Chapter 85

15:11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee? 15:12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at, 15:13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth? 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? 15:15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

15:16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water? 15:17 I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare; 15:18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it: 15:19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

15:20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

15:21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

15:22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

15:23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

15:24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

15:25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.

15:26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers: 15:27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

15:28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

15:29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

15:30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.

15:31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.

15:32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

15:33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

15:34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

15:35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

16:1 Then Job answered and said, 16:2 I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.

16:3 Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? 16:4 I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.

16:5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.

16:6 Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased? 16:7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.

16:8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.

16:9 He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

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

16:11 God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.

16:12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

16:13 His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.

16:14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.

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

16:16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; 16:17 Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.

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

16:19 Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.

16:20 My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.

16:21 O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour! 16:22 When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

17:1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

17:2 Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation? 17:3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me? 17:4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.

17:5 He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.

17:6 He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.

17:7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.

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

17:9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.

17:10 But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.

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

17:12 They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.

17:13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.

17:14 I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.

17:15 And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? 17:16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.

18:1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, 18:2 How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.

18:3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight? 18:4 He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place? 18:5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

18:6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.

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

18:8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.

18:9 The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.

18:10 The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.

18:11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.

18:12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.

18:13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.

18:14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.

18:15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.

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

18:17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.

18:18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.

18:19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.

18:20 They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted.

18:21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.

19:1 Then Job answered and said, 19:2 How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words? 19:3 These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.

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

19:5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach: 19:6 Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.

19:7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

19:8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.

19:9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.

19:10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.

19:11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.

19:12 His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.

19:13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.

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

19:15 They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.

19:16 I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.

19:17 My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children’s sake of mine own body.

19:18 Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.

19:19 All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.

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

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

19:22 Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? 19:23 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! 19:24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 19:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

19:28 But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me? 19:29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

20:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, 20:2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.

20:3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.

20:4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, 20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? 20:6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; 20:7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? 20:8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

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

20:10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.

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

20:12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; 20:13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: 20:14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.

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

20:16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.

20:17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

20:18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.

20:19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not; 20:20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.

20:21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.

20:22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

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

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

20:25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.

20:26 All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.

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

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

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

21:1 But Job answered and said, 21:2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.

21:3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.

21:4 As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? 21:5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.

21:6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.

21:7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? 21:8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.

21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

21:10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

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

21:12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.

21:13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.

21:14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

21:15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? 21:16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

21:17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.

21:18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

21:19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.

21:20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

21:21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst? 21:22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.

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

21:24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.

21:25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.

21:26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.

21:27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

21:28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked? 21:29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, 21:30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

21:31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? 21:32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

21:33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.

21:34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood? 22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 22:2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? 22:3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect? 22:4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? 22:5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? 22:6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

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

22:8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.

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

22:10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; 22:11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

22:12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! 22:13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? 22:16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood: 22:17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? 22:18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

22:19 The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

22:20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

22:21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

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

22:23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

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

22:25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.

22:26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

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

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

22:29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

22:30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.

23:1 Then Job answered and said, 23:2 Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! 23:4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

23:5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

23:6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

23:7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

23:8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: 23:9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

23:11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

23:14 For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

23:15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.

23:16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me: 23:17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

24:1 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days? 24:2 Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.

24:3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

24:4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

24:5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

24:6 They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

24:7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

24:8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

24:9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

24:10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry; 24:11 Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.

24:12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

24:13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

24:14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

24:15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.

24:16 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

24:17 For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

24:18 He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

24:19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.

24:20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

24:21 He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

24:22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

24:23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

24:24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

24:25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth? 25:1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, 25:2 Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places.

25:3 Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise? 25:4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? 25:5 Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.