his guidance, that they may do whatever he commands them upon the face of the habitable world.

37:13  He causes it to come, whether it be for correction, or for his land, or for loving kindness.

37:14  Hearken to this, O Job. Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

37:15  Do thou know how God lays his charge upon them, and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?

37:16  Do thou know the balancing of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge?

37:17  How thy garments are warm when the earth is still because of the south wind?

37:18  Can thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong as a molten mirror?

37:19  Teach us what we shall say to him. We cannot set in array because of darkness.

37:20  Shall it be told him that I would speak? Or should a man wish that he were swallowed up?

37:21  And now men do not see the light which is bright in the skies, but the wind passes, and clears them.

37:22  Out of the north comes golden splendor. God has upon him awesome majesty.

37:23  O the Almighty, we cannot find him out. He is excellent in power. And in justice and abundant righteousness he will not afflict.

37:24  Men therefore fear him. He does not regard any who are wise of heart.

Chapter 38

38:1  Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

38:2  Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

38:3  Gird up now thy loins like a man, for I will demand of thee, and declare thou to me.

38:4  Where were thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou have understanding.

38:5  Who determined the measures of it, if thou know? Or who stretched the line upon it?

38:6  Upon what were the foundations of it fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone of it

38:7  when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

38:8  Or who shut up the sea with doors when it broke forth, like it had issued out of the womb,

38:9  when I made clouds the garment of it, and thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,

38:10  and marked out for it my bound, and set bars and doors,

38:11  and said, This far thou shall come, but no farther, and here thy proud waves shall be stayed?

38:12  Have thou commanded the morning since thy days began, and caused the dayspring to know its place

38:13  that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

38:14  It is changed as clay under the seal, and all things stand forth as a garment.

38:15  And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the high arm is broken.

38:16  Have thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or have thou walked in the recesses of the deep?

38:17  Have the gates of death been revealed to thee? Or have thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

38:18  Have thou comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if thou know it all.

38:19  Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place of it

38:20  that thou should take it to the bound of it, and that thou should discern the paths to the house of it?

38:21  Thou know, for thou were born then, and the number of thy days is great!

38:22  Have thou entered the treasuries of the snow, or have thou seen the treasures of the hail,

38:23  which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

38:24  By what way is the light divided, or the east wind scattered upon the earth?

38:25  Who has cleft a channel for the water flood, or the way for the lightning of the thunder,

38:26  to cause it to rain on a land where no man is, on the wilderness, in which there is no man,

38:27  to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, and to cause the tender grass to spring forth?

38:28  Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

38:29  Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who has engendered it?

38:30  The waters hide themselves and become like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

38:31  Can thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

38:32  Can thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or can thou guide the Bear with her train?

38:33  Do thou know the ordinances of the heavens? Can thou establish the dominion of it on the earth?

38:34  Can thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

38:35  Can thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, and say to thee, Here we are?

38:36  Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?

38:37  Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven

38:38  when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods cleave fast together?

38:39  Can thou hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions

38:40  when they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

38:41  Who provides for the raven his prey when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?

Chapter 39

39:1  Do thou know the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or can thou mark when the hinds do calve?

39:2  Can thou number the months that they fulfill? Or do thou know the time when they bring forth?

39:3  They bow themselves. They bring forth their young. They cast out their pains.

39:4  Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go forth, and return not again.

39:5  Who has sent out the wild donkey free? Or who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey

39:6  whose home I have made the wilderness, and the salt land his dwelling-place?

39:7  He scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shoutings of the driver.

39:8  The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searches after every green thing.

39:9  Will the wild-ox be content to serve thee? Or will he abide by thy crib?

39:10  Can thou bind the wild-ox with his band in the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?

39:11  Will thou trust him because his strength is great? Or will thou leave to him thy labor?

39:12  Will thou confide in him that he will bring home thy seed, and gather the grain of thy threshing-floor?

39:13  The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love?

39:14  For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and warms them in the dust.

39:15  And she forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may trample them.

39:16  She deals hardly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor be in vain, she is without fear,

39:17  because God has deprived her of wisdom, nor has he imparted understanding to her.

39:18  The time she lifts up herself on high she scorns the horse and his rider.

39:19  Have thou given the horse his might? Have thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane?

39:20  Have thou made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.

39:21  He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men.

39:22  He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed. Neither does he turn back from the sword.

39:23  The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin.

39:24  He swallows the ground with fierceness and rage, nor does he believe that it is the voice of the trumpet.

39:25  As often as the trumpet sounds he says, Aha! And he smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

39:26  Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south?

39:27  Is it at thy command that the eagle mounts up, and makes her nest on high?

39:28  She dwells on the cliff, and makes her home upon the point of the cliff and the stronghold.

