BBE - Job

Chapter 1

1:1  There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. He was without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil.

1:2  And he had seven sons and three daughters.

1:3  And of cattle he had seven thousand sheep and goats, and three thousand camels, and a thousand oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great number of servants. And the man was greater than any of the sons of the east.

1:4  His sons regularly went to one another's houses, and every one on his day gave a feast: and at these times they sent for their three sisters to take part in their feasts with them.

1:5  And at the end of their days of feasting, Job sent and made them clean, getting up early in the morning and offering burned offerings for them all. For, Job said, It may be that my sons have done wrong and said evil of God in their hearts. And Job did this whenever the feasts came round.

1:6  And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.

1:7  And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it.

1:8  And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil?

1:9  And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Is it for nothing that Job is a god-fearing man?

1:10  Have you yourself not put a wall round him and his house and all he has on every side, blessing the work of his hands, and increasing his cattle in the land?

1:11  But now, put out your hand against all he has, and he will be cursing you to your face.

1:12  And the Lord said to the Satan, See, I give all he has into your hands, only do not put a finger on the man himself. And the Satan went out from before the Lord.

1:13  And there was a day when his sons and daughters were feasting in the house of their oldest brother,

1:14  And a man came to Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses were taking their food by their side:

1:15  And the men of Sheba came against them and took them away, putting the young men to the sword, and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

1:16  And this one was still talking when another came, and said, The fire of God came down from heaven, burning up the sheep and the goats and the young men completely, and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

1:17  And this one was still talking when another came, and said, The Chaldaeans made themselves into three bands, and came down on the camels and took them away, putting the young men to the sword, and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

1:18  And this one was still talking when another came, and said, Your sons and your daughters were feasting together in their oldest brother's house,

1:19  When a great wind came rushing from the waste land against the four sides of the house, and it came down on the young men, and they are dead; and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

1:20  Then Job got up, and after parting his clothing and cutting off his hair, he went down on his face to the earth, and gave worship, and said,

1:21  With nothing I came out of my mother's body, and with nothing I will go back there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; let the Lord's name be praised.

1:22  In all this Job did no sin, and did not say that God's acts were foolish.

Chapter 2

2:1  And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them.

2:2  And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it.

2:3  And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? and he still keeps his righteousness, though you have been moving me to send destruction on him without cause.

2:4  And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Skin for skin, all a man has he will give for his life.

2:5  But now, if you only put your hand on his bone and his flesh, he will certainly be cursing you to your face.

2:6  And the Lord said to the Satan, See, he is in your hands, only do not take his life.

2:7  And the Satan went out from before the Lord, and sent on Job an evil disease covering his skin from his feet to the top of his head.

2:8  And he took a broken bit of a pot, and, seated in the dust, was rubbing himself with the sharp edge of it.

2:9  And his wife said to him, Are you still keeping your righteousness? Say a curse against God, and put an end to yourself.

2:10  And he said to her, You are talking like one of the foolish women. If we take the good God sends us, are we not to take the evil when it comes? In all this Job kept his lips from sin.

2:11  And Job's three friends had word of all this evil which had come on him. And they came every one from his place, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. So they came together to a meeting-place, in order that they might go and make clear to Job their grief for him, and give him comfort.

2:12  And lifting up their eyes when they were still far off, it did not seem that the man they saw was Job because of the change in him. And they gave way to bitter weeping, with signs of grief, and put dust on their heads.

2:13  And they took their seats on the earth by his side for seven days and seven nights: but no one said a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

Chapter 3

3:1  Then, opening his mouth, and cursing the day of his birth,

3:2  Job made answer and said,

3:3  Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.

3:4  That day--let it be dark; let not God take note of it from on high, and let not the light be shining on it;

3:5  Let the dark and the black night take it for themselves; let it be covered with a cloud; let the dark shades of day send fear on it.

3:6  That night--let the thick dark take it; let it not have joy among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

3:7  As for that night, let it have no fruit; let no voice of joy be sounded in it;

3:8  Let it be cursed by those who put a curse on the day; who are ready to make Leviathan awake.

3:9  Let its morning stars be dark; let it be looking for light, but may it not have any; let it not see the eyes of the dawn.

3:10  Because it did not keep the doors of my mother's body shut, so that trouble might be veiled from my eyes.

3:11  Why did death not take me when I came out of my mother's body, why did I not, when I came out, give up my last breath?

3:12  Why did the knees take me, or why the breasts that they might give me milk?

3:13  For then I might have gone to my rest in quiet, and in sleep have been in peace,

3:14  With kings and the wise ones of the earth, who put up great houses for themselves;

3:15  Or with rulers who had gold, and whose houses were full of silver;

3:16  Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.

3:17  There the passions of the evil are over, and those whose strength has come to an end have rest.

3:18  There the prisoners are at peace together; the voice of the overseer comes not again to their ears.

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

3:20  Why does he give light to him who is in trouble, and life to the bitter in soul;

3:21  To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

3:22  Who are glad with great joy, and full of delight when they come to their last resting-place;

3:23  To a man whose way is veiled, and who is shut in by God?

3:24  In place of my food I have grief, and cries of sorrow come from me like water.

3:25  For I have a fear and it comes on me, and my heart is greatly troubled.

3:26  I have no peace, no quiet, and no rest; nothing but pain comes on me.

Chapter 4

4:1  And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,

4:2  If one says a word, will it be a weariness to you? but who is able to keep from saying what is in his mind?

4:3  Truly, you have been a helper to others, and you have made feeble hands strong;

4:4  He who was near to falling has been lifted up by your words, and you have given strength to bent knees.

4:5  But now it has come on you and it is a weariness to you; you are touched by it and your mind is troubled.

4:6  Is not your fear of God your support, and your upright way of life your hope?

4:7  Have you ever seen destruction come to an upright man? or when were the god-fearing ever cut off?

4:8  What I have seen is that those by whom trouble has been ploughed, and evil planted, get the same for themselves.

4:9  By the breath of God destruction takes them, and by the wind of his wrath they are cut off.

4:10  Though the noise of the lion and the sounding of his voice, may be loud, the teeth of the young lions are broken.

4:11  The old lion comes to his end for need of food, and the young of the she-lion go wandering in all directions.

4:12  A word was given to me secretly, and the low sound of it came to my ears.

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

4:14  Fear came on me and shaking, and my bones were full of trouble;

4:15  And a breath was moving over my face; the hair of my flesh became stiff:

4:16  Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:

4:17  May a man be upright before God? or a man be clean before his Maker?

4:18  Truly, he puts no faith in his servants, and he sees error in his angels;

4:19  How much more those living in houses of earth, whose bases are in the dust! They are crushed more quickly than an insect;

4:20  Between morning and evening they are completely broken; they come to an end for ever, and no one takes note.

4:21  If their tent-cord is pulled up, do they not come to an end, and without wisdom?

Chapter 5

5:1  Give now a cry for help; is there anyone who will give you an answer? and to which of the holy ones will you make your prayer?

5:2  For wrath is the cause of death to the foolish, and he who has no wisdom comes to his end through passion.

5:3  I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly the curse came on his house.

5:4  Now his children have no safe place, and they are crushed before the judges, for no one takes up their cause.

5:5  Their produce is taken by him who has no food, and their grain goes to the poor, and he who is in need of water gets it from their spring.

5:6  For evil does not come out of the dust, or trouble out of the earth;

5:7  But trouble is man's fate from birth, as the flames go up from the fire.

5:8  But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him:

5:9  Who does great things outside our knowledge, wonders without number:

5:10  Who gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields:

5:11  Lifting up those who are low, and putting the sad in a safe place;

5:12  Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes.

5:13  He takes the wise in their secret designs, and the purposes of the twisted are cut off suddenly.

5:14  In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night.

5:15  But he keeps safe from their sword those who have no father, and the poor from the power of the strong.

5:16  So the poor man has hope, and the mouth of the evil-doer is stopped.

5:17  Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all.

5:18  For after his punishment he gives comfort, and after wounding, his hands make you well.

5:19  He will keep you safe from six troubles, and in seven no evil will come near you.

5:20  When there is need of food he will keep you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

5:21  He will keep you safe from the evil tongue; and you will have no fear of wasting when it comes.

5:22  You will make sport of destruction and need, and will have no fear of the beasts of the earth.

5:23  For you will be in agreement with the stones of the earth, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

5:24  And you will be certain that your tent is at peace, and after looking over your property you will see that nothing is gone.

5:25  You will be certain that your seed will be great, and your offspring like the plants of the earth.

5:26  You will come to your last resting-place in full strength, as the grain is taken up to the crushing-floor in its time.

5:27  See, we have made search with care, and it is so; it has come to our ears; see that you take note of it for yourself.

Chapter 6

6:1  And Job made answer and said,

6:2  If only my passion might be measured, and put into the scales against my trouble!

6:3  For then its weight would be more than the sand of the seas: because of this my words have been uncontrolled.

6:4  For the arrows of the Ruler of all are present with me, and their poison goes deep into my spirit: his army of fears is put in order against me.

6:5  Does the ass of the fields give out his voice when he has grass? or does the ox make sounds over his food?

6:6  Will a man take food which has no taste without salt? or is there any taste in the soft substance of purslain?

6:7  My soul has no desire for such things, they are as disease in my food.

6:8  If only I might have an answer to my prayer, and God would give me my desire!

6:9  If only he would be pleased to put an end to me; and would let loose his hand, so that I might be cut off!

6:10  So I would still have comfort, and I would have joy in the pains of death, for I have not been false to the words of the Holy One.

6:11  Have I strength to go on waiting, or have I any end to be looking forward to?

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

6:13  I have no help in myself, and wisdom is completely gone from me.

6:14  He whose heart is shut against his friend has given up the fear of the Ruler of all.

6:15  My friends have been false like a stream, like streams in the valleys which come to an end:

6:16  Which are dark because of the ice, and the snow falling into them;

6:17  Under the burning sun they are cut off, and come to nothing because of the heat.

6:18  The camel-trains go out of their way; they go up into the waste and come to destruction.

