B. C. cir. 1520. 2 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before 2 the LORD. And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, 3 and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, 1 to 4 destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin 5 for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy 6 face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. 7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore 8 boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. 9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse 10 God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. 11 NOW when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment 12 together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads 13 toward heaven. So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great. 3 3 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job 3 spake, and said, Let the day perish wherein I was born, And the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived, 4 Let that day be darkness; Let not God regard it from above, Neither let the light shine upon it. 5 Let darkness and the shadow of death 4 stain it; Let a cloud dwell upon it; 5 Let the blackness of the day terrify it. 6 As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; Let it not come into the number of the months. 7 Lo, let that night be solitary, Let no joyful voice come therein. 8 Let them curse it that curse the day, Who are ready to raise up 7 their mourning. 9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; Let it look for light, but have none; Neither let it see 8 the dawning of the day: 10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, Nor hid sorrow from mine eyes, 11 Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? 12 Why did the knees prevent me? Or why the breasts that I should suck? 13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, 1 Heb. to swallow him up. 2 Or, only. 3 Heb. answered. 4 Or, challenge it. 5 Or, Let them terrify it, as those who have a bitter day. 6 Or, Let it not rejoice among the days. 7 Or, a leviathan. 8 Heb. the cyelids of the morning, 14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, Which built desolate places for themselves; 15 Or with princes that had gold, Who filled their houses with silver: 16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; As infants which never saw light. 17 There the wicked cease from troubling; And there the weary be at rest. 18 There the prisoners rest together; They hear not the voice of the oppressor. 19 The small and great are there; 20 And the servant is free from his master. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, And life unto the bitter in soul; 21 Which long for death, but it cometh not; And dig for it more than for hid treasures; 22 Which rejoice exceedingly, And are glad, when they can find the grave? 23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in? 24 For my sighing cometh 3 before I eat, And my roarings are poured out like the waters. 25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, And that which I was afraid of is come unto me. 26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; Yet trouble came. 4 THEN ELIPHAZ the Temanite answered and said, 2 5 If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? But 6 who can withhold himself from speaking? 3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, And thou hast strengthened the weak hands. 4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, And thou hast strengthened 7 the feeble knees. 5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; It toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. 6 Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, Thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? 7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off? 8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, And sow wickedness, reap the same. 9 By the blast of God they perish, And 8 by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. 10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, And the teeth of the young lions, are broken. 11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, And the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad. 12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, And mine ear received a little thereof. 13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falleth on men, 14 Fear 10 came upon me, and trembling, Which made 11 all my bones to shake. 15 Then a spirit passed before my face; The hair of my flesh stood up: 1 Heb. wearied in strength. 3 Heb. before my meat. 5 Heb. a word. 6 Heb. who can refrain from 7 Heb. the bowing knees. 9 Heb. by stealth. 10 Heb. met me 11 Heb. the multitude of my bones. 16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: An image was before mine eyes, 1 There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, 17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker? 18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; 2 And his angels he charged with folly: 19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Which are crushed before the moth? 20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: They perish for ever without any regarding it. 21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? They die, even without wisdom. 5 Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; And to which of the saints wilt thou turn? 2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, And envy slayeth the silly one. 3 I have seen the foolish taking root: And the robber swalloweth up their substance. 6 Although 6 affliction cometh not forth of the dust, Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; 7 Yet man is born unto 7 trouble, As the sparks fly upward. 9 And unto God would I commit my cause: 9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable; Marvellous things 10 without number: 10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, And sendeth waters upon the 11 fields: 11 To set up on high those that be low; That those which mourn may be exalted to safety. 12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, So that their hands 12 cannot perform their enterprise. 13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: And the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. 14 They 13 meet with darkness in the day-time, And grope in the noon-day as in the night. 15 But he saveth the poor from the sword, From their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. 16 So the poor hath hope, 17 And iniquity stoppeth her mouth. Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: 18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: He woundeth, and his hands make whole. 19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles : Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. 20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: And in war 14 from the power of the sword. 1 Or, I heard a still voice. 5 Or, indignation. 6 Or, iniquity. 8 Heb. the sons of the burn- 9 Heb. and there is no search. 11 Heb. outplaces. 12 Or, cannot perform any thing. 13 Or, run into. 14 Heb. from the hands, 21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue : Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. 22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. 23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. 24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; And thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not 3 sin. 25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be * great, And thine offspring as the grass of the earth. 26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, Like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season. 27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; Hear it, and know thou it 6 for thy good. 6 BUT JOB answered and said, 2 Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, And my calamity 7 laid in the balances together! 3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: Therefore my words are swallowed up. 4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, The poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. 5 Doth the wild ass bray 9 when he hath grass? Or loweth the ox over his fodder? 6 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? 7 The things that my soul refused to touch 8 Are as my sorrowful meat. Oh that I might have my request; And that God would grant me 10 the thing that I long for! 9 Even that it would please God to destroy me; That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off! 10 Then should I yet have comfort; Yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One. 11 What is my strength, that I should hope? And what is mine end, that I should prolong my life? 12 Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh 11 of brass? 13 Is not my help in me? 14 And is wisdom driven quite from me? 12 To him that is afflicted pity should be showed from his friend ; But he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. 15 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, And as the stream of brooks they pass away; 16 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, And wherein the snow is hid: 17 What time they wax warm, 19 they vanish: 14 When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. 18 The paths of their way are turned aside; They go to nothing, and perish. 19 The troops of Tema looked, The companies of Sheba waited for them. 20 They were confounded because they had hoped ; They came thither, and were ashamed. 5 Heb. ascendeth. 6 Heb. for thyself. 7 Heb. lifted up. 8 That is, I want words to ex press my grief. 9 Heb. at grass. 10 Heb. my expectation. 11 Heb. brasen. 12 Heb. To him that melteth. 13 Heb. they are cut off. 14 Heb. In the heat thereof they are extinguished. 21 For now ye are nothing; Ye see my casting down, and are afraid. 22 Did I say, Bring unto me? Or, Give a reward for me of your substance? 23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? 24 Or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty? Teach me, and I will hold my tongue : And cause me to understand wherein I have erred. 25 How forcible are right words! But what doth your arguing reprove? 26 Do ye imagine to reprove words, And the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind? 27 Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, And ye dig a pit for your friend. 28 Now therefore be content, look upon me; For it is evident unto you if I lie. 29 Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; Yea, return again, my righteousness is in it. 30 Is there iniquity in my tongue? Cannot 6 my taste discern perverse things? Is there not 7 an appointed time to man upon earth? Are not his days also like the days of an hireling? 2 As a servant 8 earnestly desireth the shadow, And as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work: 3 So am I made to possess months of vanity, And wearisome nights are appointed to me. 4 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and 9 the night be gone? And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. 5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; My skin is broken, and become loathsome. 6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, And are spent without hope. 7 O remember that my life is wind: Mine eye 10 shall no more see good. 8 The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: Thine eyes are upon me, and 11 I am not. 9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: So he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. 10 He shall return no more to his house, Neither shall his place know him any more. 11 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; 12 That thou settest a watch over me? 13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me, My couch shall ease my complaint; 14 Then thou scarest me with dreams, And terrifiest me through visions: 15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, And death rather 12 than my life. 16 I loathe it; I would not live alway: Let me alone; for my days are vanity. 17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? And that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? 18 And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, 1 Or, For now ye are like to 5 That is, in this matter. them. Heb. to it. 2 Heb. not. 3 Heb. ye cause to fall upon. 4 Heb. before your face. 6 Heb. my palate. 9 Heb. the evening be measured. 10 Heb. shall not return to |