39:29  From there she spies out the prey. Her eyes behold it afar off.

39:30  Her young ones also suck up blood. And where the slain are, there is she.

Chapter 40

40:1  Moreover Jehovah answered Job, and said,

40:2  Shall he who quibbles contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.

40:3  Then Job answered Jehovah, and said,

40:4  Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer thee? I lay my hand upon my mouth.

40:5  I have spoken once, and I will not answer, yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.

40:6  Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man. I will demand of thee, and declare thou to me.

40:8  Will thou even annul my judgment? Will thou condemn me, that thou may be justified?

40:9  Or have thou an arm like God? And can thou thunder with a voice like him?

40:10  Deck thyself now with excellency and dignity, and array thyself with honor and majesty.

40:11  Pour forth the overflowings of thine anger, and look upon everyone who is proud, and abase him.

40:12  Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low, and tread down the wicked where they stand.

40:13  Hide them in the dust together. Bind their faces in the hidden place.

40:14  Then I will also confess of thee that thine own right hand can save thee.

40:15  Behold now behemoth, which I made as well as thee. He eats grass as an ox.

40:16  Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the muscles of his belly.

40:17  He moves his tail like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are knit together.

40:18  His bones are as tubes of brass. His limbs are like bars of iron.

40:19  He is a beginning of the ways of God. He who made him gives him his sword.

40:20  Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.

40:21  He lies under the lotus trees, in the covert of the reed, and the fen.

40:22  The lotus trees cover him with their shade. The willows of the brook encompass him about.

40:23  Behold, if a river overflows, he does not tremble. He is confident though a Jordan swell even to his mouth.

40:24  Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare?

Chapter 41

41:1  Can thou draw out leviathan with a fishhook, or press down his tongue with a cord?

41:2  Can thou put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook?

41:3  Will he make many supplications to thee? Or will he speak soft words to thee?

41:4  Will he make a covenant with thee, that thou should take him for a servant forever?

41:5  Will thou play with him as with a bird? Or will thou bind him for thy maidens?

41:6  Will the bands make traffic of him? Will they part him among the merchants?

41:7  Can thou fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish-spears?

41:8  Lay thy hand upon him. Remember the battle, and do so no more.

41:9  Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Will not a man be cast down even at the sight of him?

41:10  None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?

41:11  Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Under the whole heaven is mine.

41:12  I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.

41:13  Who can strip off his outer garment? Who shall come within his jaws?

41:14  Who can open the doors of his face? Round about his teeth is terror.

41:15  His strong scales are his pride, shut up together like a close seal.

41:16  One is so near to another that no air can come between them.

41:17  They are joined one to another. They stick together, so that they cannot be parted.

41:18  His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

41:19  Out of his mouth go burning torches, and sparks of fire leap forth.

41:20  Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot and burning rushes.

41:21  His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes forth from his mouth.

41:22  In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him.

41:23  The flakes of his flesh are joined together. They are firm upon him. They cannot be moved.

41:24  His heart is as firm as a stone, Yea, firm as the nether millstone.

41:25  When he raises himself up the mighty are afraid. Because of consternation they are beside themselves.

41:26  If a man lays at him with the sword it cannot avail, nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft.

41:27  He counts iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.

41:28  The arrow cannot make him flee. Sling-stones are turned into stubble with him.

41:29  Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin.

41:30  His underparts are like sharp potsherds. He spreads out as a threshing-wagon upon the mire.

41:31  He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

41:32  He makes a path to shine after him. A man would think the deep to be hoary.

41:33  Upon earth there is not his like who is made without fear.

41:34  He beholds everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.

Chapter 42

42:1  Then Job answered Jehovah, and said,

42:2  I know that thou can do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be restrained.

42:3  Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

42:4  Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak, I will ask of thee, and declare thou to me.

42:5  I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee.

42:6  Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

42:7  And it was so, that, after Jehovah had spoken these words to Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends. For ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.

42:8  Now therefore, take to you seven bullocks and seven rams. And go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for him I will accept, that I not deal with you after your folly. For ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.

42:9  So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did according as Jehovah commanded them, and Jehovah accepted Job.

42:10  And Jehovah turned back the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. And Jehovah gave Job twice as much as he had before.

42:11  Then there came to him all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all those who had been of his acquaintance before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they bemoaned him, and comforted him concerning all the evil that Jehovah had brought upon him. Each man also gave him a piece of money, and each one a ring of gold.

42:12  So Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys.

42:13  He had also seven sons and three daughters.

42:14  And he called the name of the first, Jemimah, and the name of the second, Keziah, and the name of the third, Keren-happuch.

42:15  And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job. And their father gave them inheritance among their brothers.

42:16  And after this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.

42:17  So Job died, being old and full of days.