6:19  The camel-trains of Tema were searching with care, the bands of Sheba were waiting for them:

6:20  They were put to shame because of their hope; they came and their hope was gone.

6:21  So have you now become to me; you see my sad condition and are in fear.

6:22  Did I say, Give me something? or, Make a payment for me out of your wealth?

6:23  Or, Get me out of the power of my hater? or, Give money so that I may be free from the power of the cruel ones?

6:24  Give me teaching and I will be quiet; and make me see my error.

6:25  How pleasing are upright words! but what force is there in your arguments?

6:26  My words may seem wrong to you, but the words of him who has no hope are for the wind.

6:27  Truly, you are such as would give up the child of a dead man to his creditors, and would make a profit out of your friend.

6:28  Now then, let your eyes be turned to me, for truly I will not say what is false to your face.

6:29  Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me.

6:30  Is there evil in my tongue? is not the cause of my trouble clear to me?

Chapter 7

7:1  Has not man his ordered time of trouble on the earth? and are not his days like the days of a servant working for payment?

7:2  As a servant desiring the shades of evening, and a workman looking for his payment:

7:3  So I have for my heritage months of pain to no purpose, and nights of weariness are given to me.

7:4  When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.

7:5  My flesh is covered with worms and dust; my skin gets hard and then is cracked again.

7:6  My days go quicker than the cloth-worker's thread, and come to an end without hope.

7:7  O, keep in mind that my life is wind: my eye will never again see good.

7:8  The eye of him who sees me will see me no longer: your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone.

7:9  A cloud comes to an end and is gone; so he who goes down into the underworld comes not up again.

7:10  He will not come back to his house, and his place will have no more knowledge of him.

7:11  So I will not keep my mouth shut; I will let the words come from it in the pain of my spirit, my soul will make a bitter outcry.

7:12  Am I a sea, or a sea-beast, that you put a watch over me?

7:13  When I say, In my bed I will have comfort, there I will get rest from my disease;

7:14  Then you send dreams to me, and visions of fear;

7:15  So that a hard death seems better to my soul than my pains.

7:16  I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.

7:17  What is man, that you have made him great, and that your attention is fixed on him,

7:18  And that your hand is on him every morning, and that you are testing him every minute?

7:19  How long will it be before your eyes are turned away from me, so that I may have a minute's breathing-space?

7:20  If I have done wrong, what have I done to you, O keeper of men? why have you made me a mark for your blows, so that I am a weariness to myself?

7:21  And why do you not take away my sin, and let my wrongdoing be ended? for now I go down to the dust, and you will be searching for me with care, but I will be gone.

Chapter 8

8:1  Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said,

8:2  How long will you say these things, and how long will the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

8:3  Does God give wrong decisions? or is the Ruler of all not upright in his judging?

8:4  If your children have done evil against him, then their punishment is from his hand.

8:5  If you will make search for God with care, and put your request before the Ruler of all;

8:6  If you are clean and upright; then he will certainly be moved to take up your cause, and will make clear your righteousness by building up your house again.

8:7  And though your start was small, your end will be very great.

8:8  Put the question now to the past generations, and give attention to what has been searched out by their fathers:

8:9  (For we are but of yesterday, and have no knowledge, because our days on earth are gone like a shade:)

8:10  Will they not give you teaching, and say words of wisdom to you?

8:11  Will the river-plant come up in its pride without wet earth? will the grass get tall without water?

8:12  When it is still green, without being cut down, it becomes dry and dead before any other plant.

8:13  So is the end of all who do not keep God in mind; and the hope of the evil-doer comes to nothing:

8:14  Whose support is cut off, and whose hope is no stronger than a spider's thread.

8:15  He is looking to his family for support, but it is not there; he puts his hope in it, but it comes to nothing.

8:16  He is full of strength before the sun, and his branches go out over his garden.

8:17  His roots are twisted round the stones, forcing their way in between them.

8:18  If he is taken away from his place, then it will say, I have not seen you.

8:19  Such is the joy of his way, and out of the dust another comes up to take his place.

8:20  Truly, God will not give up him who is without sin, and will not take evil-doers by the hand.

8:21  The time will come when your mouth will be full of laughing, and cries of joy will come from your lips.

8:22  Your haters will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the sinner will not be seen again.

Chapter 9

9:1  And Job made answer and said,

9:2  Truly, I see that it is so: and how is it possible for a man to get his right before God?

9:3  If a man was desiring to go to law with him, he would not be able to give him an answer to one out of a thousand questions.

9:4  He is wise in heart and great in strength: who ever made his face hard against him, and any good came of it?

9:5  It is he who takes away the mountains without their knowledge, overturning them in his wrath:

9:6  Who is moving the earth out of its place, so that its pillars are shaking:

9:7  Who gives orders to the sun, and it does not give its light; and who keeps the stars from shining.

9:8  By whose hand the heavens were stretched out, and who is walking on the waves of the sea:

9:9  Who made the Bear and Orion, and the Pleiades, and the store-houses of the south:

9:10  Who does great things not to be searched out; yes, wonders without number.

9:11  See, he goes past me and I see him not: he goes on before, but I have no knowledge of him.

9:12  If he puts out his hand to take, by whom may it be turned back? who may say to him, What are you doing?

9:13  God's wrath may not be turned back; the helpers of Rahab were bent down under him.

9:14  How much less may I give an answer to him, using the right words in argument with him?

9:15  Even if my cause was good, I would not be able to give an answer; I would make request for grace from him who was against me.

9:16  If I had sent for him to be present, and he had come, I would have no faith that he would give ear to my voice.

9:17  For I would be crushed by his storm, my wounds would be increased without cause.

9:18  He would not let me take my breath, but I would be full of bitter grief.

9:19  If it is a question of strength, he says, Here I am! and if it is a question of a cause at law, he says, Who will give me a fixed day?

9:20  Though I was in the right, he would say that I was in the wrong; I have done no evil; but he says that I am a sinner.

9:21  I have done no wrong; I give no thought to what becomes of me; I have no desire for life.

9:22  It is all the same to me; so I say, He puts an end to the sinner and to him who has done no wrong together.

9:23  If death comes suddenly through disease, he makes sport of the fate of those who have done no wrong.

9:24  The land is given into the power of the evil-doer; the faces of its judges are covered; if not by him, then who has done it?

9:25  My days go quicker than a post-runner: they go in flight, they see no good.

9:26  They go rushing on like reed-boats, like an eagle dropping suddenly on its food.

9:27  If I say, I will put my grief out of mind, I will let my face be sad no longer and I will be bright;

9:28  I go in fear of all my pains; I am certain that I will not be free from sin in your eyes.

9:29  You will not let me be clear of sin! why then do I take trouble for nothing?

9:30  If I am washed with snow water, and make my hands clean with soap;

9:31  Then you will have me pushed into the dust, so that I will seem disgusting to my very clothing.

9:32  For he is not a man as I am, that I might give him an answer, that we might come together before a judge.

9:33  There is no one to give a decision between us, who might have control over us.

9:34  Let him take away his rod from me and not send his fear on me:

9:35  Then I would say what is in my mind without fear of him; for there is no cause of fear in myself.

Chapter 10

10:1  My soul is tired of life; I will let my sad thoughts go free in words; my soul will make a bitter outcry.

10:2  I will say to God, Do not put me down as a sinner; make clear to me what you have against me.

10:3  What profit is it to you to be cruel, to give up the work of your hands, looking kindly on the design of evil-doers?

10:4  Have you eyes of flesh, or do you see as man sees?

10:5  Are your days as the days of man, or your years like his,

10:6  That you take note of my sin, searching after my wrongdoing,

10:7  Though you see that I am not an evil-doer; and there is no one who is able to take a man out of your hands?

10:8  Your hands made me, and I was formed by you, but then, changing your purpose, you gave me up to destruction.

10:9  O keep in mind that you made me out of earth; and will you send me back again to dust?

10:10  Was I not drained out like milk, becoming hard like cheese?

10:11  By you I was clothed with skin and flesh, and joined together with bones and muscles.

10:12  You have been kind to me, and your grace has been with me, and your care has kept my spirit safe.

10:13  But you kept these things in the secret of your heart; I am certain this was in your thoughts:

10:14  That, if I did wrong, you would take note of it, and would not make me clear from sin:

10:15  That, if I was an evil-doer, the curse would come on me; and if I was upright, my head would not be lifted up, being full of shame and overcome with trouble.

10:16  And that if there was cause for pride, you would go after me like a lion; and again put out your wonders against me:

10:17  That you would send new witnesses against me, increasing your wrath against me, and letting loose new armies on me.

10:18  Why then did you make me come out of my mother's body? It would have been better for me to have taken my last breath, and for no eye to have seen me,

10:19  And for me to have been as if I had not been; to have been taken from my mother's body straight to my last resting-place.

10:20  Are not the days of my life small in number? Let your eyes be turned away from me, so that I may have a little pleasure,

10:21  Before I go to the place from which I will not come back, to the land where all is dark and black,

10:22  A land of thick dark, without order, where the very light is dark.

Chapter 11

11:1  Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,

11:2  Are all these words to go unanswered? and is a man seen to be right because he is full of talk?

11:3  Are your words of pride to make men keep quiet? and are you to make sport, with no one to put you to shame?

11:4  You may say, My way is clean, and I am free from sin in your eyes.

11:5  But if only God would take up the word, opening his lips in argument with you;

11:6  And would make clear to you the secrets of wisdom, and the wonders of his purpose!

11:7  Are you able to take God's measure, to make discovery of the limits of the Ruler of all?

11:8  They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge;

11:9  Longer in measure than the earth, and wider than the sea.

11:10  If he goes on his way, shutting a man up and putting him to death, who may make him go back from his purpose?

11:11  For in his eyes men are as nothing; he sees evil and takes note of it.

11:12  And so a hollow-minded man will get wisdom, when a young ass of the field gets teaching.

11:13  But if you put your heart right, stretching out your hands to him;

11:14  If you put far away the evil of your hands, and let no wrongdoing have a place in your tent;

11:15  Then truly your face will be lifted up, with no mark of sin, and you will be fixed in your place without fear:

11:16  For your sorrow will go from your memory, like waters flowing away:

11:17  And your life will be brighter than day; though it is dark, it will become like the morning.

