Job 7
- Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
- As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:
- So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
- When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
- My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.
- My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.
- O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.
- The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.
- As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
- He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
- Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
- Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?
- When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaints;
- Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:
- So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.
- I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.
- What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?
- And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?
- How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
- I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?
- And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.
Job 8
- Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
- How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?
- Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
- If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression;
- If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;
- If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
- Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
- For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:
- (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)
- Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?
- Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?
- Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.
- So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:
- Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.
- He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
- He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.
- His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.
- If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.
- Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.
- Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:
- Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.
- They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to
nought.
Job 9
- Then Job answered and said,
- I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?
- If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
- He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
- Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.
- Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
- Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
- Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
- Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
- Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
- Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
- Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?
- If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.
- How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?
- Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
- If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.
- For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
- He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.
- If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?
- If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
- Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
- This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
- If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
- The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?
- Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.
- They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.
- If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:
- I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
- If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
- If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
- Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.
- For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
- Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.
- Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
- Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.
Job 10
- My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
- I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.
- Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
- Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
- Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days,
- That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?
- Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.
- Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.
- Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?
- Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
- Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.
- Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
- And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.
- If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.
- If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
- For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
- Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.
- Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
- I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
- Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
- Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of
death;
- A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as
darkness.
Job 11
- Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
- Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?
- Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?
- For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.
- But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
- And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity
deserveth.
- Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
- It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
- The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
- If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?
- For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?
- For vain men would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt.
- If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
- If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
- For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
- Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:
- And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday: thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
- And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
- Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
- But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
Job 12
- And Job answered and said,
- No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.
- But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
- I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.
- He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
- The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
- But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
- Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
- Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
- In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
- Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?
- With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
- With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
- Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
- Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
- With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.
- He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
- He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
- He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.
- He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
- He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
- He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
- He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.
- He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
- They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
Job 13
- Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.
- What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.
- Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
- But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.
- O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.
- Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
- Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?
- Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?
- Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?
- He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.
- Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?
- Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.
- Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.
- Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
- Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
- He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.
- Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.
- Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.
- Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.
- Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.
- Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.
- Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.
- How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.
- Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?
- Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
- For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.
- Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.
- And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.
Job 14
- Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.
- He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
- And doth thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
- Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
- Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
- Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
- For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
- Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;
- Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.
- But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
- As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
- So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
- O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
- If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
- Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.
- For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?
- My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.
- And surely the mountains falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.
- The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.
- Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
- His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
- But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.
Job 15
- Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
- Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
- Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
- Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
- For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
- Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
- Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
- Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
- What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?
- With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
- Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?
- Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,
- That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
- What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
- Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
- How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
- I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;
- Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:
- Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
- The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
- A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
- He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
- He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
- Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
- For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.
- He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
- Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
- And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.
- He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
- 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.
- Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his
recompence.
- It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
- He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
- For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
- They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
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