11:18  And you will be safe because there is hope; after looking round, you will take your rest in quiet;

11:19  Sleeping with no fear of danger; and men will be desiring to have grace in your eyes;

11:20  But the eyes of the evil-doers will be wasting away; their way of flight is gone, and their only hope is the taking of their last breath.

Chapter 12

12:1  And Job made answer and said,

12:2  No doubt you have knowledge, and wisdom will come to an end with you.

12:3  But I have a mind as well as you; I am equal to you: yes, who has not knowledge of such things as these?

12:4  It seems that I am to be as one who is a cause of laughing to his neighbour, one who makes his prayer to God and is answered! the upright man who has done no wrong is to be made sport of!

12:5  In the thought of him who is in comfort there is no respect for one who is in trouble; such is the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

12:6  There is wealth in the tents of those who make destruction, and those by whom God is moved to wrath are safe; even those whose god is their strength.

12:7  But put now a question to the beasts, and get teaching from them; or to the birds of the heaven, and they will make it clear to you;

12:8  Or to the things which go flat on the earth, and they will give you wisdom; and the fishes of the sea will give you news of it.

12:9  Who does not see by all these that the hand of the Lord has done this?

12:10  In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all flesh of man.

12:11  Are not words tested by the ear, even as food is tasted by the mouth?

12:12  Old men have wisdom, and a long life gives knowledge.

12:13  With him there is wisdom and strength; power and knowledge are his.

12:14  Truly, there is no building up of what is pulled down by him; when a man is shut up by him, no one may let him loose.

12:15  Truly, he keeps back the waters and they are dry; he sends them out and the earth is overturned.

12:16  With him are strength and wise designs; he who is guided into error, together with his guide, are in his hands;

12:17  He takes away the wisdom of the wise guides, and makes judges foolish;

12:18  He undoes the chains of kings, and puts his band on them;

12:19  He makes priests prisoners, overturning those in safe positions;

12:20  He makes the words of responsible persons without effect, and takes away the good sense of the old;

12:21  He puts shame on chiefs, and takes away the power of the strong;

12:22  Uncovering deep things out of the dark, and making the deep shade bright;

12:23  Increasing nations, and sending destruction on them; making wide the lands of peoples, and then giving them up.

12:24  He takes away the wisdom of the rulers of the earth, and sends them wandering in a waste where there is no way.

12:25  They go feeling about in the dark without light, wandering without help like those overcome with wine.

Chapter 13

13:1  Truly, my eye has seen all this, word of it has come to my ear, and I have knowledge of it.

13:2  The same things are in my mind as in yours; I am equal to you.

13:3  But I would have talk with the Ruler of all, and my desire is to have an argument with God.

13:4  But you put a false face on things; all your attempts to put things right are of no value.

13:5  If only you would keep quiet, it would be a sign of wisdom!

13:6  Give ear to the argument of my mouth, and take note of the words of my lips.

13:7  Will you say in God's name what is not right, and put false words into his mouth?

13:8  Will you have respect for God's person in this cause, and put yourselves forward as his supporters?

13:9  Will it be good for you to be searched out by him, or have you the thought that he may be guided into error like a man?

13:10  He will certainly put you right, if you have respect for persons in secret.

13:11  Will not his glory put you in fear, so that your hearts will be overcome before him?

13:12  Your wise sayings are only dust, and your strong places are only earth.

13:13  Keep quiet, and let me say what is in my mind, whatever may come to me.

13:14  I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand.

13:15  Truly, he will put an end to me; I have no hope; but I will not give way in argument before him;

13:16  And that will be my salvation, for an evil-doer would not come before him,

13:17  Give ear with care to my words, and keep what I say in your minds.

13:18  See now, I have put my cause in order, and I am certain that I will be seen to be right.

13:19  Is any one able to take up the argument against me? If so, I would keep quiet and give up my breath.

13:20  Only two things do not do to me, then I will come before your face:

13:21  Take your hand far away from me; and let me not be overcome by fear of you.

13:22  Then at the sound of your voice I will give answer; or let me put forward my cause for you to give me an answer.

13:23  What is the number of my evil-doings and my sins? give me knowledge of them.

13:24  Why is your face veiled from me, as if I was numbered among your haters?

13:25  Will you be hard on a leaf in flight before the wind? will you make a dry stem go more quickly on its way?

13:26  For you put bitter things on record against me, and send punishment on me for the sins of my early years;

13:27  And you put chains on my feet, watching all my ways, and making a limit for my steps;

13:28  Though a man comes to nothing like a bit of dead wood, or like a robe which has become food for the worm.

Chapter 14

14:1  As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.

14:2  He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again.

14:3  Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him?

14:4  If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible.

14:5  If his days are ordered, and you have knowledge of the number of his months, having given him a fixed limit past which he may not go;

14:6  Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment.

14:7  For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end.

14:8  Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust;

14:9  Still, at the smell of water, it will make buds, and put out branches like a young plant.

14:10  But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he?

14:11  The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry;

14:12  So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep.

14:13  If only you would keep me safe in the underworld, putting me in a secret place till your wrath is past, giving me a fixed time when I might come to your memory again!

14:14  If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free.

14:15  At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands.

14:16  For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked.

14:17  My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe.

14:18  But truly a mountain falling comes to dust, and a rock is moved from its place;

14:19  The stones are crushed small by the force of the waters; the dust of the earth is washed away by their overflowing: and so you put an end to the hope of man.

14:20  You overcome him for ever, and he is gone; his face is changed in death, and you send him away.

14:21  His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it.

14:22  Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.

Chapter 15

15:1  And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,

15:2  Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?

15:3  Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?

15:4  Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry.

15:5  For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself.

15:6  It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you.

15:7  Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills?

15:8  Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself?

15:9  What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?

15:10  With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father.

15:11  Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?

15:12  Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up;

15:13  So that you are turning your spirit against God, and letting such words go out of your mouth?

15:14  What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?

15:15  Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes;

15:16  How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water!

15:17  Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:

15:18  (The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us;

15:19  For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them:)

15:20  The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small.

15:21  A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:

15:22  He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;

15:23  He is wandering about in search of bread, saying, Where is it? and he is certain that the day of trouble is ready for him:

15:24  He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him:

15:25  Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all,

15:26  Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight,

15:27  Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;

15:28  And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls.

15:29  He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth.

15:30  He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.

15:31  Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.

15:32  His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green.

15:33  He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers.

15:34  For the band of the evil-doers gives no fruit, and the tents of those who give wrong decisions for reward are burned with fire.

15:35  Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.

Chapter 16

16:1  And Job made answer and said,

16:2  Such things have frequently come to my ears: you are comforters who only give trouble.

16:3  May words which are like the wind be stopped? or what is troubling you to make answer to them?

16:4  It would not be hard for me to say such things if your souls were in my soul's place; joining words together against you, and shaking my head at you:

16:5  I might give you strength with my mouth, and not keep back the comfort of my lips.

16:6  If I say what is in my mind, my pain becomes no less: and if I keep quiet, how much of it goes from me?

16:7  But now he has overcome me with weariness and fear, and I am in the grip of all my trouble.

16:8  It has come up as a witness against me, and the wasting of my flesh makes answer to my face.

16:9  I am broken by his wrath, and his hate has gone after me; he has made his teeth sharp against me: my haters are looking on me with cruel eyes;

16:10  Their mouths are open wide against me; the blows of his bitter words are falling on my face; all of them come together in a mass against me.

16:11  God gives me over to the power of sinners, sending me violently into the hands of evil-doers.

16:12  I was in comfort, but I have been broken up by his hands; he has taken me by the neck, shaking me to bits; he has put me up as a mark for his arrows.

16:13  His bowmen come round about me; their arrows go through my body without mercy; my life is drained out on the earth.

16:14  I am broken with wound after wound; he comes rushing on me like a man of war.

16:15  I have made haircloth the clothing of my skin, and my horn is rolled in the dust.

16:16  My face is red with weeping, and my eyes are becoming dark;

16:17  Though my hands have done no violent acts, and my prayer is clean.

16:18  O earth, let not my blood be covered, and let my cry have no resting-place!

16:19  Even now my witness is in heaven, and the supporter of my cause is on high.

16:20  My friends make sport of me; to God my eyes are weeping,

16:21  So that he may give decision for a man in his cause with God, and between a son of man and his neighbour.

16:22  For in a short time I will take the journey from which I will not come back.

Chapter 17

17:1  My spirit is broken, my days are ended, the last resting-place is ready for me.

17:2  Truly, those who make sport of me are round about me, and my eyes become dark because of their bitter laughing.

17:3  Be pleased, now, to be responsible for me to yourself; for there is no other who will put his hand in mine.

17:4  You have kept their hearts from wisdom: for this cause you will not give them honour.

17:5  As for him who is false to his friend for a reward, light will be cut off from the eyes of his children.

17:6  He has made me a word of shame to the peoples; I have become a mark for their sport.

17:7  My eyes have become dark because of my pain, and all my body is wasted to a shade.

17:8  The upright are surprised at this, and he who has done no wrong is troubled because of the evil-doers.

17:9  Still the upright keeps on his way, and he who has clean hands gets new strength.

17:10  But come back, now, all of you, come; and I will not see a wise man among you.

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

17:12  They are changing night into day; they say, The light is near the dark.

17:13  If I am waiting for the underworld as my house, if I have made my bed in the dark;

17:14  If I say to the earth, You are my father; and to the worm, My mother and my sister;

17:15  Where then is my hope? and who will see my desire?

17:16  Will they go down with me into the underworld? Will we go down together into the dust?

Chapter 18

18:1  Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said,

18:2  How long will it be before you have done talking? Get wisdom, and then we will say what is in our minds.

18:3  Why do we seem as beasts in your eyes, and as completely without knowledge?

18:4  But come back, now, come: you who are wounding yourself in your passion, will the earth be given up because of you, or a rock be moved out of its place?

18:5  For the light of the sinner is put out, and the flame of his fire is not shining.

18:6  The light is dark in his tent, and the light shining over him is put out.

18:7  The steps of his strength become short, and by his design destruction overtakes him.

18:8  His feet take him into the net, and he goes walking into the cords.

18:9  His foot is taken in the net; he comes into its grip.

18:10  The twisted cord is put secretly in the earth to take him, and the cord is placed in his way.

18:11  He is overcome by fears on every side, they go after him at every step.

18:12  His strength is made feeble for need of food, and destruction is waiting for his falling footstep.

18:13  His skin is wasted by disease, and his body is food for the worst of diseases.

18:14  He is pulled out of his tent where he was safe, and he is taken away to the king of fears.

18:15  In his tent will be seen that which is not his, burning stone is dropped on his house.

18:16  Under the earth his roots are dry, and over it his branch is cut off.

18:17  His memory is gone from the earth, and in the open country there is no knowledge of his name.

18:18  He is sent away from the light into the dark; he is forced out of the world.

18:19  He has no offspring or family among his people, and in his living-place there is no one of his name.

18:20  At his fate those of the west are shocked, and those of the east are overcome with fear.

18:21  Truly, these are the houses of the sinner, and this is the place of him who has no knowledge of God.

Chapter 19

19:1  And Job made answer and said,

19:2  How long will you make my life bitter, crushing me with words?

19:3  Ten times now you have made sport of me; it gives you no sense of shame to do me wrong.

19:4  And, truly, if I have been in error, the effect of my error is only on myself.

19:5  If you make yourselves great against me, using my punishment as an argument against me,

19:6  Be certain that it is God who has done me wrong, and has taken me in his net.

19:7  Truly, I make an outcry against the violent man, but there is no answer: I give a cry for help, but no one takes up my cause.

19:8  My way is walled up by him so that I may not go by: he has made my roads dark.

19:9  He has put off my glory from me, and taken the crown from my head.

19:10  I am broken down by him on every side, and I am gone; my hope is uprooted like a tree.

19:11  His wrath is burning against me, and I am to him as one of his haters.

19:12  His armies come on together, they make their road high against me, and put up their tents round mine.

19:13  He has taken my brothers far away from me; they have seen my fate and have become strange to me.

19:14  My relations and my near friends have given me up, and those living in my house have put me out of their minds.

19:15  I am strange to my women-servants, and seem to them as one from another country.

19:16  At my cry my servant gives me no answer, and I have to make a prayer to him.

19:17  My breath is strange to my wife, and I am disgusting to the offspring of my mother's body.

19:18  Even young children have no respect for me; when I get up their backs are turned on me.

19:19  All the men of my circle keep away from me; and those dear to me are turned against me.

19:20  My bones are joined to my skin, and I have got away with my flesh in my teeth.

19:21  Have pity on me, have pity on me, O my friends! for the hand of God is on me.

19:22  Why are you cruel to me, like God, for ever saying evil against me?

19:23  If only my words might be recorded! if they might be put in writing in a book!

19:24  And with an iron pen and lead be cut into the rock for ever!

19:25  But I am certain that he who will take up my cause is living, and that in time to come he will take his place on the dust;

19:26  And ... without my flesh I will see God;

19:27  Whom I will see on my side, and not as one strange to me. My heart is broken with desire.

19:28  If you say, How cruel we will be to him! because the root of sin is clearly in him:

19:29  Be in fear of the sword, for the sword is the punishment for such things, so that you may be certain that there is a judge.

Chapter 20

20:1  Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,

20:2  For this cause my thoughts are troubling me and driving me on.

20:3  I have to give ear to arguments which put me to shame, and your answers to me are wind without wisdom.

20:4  Have you knowledge of this from early times, when man was placed on the earth,

20:5  That the pride of the sinner is short, and the joy of the evil-doer but for a minute?

20:6  Though he is lifted up to the heavens, and his head goes up to the clouds;

20:7  Like the waste from his body he comes to an end for ever: those who have seen him say, Where is he?

20:8  He is gone like a dream, and is not seen again; he goes in flight like a vision of the night.

20:9  The eye which saw him sees him no longer; and his place has no more knowledge of him.

20:10  His children are hoping that the poor will be kind to them, and his hands give back his wealth.

20:11  His bones are full of young strength, but it will go down with him into the dust.

20:12  Though evil-doing is sweet in his mouth, and he keeps it secretly under his tongue;

20:13  Though he takes care of it, and does not let it go, but keeps it still in his mouth;

20:14  His food becomes bitter in his stomach; the poison of snakes is inside him.

20:15  He takes down wealth as food, and sends it up again; it is forced out of his stomach by God.

20:16  He takes the poison of snakes into his mouth, the tongue of the snake is the cause of his death.

20:17  Let him not see the rivers of oil, the streams of honey and milk.

20:18  He is forced to give back the fruit of his work, and may not take it for food; he has no joy in the profit of his trading.

20:19  Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up;

20:20  There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight.

20:21  He had never enough for his desire; for this cause his well-being will quickly come to an end.

20:22  Even when his wealth is great, he is full of care, for the hand of everyone who is in trouble is turned against him.

20:23  God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain.

20:24  He may go in flight from the iron spear, but the arrow from the bow of brass will go through him;

20:25  He is pulling it out, and it comes out of his back; and its shining point comes out of his side; he is overcome by fears.

20:26  All his wealth is stored up for the dark: a fire not made by man sends destruction on him, and on everything in his tent.

20:27  The heavens make clear his sin, and the earth gives witness against him.

20:28  The produce of his house is taken away into another country, like things given into the hands of others in the day of wrath.

20:29  This is the reward of the evil man, and the heritage given to him by God.

Chapter 21

21:1  Then Job made answer and said,

21:2  Give attention with care to my words; and let this be your comfort.

21:3  Let me say what is in my mind, and after that, go on making sport of me.

21:4  As for me, is my outcry against man? is it then to be wondered at if my spirit is troubled?

21:5  Take note of me and be full of wonder, put your hand on your mouth.

21:6  At the very thought of it my flesh is shaking with fear.

21:7  Why is life given to the evil-doers? why do they become old and strong in power?

21:8  Their children are ever with them, and their offspring before their eyes.

21:9  Their houses are free from fear, and the rod of God does not come on them.

21:10  Their ox is ready at all times to give seed; their cow gives birth, without dropping her young.

21:11  They send out their young ones like a flock, and their children have pleasure in the dance,

21:12  They make songs to the instruments of music, and are glad at the sound of the pipe.

21:13  Their days come to an end without trouble, and suddenly they go down to the underworld.

21:14  Though they said to God, Go away from us, for we have no desire for the knowledge of your ways.

21:15  What is the Ruler of all, that we may give him worship? and what profit is it to us to make prayer to him?

21:16  Truly, is not their well-being in their power? (The purpose of the evil-doers is far from me.)

21:17  How frequently is the light of the evil-doers put out, or does trouble come on them? how frequently does his wrath take them with cords?

21:18  How frequently are they as dry stems before the wind, or as grass taken away by the storm-wind?

21:19  You say, God keeps punishment stored up for his children. Let him send it on the man himself, so that he may have the punishment of it!

21:20  Let his eyes see his trouble, and let him be full of the wrath of the Ruler of all!

21:21  For what interest has he in his house after him, when the number of his months is ended?

21:22  Is anyone able to give teaching to God? for he is the judge of those who are on high.

21:23  One comes to his end in complete well-being, full of peace and quiet:

21:24  His buckets are full of milk, and there is no loss of strength in his bones.

21:25  And another comes to his end with a bitter soul, without ever tasting good.

21:26  Together they go down to the dust, and are covered by the worm.

21:27  See, I am conscious of your thoughts, and of your violent purposes against me;

21:28  For you say, Where is the house of the ruler, and where is the tent of the evil-doer?

21:29  Have you not put the question to the travellers, and do you not take note of their experience?

21:30  How the evil man goes free in the day of trouble, and has salvation in the day of wrath?

21:31  Who will make his way clear to his face? and if he has done a thing, who gives him punishment for it?

21:32  He is taken to his last resting-place, and keeps watch over it.

21:33  The earth of the valley covering his bones is sweet to him, and all men come after him, as there were unnumbered before him.

21:34  Why then do you give me comfort with words in which there is no profit, when you see that there is nothing in your answers but deceit?

Chapter 22

22:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,

22:2  Is it possible for a man to be of profit to God? No, for a man's wisdom is only of profit to himself.

22:3  Is it of any interest to the Ruler of all that you are upright? or is it of use to him that your ways are without sin?

22:4  Is it because you give him honour that he is sending punishment on you and is judging you?

22:5  Is not your evil-doing great? and there is no end to your sins.

22:6  For you have taken your brother's goods when he was not in your debt, and have taken away the clothing of those who have need of it.

22:7  You do not give water to the tired traveller, and from him who has no food you keep back bread.

22:8  For it was the man with power who had the land, and the man with an honoured name who was living in it.

22:9  You have sent widows away without hearing their cause, and you have taken away the support of the child who has no father.

22:10  For this cause nets are round your feet, and you are overcome with sudden fear.

22:11  Your light is made dark so that you are unable to see, and you are covered by a mass of waters.

22:12  Is not God as high as heaven? and see the stars, how high they are!

22:13  And you say, What knowledge has God? is he able to give decisions through the deep dark?

22:14  Thick clouds are covering him, so that he is unable to see; and he is walking on the arch of heaven.

22:15  Will you keep the old way by which evil men went?

22:16  Who were violently taken away before their time, who were overcome by the rush of waters:

22:17  Who said to God, Go away from us; and, What is the Ruler of all able to do to us?

22:18  Though he made their houses full of good things: but the purpose of the evil-doers is far from me!

22:19  The upright saw it and were glad: and those who had done no wrong made sport of them,

22:20  Saying, Truly, their substance is cut off, and their wealth is food for the fire.

22:21  Put yourself now in a right relation with him and be at peace: so will you do well in your undertakings.

22:22  Be pleased to take teaching from his mouth, and let his words be stored up in your heart.

22:23  If you come back to the Ruler of all, making yourself low before him; if you put evil far away from your tents;

22:24  And put your gold in the dust, even your gold of Ophir among the rocks of the valleys;

22:25  Then the Ruler of all will be your gold, and his teaching will be your silver;

22:26  For then you will have delight in the Ruler of all, and your face will be lifted up to God.

22:27  You will make your prayer to him, and be answered; and you will give effect to your oaths.

22:28  Your purposes will come about, and light will be shining on your ways.

22:29  For God makes low those whose hearts are lifted up, but he is a saviour to the poor in spirit.

22:30  He makes safe the man who is free from sin, and if your hands are clean, salvation will be yours.

Chapter 23

23:1  And Job made answer and said,

23:2  Even today my outcry is bitter; his hand is hard on my sorrow.

23:3  If only I had knowledge of where he might be seen, so that I might come even to his seat!

23:4  I would put my cause in order before him, and my mouth would be full of arguments.

23:5  I would see what his answers would be, and have knowledge of what he would say to me.

23:6  Would he make use of his great power to overcome me? No, but he would give attention to me.

23:7  There an upright man might put his cause before him; and I would be free for ever from my judge.

23:8  See, I go forward, but he is not there; and back, but I do not see him;

23:9  I am looking for him on the left hand, but there is no sign of him; and turning to the right, I am not able to see him.

23:10  For he has knowledge of the way I take; after I have been tested I will come out like gold.

23:11  My feet have gone in his steps; I have kept in his way, without turning to one side or to the other.

23:12  I have never gone against the orders of his lips; the words of his mouth have been stored up in my heart.

23:13  But his purpose is fixed and there is no changing it; and he gives effect to the desire of his soul.

23:14  For what has been ordered for me by him will be gone through to the end: and his mind is full of such designs.

23:15  For this cause I am in fear before him, my thoughts of him overcome me.

23:16  For God has made my heart feeble, and my mind is troubled before the Ruler of all.

23:17  For I am overcome by the dark, and by the black night which is covering my face.

Chapter 24

24:1  Why are times not stored up by the Ruler of all, and why do those who have knowledge of him not see his days?

24:2  The landmarks are changed by evil men, they violently take away flocks, together with their keepers.

24:3  They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt.

24:4  The crushed are turned out of the way; all the poor of the earth go into a secret place together.

24:5  Like asses in the waste land they go out to their work, looking for food with care; from the waste land they get bread for their children.

24:6  They get mixed grain from the field, and they take away the late fruit from the vines of those who have wealth.

24:7  They take their rest at night without clothing, and have no cover in the cold.

24:8  They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and get into the cracks of the rock for cover.

24:9  The child without a father is forced from its mother's breast, and they take the young children of the poor for debt.

24:10  Others go about without clothing, and though they have no food, they get in the grain from the fields.

24:11  Between the lines of olive-trees they make oil; though they have no drink, they are crushing out the grapes.

24:12  From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer.

24:13  Then there are those who are haters of the light, who have no knowledge of its ways, and do not go in them.

24:14  He who is purposing death gets up before day, so that he may put to death the poor and those in need.

24:15  And the man whose desire is for the wife of another is waiting for the evening, saying, No eye will see me; and he puts a cover on his face. And in the night the thief goes about;

24:16  In the dark he makes holes in the walls of houses: in the daytime they are shutting themselves up, they have no knowledge of the light.

24:17  For the middle of the night is as morning to them, they are not troubled by the fear of the dark.

24:18  They go quickly on the face of the waters; their heritage is cursed in the earth; the steps of the crusher of grapes are not turned to their vine-garden.

24:19  Snow waters become dry with the heat: so do sinners go down into the underworld.

24:20  The public place of his town has no more knowledge of him, and his name has gone from the memory of men: he is rooted up like a dead tree.

24:21  He is not kind to the widow, and he has no pity for her child.

24:22  But God by his power gives long life to the strong; he gets up again, though he has no hope of life.

24:23  He takes away his fear of danger and gives him support; and his eyes are on his ways.

24:24  For a short time they are lifted up; then they are gone; they are made low, they are pulled off like fruit, and like the heads of grain they are cut off.

24:25  And if it is not so, now, who will make it clear that my words are false, and that what I say is of no value?

Chapter 25

25:1  Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said,

25:2  Rule and power are his; he makes peace in his high places.

25:3  Is it possible for his armies to be numbered? and on whom is not his light shining?

25:4  How then is it possible for man to be upright before God? or how may he be clean who is a son of woman?

25:5  See, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not clean in his eyes:

25:6  How much less man who is an insect, and the son of man who is a worm!

Chapter 26

26:1  Then Job made answer and said,

26:2  How have you given help to him who has no power! how have you been the salvation of the arm which has no strength!

26:3  How have you given teaching to him who has no wisdom, and fully made clear true knowledge!

26:4  To whom have your words been said? and whose spirit came out from you?

26:5  The shades in the underworld are shaking; the waters and those living in them.

26:6  The underworld is uncovered before him, and Destruction has no veil.

26:7  By his hand the north is stretched out in space, and the earth is hanging on nothing.

26:8  By him the waters are shut up in his thick clouds, and the cloud does not give way under them.

26:9  By him the face of his high seat is veiled, and his cloud stretched out over it.

26:10  By him a circle is marked out on the face of the waters, to the limits of the light and the dark.

26:11  The pillars of heaven are shaking, and are overcome by his sharp words.

26:12  By his power the sea was made quiet; and by his wisdom Rahab was wounded.

26:13  By his wind the heavens become bright: by his hand the quickly moving snake was cut through.

26:14  See, these are only the outskirts of his ways; and how small is that which comes to our ears about him! But the thunder of his acts of power is outside all knowledge.

Chapter 27

27:1  And Job again took up the word and said,

27:2  By the life of God, who has taken away my right; and of the Ruler of all, who has made my soul bitter;

27:3  (For all my breath is still in me, and the spirit of God is my life;)

27:4  Truly, there is no deceit in my lips, and my tongue does not say what is false.

27:5  Let it be far from me! I will certainly not say that you are right! I will come to death before I give up my righteousness.

27:6  I will keep it safe, and will not let it go: my heart has nothing to say against any part of my life.

27:7  Let my hater be like the evil man, and let him who comes against me be as the sinner.

27:8  For what is the hope of the sinner when he is cut off, when God takes back his soul?

27:9  Will his cry come to the ears of God when he is in trouble?

27:10  Will he take delight in the Ruler of all, and make his prayer to God at all times?

27:11  I will give you teaching about the hand of God; I will not keep secret from you what is in the mind of the Ruler of all.

27:12  Truly, you have all seen it yourselves; why then have you become completely foolish?

27:13  This is the punishment of the evil-doer from God, and the heritage given to the cruel by the Ruler of all.

27:14  If his children are increased, it is for the sword; and his offspring have not enough bread.

27:15  When those of his house who are still living come to their end by disease, they are not put into the earth, and their widows are not weeping for them.

27:16  Though he may get silver together like dust, and make ready great stores of clothing;

27:17  He may get them ready, but the upright will put them on, and he who is free from sin will take the silver for a heritage.

27:18  His house has no more strength than a spider's thread, or a watchman's tent.

27:19  He goes to rest full of wealth, but does so for the last time: on opening his eyes, he sees it there no longer.

27:20  Fears overtake him like rushing waters; in the night the storm-wind takes him away.

27:21  The east wind takes him up and he is gone; he is forced violently out of his place.

27:22  God sends his arrows against him without mercy; he goes in flight before his hand.

27:23  Men make signs of joy because of him, driving him from his place with sounds of hissing.

Chapter 28

28:1  Truly there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is washed out.

28:2  Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone is changed into brass by the fire.

28:3  Man puts an end to the dark, searching out to the farthest limit the stones of the deep places of the dark.

28:4  He makes a deep mine far away from those living in the light of day; when they go about on the earth, they have no knowledge of those who are under them, who are hanging far from men, twisting from side to side on a cord.

28:5  As for the earth, bread comes out of it; but under its face it is turned up as if by fire.

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

28:7  No bird has knowledge of it, and the hawk's eye has never seen it.

28:8  The great beasts have not gone over it, and the cruel lion has not taken that way.

28:9  Man puts out his hand on the hard rock, overturning mountains by the roots.

28:10  He makes deep ways, cut through the rock, and his eye sees everything of value.

28:11  He keeps back the streams from flowing, and makes the secret things come out into the light.

28:12  But where may wisdom be seen? and where is the resting-place of knowledge?

28:13  Man has not seen the way to it, and it is not in the land of the living.

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

28:15  Gold may not be given for it, or a weight of silver in payment for it.

28:16  It may not be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the onyx of great price, or the sapphire.

28:17  Gold and glass are not equal to it in price, and it may not be exchanged for jewels of the best gold.

28:18  There is no need to say anything about coral or crystal; and the value of wisdom is greater than that of pearls.

28:19  The topaz of Ethiopia is not equal to it, and it may not be valued with the best gold.

28:20  From where then does wisdom come, and where is the resting-place of knowledge?

28:21  For it is kept secret from the eyes of all living, unseen by the birds of the air.

28:22  Destruction and Death say, We have only had word of it with our ears.

28:23  God has knowledge of the way to it, and of its resting-place;

28:24  For his eyes go to the ends of the earth, and he sees everything under heaven.

28:25  When he made a weight for the wind, measuring out the waters;

28:26  When he made a law for the rain, and a way for the thunder-flames;

28:27  Then he saw it, and put it on record; he gave it its fixed form, searching it out completely.

28:28  And he said to man, Truly the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to keep from evil is the way to knowledge.

Chapter 29

29:1  And Job again took up the word and said,

29:2  If only I might again be as I was in the months which are past, in the days when God was watching over me!

29:3  When his light was shining over my head, and when I went through the dark by his light.

29:4  As I was in my flowering years, when my tent was covered by the hand of God;

29:5  While the Ruler of all was still with me, and my children were round me;

29:6  When my steps were washed with milk, and rivers of oil were flowing out of the rock for me.

29:7  When I went out of my door to go up to the town, and took my seat in the public place,

29:8  The young men saw me, and went away, and the old men got up from their seats;

29:9  The rulers kept quiet, and put their hands on their mouths;

29:10  The chiefs kept back their words, and their tongues were joined to the roofs of their mouths.

29:11  For when it came to their ears, men said that I was truly happy; and when their eyes saw, they gave witness to me;

29:12  For I was a saviour to the poor when he was crying for help, to the child with no father, and to him who had no supporter.

29:13  The blessing of him who was near to destruction came on me, and I put a song of joy into the widow's heart.

29:14  I put on righteousness as my clothing, and was full of it; right decisions were to me a robe and a head-dress.

29:15  I was eyes to the blind, and feet to him who had no power of walking.

29:16  I was a father to the poor, searching out the cause of him who was strange to me.

29:17  By me the great teeth of the evil-doer were broken, and I made him give up what he had violently taken away.

29:18  Then I said, I will come to my end with my children round me, my days will be as the sand in number;

29:19  My root will be open to the waters, and the night mist will be on my branches,

29:20  My glory will be ever new, and my bow will be readily bent in my hand.

29:21  Men gave ear to me, waiting and keeping quiet for my suggestions.

29:22  After I had said what was in my mind, they were quiet and let my words go deep into their hearts;

29:23  They were waiting for me as for the rain, opening their mouths wide as for the spring rains.

29:24  I was laughing at them when they had no hope, and the light of my face was never clouded by their fear.

29:25  I took my place as a chief, guiding them on their way, and I was as a king among his army. ...

Chapter 30

30:1  But now those who are younger than I make sport of me; those whose fathers I would not have put with the dogs of my flocks.

30:2  Of what use is the strength of their hands to me? all force is gone from them.

30:3  They are wasted for need of food, biting the dry earth; their only hope of life is in the waste land.

30:4  They are pulling off the salt leaves from the brushwood, and making a meal of roots.

30:5  They are sent out from among their townsmen, men are crying after them as thieves

30:6  They have to get a resting-place in the hollows of the valleys, in holes of the earth and rocks.

30:7  They make noises like asses among the brushwood; they get together under the thorns.

30:8  They are sons of shame, and of men without a name, who have been forced out of the land.

30:9  And now I have become their song, and I am a word of shame to them.

30:10  I am disgusting to them; they keep away from me, and put marks of shame on me.

30:11  For he has made loose the cord of my bow, and put me to shame; he has sent down my flag to the earth before me.

30:12  The lines of his men of war put themselves in order, and make high their ways of destruction against me:

30:13  They have made waste my roads, with a view to my destruction; his bowmen come round about me;

30:14  As through a wide broken place in the wall they come on, I am overturned by the shock of their attack.

30:15  Fears have come on me; my hope is gone like the wind, and my well-being like a cloud.

30:16  But now my soul is turned to water in me, days of trouble overtake me:

30:17  The flesh is gone from my bones, and they give me no rest; there is no end to my pains.

30:18  With great force he takes a grip of my clothing, pulling me by the neck of my coat.

30:19  Truly God has made me low, even to the earth, and I have become like dust.

30:20  You give no answer to my cry, and take no note of my prayer.

30:21  You have become cruel to me; the strength of your hand is hard on me.

30:22  Lifting me up, you make me go on the wings of the wind; I am broken up by the storm.

30:23  For I am certain that you will send me back to death, and to the meeting-place ordered for all living.

30:24  Has not my hand been stretched out in help to the poor? have I not been a saviour to him in his trouble?

30:25  Have I not been weeping for the crushed? and was not my soul sad for him who was in need?

30:26  For I was looking for good, and evil came; I was waiting for light, and it became dark.

30:27  My feelings are strongly moved, and give me no rest; days of trouble have overtaken me.

30:28  I go about in dark clothing, uncomforted; I get up in the public place, crying out for help.

30:29  I have become a brother to the jackals, and go about in the company of ostriches.

30:30  My skin is black and dropping off me; and my bones are burning with the heat of my disease.

30:31  And my music has been turned to sorrow, and the sound of my pipe into the noise of weeping.

Chapter 31

31:1  I made an agreement with my eyes; how then might my eyes be looking on a virgin?

31:2  For what is God's reward from on high, or the heritage given by the Ruler of all from heaven?

31:3  Is it not trouble for the sinner, and destruction for the evil-doers?

31:4  Does he not see my ways, and are not my steps all numbered?

31:5  If I have gone in false ways, or my foot has been quick in working deceit;

31:6  (Let me be measured in upright scales, and let God see my righteousness:)

31:7  If my steps have been turned out of the way, or if my heart went after my eyes, or if the property of another is in my hands;

31:8  Let me put seed in the earth for another to have the fruit of it, and let my produce be uprooted.

31:9  If my heart went after another man's wife, or if I was waiting secretly at my neighbour's door;

31:10  Then let my wife give pleasure to another man and let others make use of her body.

31:11  For that would be a crime; it would be an act for which punishment would be measured out by the judges:

31:12  It would be a fire burning even to destruction, and taking away all my produce.

31:13  If I did wrong in the cause of my man-servant, or my woman-servant, when they went to law with me;

31:14  What then will I do when God comes as my judge? and what answer may I give to his questions?

31:15  Did not God make him as well as me? did he not give us life in our mothers' bodies?

31:16  If I kept back the desire of the poor; if the widow's eye was looking for help to no purpose;

31:17  If I kept my food for myself, and did not give some of it to the child with no father;

31:18  (For I was cared for by God as by a father from my earliest days; he was my guide from the body of my mother;)

31:19  If I saw one near to death for need of clothing, and that the poor had nothing covering him;

31:20  If his back did not give me a blessing, and the wool of my sheep did not make him warm;

31:21  If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges;

31:22  May my arm be pulled from my body, and be broken from its base.

31:23  For the fear of God kept me back, and because of his power I might not do such things.

31:24  If I made gold my hope, or if I ever said to the best gold, I have put my faith in you;

31:25  If I was glad because my wealth was great, and because my hand had got together a great store;

31:26  If, when I saw the sun shining, and the moon moving on its bright way,

31:27  A secret feeling of worship came into my heart, and my hand gave kisses from my mouth;

31:28  That would have been another sin to be rewarded with punishment by the judges; for I would have been false to God on high.

31:29  If I was glad at the trouble of my hater, and gave cries of joy when evil overtook him;

31:30  (For I did not let my mouth give way to sin, in putting a curse on his life;)

31:31  If the men of my tent did not say, Who has not had full measure of his meat?

31:32  The traveller did not take his night's rest in the street, and my doors were open to anyone on a journey;

31:33  If I kept my evil doings covered, and my sin in the secret of my breast,

31:34  For fear of the great body of people, or for fear that families might make sport of me, so that I kept quiet, and did not go out of my door;

31:35  If only God would give ear to me, and the Ruler of all would give me an answer! or if what he has against me had been put in writing!

31:36  Truly I would take up the book in my hands; it would be to me as a crown;

31:37  I would make clear the number of my steps, I would put it before him like a prince! The words of Job are ended.

31:38  If my land has made an outcry against me, or the ploughed earth has been in sorrow;

31:39  If I have taken its produce without payment, causing the death of its owners;

31:40  Then in place of grain let thorns come up, and in place of barley evil-smelling plants.

Chapter 32

32:1  So these three men gave no more answers to Job, because he seemed to himself to be right.

32:2  And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was angry, burning with wrath against Job, because he seemed to himself more right than God;

32:3  And he was angry with his three friends, because they had been unable to give him an answer, and had not made Job's sin clear.

32:4  Now Elihu had kept quiet while Job was talking, because they were older than he;

32:5  And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, he was very angry.

32:6  And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, made answer and said, I am young, and you are very old, so I was in fear, and kept myself from putting my knowledge before you.

32:7  I said to myself, It is right for the old to say what is in their minds, and for those who are far on in years to give out wisdom.

32:8  But truly it is the spirit in man, even the breath of the Ruler of all, which gives them knowledge.

32:9  It is not the old who are wise, and those who are full of years have not the knowledge of what is right.

32:10  So I say, Give ear to me, and I will put forward my knowledge.

32:11  I was waiting for your words, I was giving ear to your wise sayings; while you were searching out what to say,

32:12  I was taking note; and truly not one of you was able to make clear Job's error, or to give an answer to his words.

32:13  Take care that you do not say, Wisdom is here; God may overcome him, but not man.

32:14  I will not put forward words like these, or make use of your sayings in answer to him.

32:15  Fear has overcome them, they have no more answers to give; they have come to an end of words.

32:16  And am I to go on waiting while they have nothing to say? while they keep quiet and give no more answers?

32:17  I will give my answer; I will put forward my knowledge:

32:18  For I am full of words, I am unable to keep in my breath any longer:

32:19  My stomach is like wine which is unable to get out; like skins full of new wine, it is almost burst.

32:20  Let me say what is in my mind, so that I may get comfort; let me give answer with open mouth.

32:21  Let me not give respect to any man, or give names of honour to any living.

32:22  For I am not able to give names of honour to any man; and if I did, my Maker would quickly take me away.

Chapter 33

33:1  And now, O Job, give ear to my words, and take note of all I say.

33:2  See, now my mouth is open, my tongue gives out words.

33:3  My heart is overflowing with knowledge, my lips say what is true.

33:4  The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Ruler of all gives me life.

33:5  If you are able, give me an answer; put your cause in order, and come forward.

33:6  See, I am the same as you are in the eyes of God; I was cut off from the same bit of wet earth.

33:7  Fear of me will not overcome you, and my hand will not be hard on you.

33:8  But you said in my hearing, and your voice came to my ears:

33:9  I am clean, without sin; I am washed, and there is no evil in me:

33:10  See, he is looking for something against me; in his eyes I am as one of his haters;

33:11  He puts chains on my feet; he is watching all my ways.

33:12  Truly, in saying this you are wrong; for God is greater than man.

33:13  Why do you put forward your cause against him, saying, He gives no answer to any of my words?

33:14  For God gives his word in one way, even in two, and man is not conscious of it:

33:15  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep comes on men, while they take their rest on their beds;

33:16  Then he makes his secrets clear to men, so that they are full of fear at what they see;

33:17  In order that man may be turned from his evil works, and that pride may be taken away from him;

33:18  To keep back his soul from the underworld, and his life from destruction.

33:19  Pain is sent on him as a punishment, while he is on his bed; there is no end to the trouble in his bones;

33:20  He has no desire for food, and his soul is turned away from delicate meat;

33:21  His flesh is so wasted away, that it may not be seen, and his bones. ...

33:22  And his soul comes near to the underworld, and his life to the angels of death.

33:23  If now there may be an angel sent to him, one of the thousands which there are to be between him and God, and to make clear to man what is right for him;

33:24  And if he has mercy on him, and says, Let him not go down to the underworld, I have given the price for his life:

33:25  Then his flesh becomes young again, and he comes back to the days of his early strength;

33:26  He makes his prayer to God, and he has mercy on him; he sees God's face with cries of joy; he gives news of his righteousness to men;

33:27  He makes a song, saying, I did wrong, turning from the straight way, but he did not give me the reward of my sin.

33:28  He kept my soul from the underworld, and my life sees the light in full measure.

33:29  Truly, God does all these things to man, twice and three times,

33:30  Keeping back his soul from the underworld, so that he may see the light of life.

33:31  Take note O Job, give ear to me; keep quiet, while I say what is in my mind.

33:32  If you have anything to say, give me an answer; for it is my desire that you may be judged free from sin.

33:33  If not, give attention to me, and keep quiet, and I will give you wisdom.

Chapter 34

34:1  And Elihu made answer and said,

34:2  Give ear, you wise, to my words; and you who have knowledge, give attention to me;

34:3  For words are tested by the ear, as food is tasted by the mouth.

34:4  Let us make the decision for ourselves as to what is right; let us have the knowledge among ourselves of what is good.

34:5  For Job has said, I am upright, and it is God who has taken away my right;

34:6  Though I am right, still I am in pain; my wound may not be made well, though I have done no wrong.

34:7  What man is like Job, a man who freely makes sport of God,

34:8  And goes in the company of evil-doers, walking in the way of sinners?

34:9  For he has said, It is no profit to a man to take delight in God.

34:10  Now then, you wise, take note; you men of knowledge, give ear to me. Let it be far from God to do evil, and from the Ruler of all to do wrong.

34:11  For he gives to every man the reward of his work, and sees that he gets the fruit of his ways.

34:12  Truly, God does not do evil, and the Ruler of all is not a false judge.

34:13  Who put the earth into his care, or made him responsible for the world?

34:14  If he made his spirit come back to him, taking his breath into himself again,

34:15  All flesh would come to an end together, and man would go back to the dust.

34:16  If you are wise, take note of this; give ear to the voice of my words.

34:17  How may a hater of right be a ruler? and will you say that the upright Ruler of all is evil?

34:18  He who says to a king, You are an evil-doer; and to rulers, You are sinners;

34:19  Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.

34:20  Suddenly they come to an end, even in the middle of the night: the blow comes on the men of wealth, and they are gone, and the strong are taken away without the hand of man.

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

34:22  There is no dark place, and no thick cloud, in which the workers of evil may take cover.

34:23  For he does not give man a fixed time to come before him to be judged.

34:24  He sends the strong to destruction without searching out their cause, and puts others in their place.

34:25  For he has knowledge of their works, overturning them in the night, so that they are crushed.

34:26  The evil-doers are broken by his wrath, he puts his hand on them with force before the eyes of all onlookers.

34:27  Because they did not go after him, and took no note of his ways,

34:28  So that the cry of the poor might come up to him, and the prayer of those in need come to his ears.

34:29  ...

34:30  ...

34:31  ...

34:32  ...

34:33  ...

34:34  Men of knowledge, and all wise men, hearing me, will say,

34:35  Job's words do not come from knowledge; they are not the fruit of wisdom.

34:36  May Job be tested to the end, because his answers have been like those of evil men.

34:37  For in addition to his sin, he is uncontrolled in heart; before our eyes he makes sport of God, increasing his words against him.

Chapter 35

35:1  And Elihu made answer and said,

35:2  Does it seem to you to be right, and righteousness before God, to say,

35:3  What profit is it to me, and how am I better off than if I had done wrong?

35:4  I will make answer to you and to your friends:

35:5  Let your eyes be turned to the heavens, and lifted up to see the skies; they are higher than you.

35:6  If you have done wrong, is he any the worse for it? and if your sins are great in number, what is it to him?

35:7  If you are upright, what do you give to him? or what does he take from your hand?

35:8  Your evil-doing may have an effect on a man like yourself, or your righteousness on a son of man.

35:9  Because the hand of the cruel is hard on them, men are making sounds of grief; they are crying out for help because of the arm of the strong.

35:10  But no one has said, Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night;

35:11  Who gives us more knowledge than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the heaven?

35:12  There they are crying out because of the pride of the evil-doers, but he gives them no answer.

35:13  But God will not give ear to what is false, or the Ruler of all take note of it;

35:14  How much less when you say that you do not see him; that the cause is before him, and you are waiting for him.

35:15  And now ... ;

35:16  And Job's mouth is open wide to give out what is of no profit, increasing words without knowledge.

Chapter 36

36:1  And Elihu went on to say,

36:2  Give me a little more time, and I will make it clear to you; for I have still something to say for God.

36:3  I will get my knowledge from far, and I will give righteousness to my Maker.

36:4  For truly my words are not false; one who has all knowledge is talking with you.

36:5  Truly, God gives up the hard-hearted, and will not give life to the sinner.

36:6  His eyes are ever on the upright, and he gives to the crushed their right;

36:7  Lifting them up to the seat of kings, and making them safe for ever.

36:8  And if they have been prisoned in chains, and taken in cords of trouble,

36:9  Then he makes clear to them what they have done, even their evil works in which they have taken pride.

36:10  Their ear is open to his teaching, and he gives them orders so that their hearts may be turned from evil.

36:11  If they give ear to his voice, and do his word, then he gives them long life, and years full of pleasure.

36:12  But if not, they come to their end, and give up their breath without knowledge.

36:13  Those who have no fear of God keep wrath stored up in their hearts; they give no cry for help when they are made prisoners.

36:14  They come to their end while they are still young, their life is short like that of those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of their gods.

36:15  He makes the wrong done to the poor the way of their salvation, opening their ears by their trouble.

36:16  ...

36:17  ...

36:18  ...

36:19  ...

36:20  ...

36:21  Take care not to be turned to sin, for you have taken evil for your part in place of sorrow.

36:22  Truly God is lifted up in strength; who is a ruler like him?

36:23  Who ever gave orders to him, or said to him, You have done wrong?

36:24  See that you give praise to his work, about which men make songs.

36:25  All people are looking on it; man sees it from far.

36:26  Truly, God is great, greater than all our knowledge; the number of his years may not be searched out.

36:27  For he takes up the drops from the sea; he sends them through his mist as rain,

36:28  Flowing down from the sky, and dropping on the peoples.

36:29  And who has knowledge of how the clouds are stretched out, or of the thunders of his tent?

36:30  See, he is stretching out his mist, covering the tops of the mountains with it.

36:31  For by these he gives food to the peoples, and bread in full measure.

36:32  He takes the light in his hands, sending it against the mark.

36:33  The thunder makes clear his passion, and the storm gives news of his wrath.

Chapter 37

37:1  At this my heart is shaking; it is moved out of its place.

37:2  Give ear to the rolling noise of his voice; to the hollow sound which goes out of his mouth.

37:3  He sends it out through all the heaven, and his thunder-flame to the ends of the earth.

37:4  After it a voice is sounding, thundering out the word of his power; he does not keep back his thunder-flames; from his mouth his voice is sounding.

37:5  He does wonders, more than may be searched out; great things of which we have no knowledge;

37:6  For he says to the snow, Make the earth wet; and to the rain-storm, Come down.

37:7  He puts an end to the work of every man, so that all may see his work.

37:8  Then the beasts go into their holes, and take their rest.

37:9  Out of its place comes the storm-wind, and the cold out of its store-houses.

37:10  By the breath of God ice is made, and the wide waters are shut in.

37:11  The thick cloud is weighted with thunder-flame, and the cloud sends out its light;

37:12  And it goes this way and that, round about, turning itself by his guiding, to do whatever he gives orders to be done, on the face of his world of men,

37:13  For a rod, or for a curse, or for mercy, causing it to come on the mark.

37:14  Give ear to this, O Job, and keep quiet in your place; and take note of the wonders worked by God.

37:15  Have you knowledge of God's ordering of his works, how he makes the light of his cloud to be seen?

37:16  Have you knowledge of the balancings of the clouds, the wonders of him who has all wisdom?

37:17  You, whose clothing is warm, when the earth is quiet because of the south wind,

37:18  Will you, with him, make the skies smooth, and strong as a polished looking-glass?

37:19  Make clear to me what we are to say to him; we are unable to put our cause before him, because of the dark.

37:20  How may he have knowledge of my desire for talk with him? or did any man ever say, May destruction come on me?

37:21  And now the light is not seen, for it is dark because of the clouds; but a wind comes, clearing them away.

37:22  A bright light comes out of the north; God's glory is greatly to be feared.

37:23  There is no searching out of the Ruler of all: his strength and his judging are great; he is full of righteousness, doing no wrong.

37:24  For this cause men go in fear of him; he has no respect for any who are wise in heart.

Chapter 38

38:1  And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,

38:2  Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge?

38:3  Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.

38:4  Where were you when I put the earth on its base? Say, if you have knowledge.

38:5  By whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom; or by whom was the line stretched out over it?

38:6  On what were its pillars based, or who put down its angle-stone,

38:7  When the morning stars made songs together, and all the sons of the gods gave cries of joy?

38:8  Or where were you when the sea came to birth, pushing out from its secret place;

38:9  When I made the cloud its robe, and put thick clouds as bands round it,

38:10  Ordering a fixed limit for it, with locks and doors;

38:11  And said, So far you may come, and no farther; and here the pride of your waves will be stopped?

38:12  Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;

38:13  So that it might take a grip of the skirts of the earth, shaking all the evil-doers out of it?

38:14  It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;

38:15  And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.

38:16  Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places of the deep?

38:17  Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?

38:18  Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.

38:19  Which is the way to the resting-place of the light, and where is the store-house of the dark;

38:20  So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house?

38:21  No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.

38:22  Have you come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,

38:23  Which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and fighting?

38:24  Which is the way to the place where the wind is measured out, and the east wind sent out over the earth?

38:25  By whom has the way been cut for the flowing of the rain, and the flaming of the thunder;

38:26  Causing rain to come on a land where no man is living, on the waste land which has no people;

38:27  To give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass?

38:28  Has the rain a father? or who gave birth to the drops of night mist?

38:29  Out of whose body came the ice? and who gave birth to the cold mist of heaven?

38:30  The waters are joined together, hard as a stone, and the face of the deep is covered.

38:31  Are the bands of the Pleiades fixed by you, or are the cords of Orion made loose?

38:32  Do you make Mazzaroth come out in its right time, or are the Bear and its children guided by you?

38:33  Have you knowledge of the laws of the heavens? did you give them rule over the earth?

38:34  Is your voice sent up to the cloud, so that you may be covered by the weight of waters?

38:35  Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?

38:36  Who has put wisdom in the high clouds, or given knowledge to the lights of the north?

38:37  By whose wisdom are the clouds numbered, or the water-skins of the heavens turned to the earth,

38:38  When the earth becomes hard as metal, and is joined together in masses?

38:39  Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,

38:40  When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood?

38:41  Who gives in the evening the meat he is searching for, when his young ones are crying to God; when the young lions with loud noise go wandering after their food?

Chapter 39

39:1  Have you knowledge of the rock-goats? or do you see the roes giving birth to their young?

39:2  Is the number of their months fixed by you? or is the time when they give birth ordered by you?

39:3  They are bent down, they give birth to their young, they let loose the fruit of their body.

39:4  Their young ones are strong, living in the open country; they go out and do not come back again.

39:5  Who has let the ass of the fields go free? or made loose the bands of the loud-voiced beast?

39:6  To whom I have given the waste land for a heritage, and the salt land as a living-place.

39:7  He makes sport of the noise of the town; the voice of the driver does not come to his ears;

39:8  He goes looking for his grass-lands in the mountains, searching out every green thing.

39:9  Will the ox of the mountains be your servant? or is his night's resting-place by your food-store?

39:10  Will he be pulling your plough with cords, turning up the valleys after you?

39:11  Will you put your faith in him, because his strength is great? will you give the fruit of your work into his care?

39:12  Will you be looking for him to come back, and get in your seed to the crushing-floor?

39:13  Is the wing of the ostrich feeble, or is it because she has no feathers,

39:14  That she puts her eggs on the earth, warming them in the dust,

39:15  Without a thought that they may be crushed by the foot, and broken by the beasts of the field?

39:16  She is cruel to her young ones, as if they were not hers; her work is to no purpose; she has no fear.

39:17  For God has taken wisdom from her mind, and given her no measure of knowledge.

39:18  When she is shaking her wings on high, she makes sport of the horse and of him who is seated on him.

39:19  Do you give strength to the horse? is it by your hand that his neck is clothed with power?

39:20  Is it through you that he is shaking like a locust, in the pride of his loud-sounding breath?

39:21  He is stamping with joy in the valley; he makes sport of fear.

39:22  In his strength he goes out against the arms of war, turning not away from the sword.

39:23  The bow is sounding against him; he sees the shining point of spear and arrow.

39:24  Shaking with passion, he is biting the earth; he is not able to keep quiet at the sound of the horn;

39:25  When it comes to his ears he says, Aha! He is smelling the fight from far off, and hearing the thunder of the captains, and the war-cries.

39:26  Is it through your knowledge that the hawk takes his flight, stretching out his wings to the south?

39:27  Or is it by your orders that the eagle goes up, and makes his resting-place on high?

39:28  On the rock is his house, and on the mountain-top his strong place.

39:29  From there he is watching for food; his eye sees it far off.

39:30  His young have blood for their drink, and where the dead bodies are, there is he to be seen.

Chapter 40

40:1  ...

40:2  Will he who is protesting give teaching to the Ruler of all? Let him who has arguments to put forward against God give an answer.

40:3  And Job said in answer to the Lord,

40:4  Truly, I am of no value; what answer may I give to you? I will put my hand on my mouth.

40:5  I have said once, and even twice, what was in my mind, but I will not do so again.

40:6  Then the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,

40:7  Get your strength together like a man of war: I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.

40:8  Will you even make my right of no value? will you say that I am wrong in order to make clear that you are right?

40:9  Have you an arm like God? have you a voice of thunder like his?

40:10  Put on the ornaments of your pride; be clothed with glory and power:

40:11  Let your wrath be overflowing; let your eyes see all the sons of pride, and make them low.

40:12  Send destruction on all who are lifted up, pulling down the sinners from their places.

40:13  Let them be covered together in the dust; let their faces be dark in the secret place of the underworld.

40:14  Then I will give praise to you, saying that your right hand is able to give you salvation.

40:15  See now the Great Beast, whom I made, even as I made you; he takes grass for food, like the ox.

40:16  His strength is in his body, and his force in the muscles of his stomach.

40:17  His tail is curving like a cedar; the muscles of his legs are joined together.

40:18  His bones are pipes of brass, his legs are like rods of iron.

40:19  He is the chief of the ways of God, made by him for his pleasure.

40:20  He takes the produce of the mountains, where all the beasts of the field are at play.

40:21  He takes his rest under the trees of the river, and in the pool, under the shade of the water-plants.

40:22  He is covered by the branches of the trees; the grasses of the stream are round him.

40:23  Truly, if the river is overflowing, it gives him no cause for fear; he has no sense of danger, even if Jordan is rushing against his mouth.

40:24  Will anyone take him when he is on the watch, or put metal teeth through his nose?

Chapter 41

41:1  Is it possible for Leviathan to be pulled out with a fish-hook, or for a hook to be put through the bone of his mouth?

41:2  Will you put a cord into his nose, or take him away with a cord round his tongue?

41:3  Will he make prayers to you, or say soft words to you?

41:4  Will he make an agreement with you, so that you may take him as a servant for ever?

41:5  Will you make sport with him, as with a bird? or put him in chains for your young women?

41:6  Will the fishermen make profit out of him? will they have him cut up for the traders?

41:7  Will you put sharp-pointed irons into his skin, or fish-spears into his head?

41:8  Only put your hand on him, and see what a fight you will have; you will not do it again!

41:9  Truly, the hope of his attacker is false; he is overcome even on seeing him!

41:10  He is so cruel that no one is ready to go against him. Who then is able to keep his place before me?

41:11  Who ever went against me, and got the better of me? There is no one under heaven!

41:12  I will not keep quiet about the parts of his body, or about his power, and the strength of his frame.

41:13  Who has ever taken off his outer skin? who may come inside his inner coat of iron?

41:14  Who has made open the doors of his face? Fear is round about his teeth.

41:15  His back is made of lines of plates, joined tight together, one against the other, like a stamp.

41:16  One is so near to the other that no air may come between them.

41:17  They take a grip of one another; they are joined together, so that they may not be parted.

41:18  His sneezings give out flames, and his eyes are like the eyes of the dawn.

41:19  Out of his mouth go burning lights, and flames of fire are jumping up.

41:20  Smoke comes out of his nose, like a pot boiling on the fire.

41:21  His breath puts fire to coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth.

41:22  Strength is in his neck, and fear goes dancing before him.

41:23  The plates of his flesh are joined together, fixed, and not to be moved.

41:24  His heart is as strong as a stone, hard as the lower crushing-stone.

41:25  When he gets ready for the fight, the strong are overcome with fear.

41:26  The sword may come near him but is not able to go through him; the spear, or the arrow, or the sharp-pointed iron.

41:27  Iron is to him as dry grass, and brass as soft wood.

41:28  The arrow is not able to put him to flight: stones are no more to him than dry stems.

41:29  A thick stick is no better than a leaf of grass, and he makes sport of the onrush of the spear.

41:30  Under him are sharp edges of broken pots: as if he was pulling a grain-crushing instrument over the wet earth.

41:31  The deep is boiling like a pot of spices, and the sea like a perfume-vessel.

41:32  After him his way is shining, so that the deep seems white.

41:33  On earth there is not another like him, who is made without fear.

41:34  Everything which is high goes in fear of him; he is king over all the sons of pride.

Chapter 42

42:1  And Job said in answer to the Lord,

42:2  I see that you are able to do every thing, and to give effect to all your designs.

42:3  Who is this who makes dark the purpose of God by words without knowledge? For I have been talking without knowledge about wonders not to be searched out.

42:4  Give ear to me, and I will say what is in my mind; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.

42:5  Word of you had come to my ears, but now my eye has seen you.

42:6  For this cause I give witness that what I said is false, and in sorrow I take my seat in the dust.

42:7  And it came about, after he had said these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, I am very angry with you and your two friends, because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has.

42:8  And now, take seven oxen and seven sheep, and go to my servant Job, and give a burned offering for yourselves, and my servant Job will make prayer for you, that I may not send punishment on you; because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has.

42:9  And Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did as the Lord had said. And the Lord gave ear to Job.

42:10  And the Lord made up to Job for all his losses, after he had made prayer for his friends: and all Job had before was increased by the Lord twice as much.

42:11  And all his brothers and sisters, and his friends of earlier days, came and took food with him in his house; and made clear their grief for him, and gave him comfort for all the evil which the Lord had sent on him; and they all gave him a bit of money and a gold ring.

42:12  And the Lord's blessing was greater on the end of Job's life than on its start: and so he came to have fourteen thousand sheep and goats, and six thousand camels, and two thousand oxen, and a thousand she-asses.

42:13  And he had seven sons and three daughters.

42:14  And he gave the first the name of Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch;

42:15  And there were no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job in all the earth: and their father gave them a heritage among their brothers.

42:16  And after this Job had a hundred and forty years of life, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.

42:17  And Job came to his end, old and full of days.