| 1 |
And Job again took up his parable, and said, |
| 2 |
Oh that I were as in the months of old, As in the days when God watched over me; |
| 3 |
When his lamp shined upon my head, And by his light I walked through darkness; |
| 4 |
As I was in the ripeness of my days, When the friendship of God was upon my tent; |
| 5 |
When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were about me; |
| 6 |
When my steps were washed with butter, And the rock poured me out streams of oil! |
| 7 |
When I went forth to the gate unto the city, When I prepared my seat in the street, |
| 8 |
The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the aged rose up and stood; |
| 9 |
The princes refrained from talking, And laid their hand on their mouth; |
| 10 |
The voice of the nobles was hushed, And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. |
| 11 |
For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me: |
| 12 |
Because I delivered the poor that cried, The fatherless also, that had none to help him. |
| 13 |
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me; And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. |
| 14 |
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: My justice was as a robe and a diadem. |
| 15 |
I was eyes to the blind, And feet was I to the lame. |
| 16 |
I was a father to the needy: And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out. |
| 17 |
And I brake the jaws of the unrighteous, And plucked the prey out of his teeth. |
| 18 |
Then I said, I shall die in my nest, And I shall multiply my days as the sand: |
| 19 |
My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lieth all night upon my branch; |
| 20 |
My glory is fresh in me, And my bow is renewed in my hand. |
| 21 |
Unto me men gave ear, and waited, And kept silence for my counsel. |
| 22 |
After my words they spake not again; And my speech distilled upon them. |
| 23 |
And they waited for me as for the rain; And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain. |
| 24 |
I smiled on them, when they had no confidence; And the light of my countenance they cast not down. |
| 25 |
I chose out their way, and sat as chief, And dwelt as a king in the army, As one that comforteth the mourners. |
| 1 |
But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, Whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock. |
| 2 |
Yea, the strength of their hands, whereto should it profit me? Men in whom ripe age is perished. |
| 3 |
They are gaunt with want and famine; They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of wasteness and desolation. |
| 4 |
They pluck salt-wort by the bushes; And the roots of the broom are their food. |
| 5 |
They are driven forth from the midst of men; They cry after them as after a thief; |
| 6 |
So that they dwell in frightful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks. |
| 7 |
Among the bushes they bray; Under the nettles they are gathered together. |
| 8 |
They are children of fools, yea, children of base men; They were scourged out of the land. |
| 9 |
And now I am become their song, Yea, I am a byword unto them. |
| 10 |
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, And spare not to spit in my face. |
| 11 |
For he hath loosed his cord, and afflicted me; And they have cast off the bridle before me. |
| 12 |
Upon my right hand rise the rabble; They thrust aside my feet, And they cast up against me their ways of destruction. |
| 13 |
They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, Even men that have no helper. |
| 14 |
As through a wide breach they come: In the midst of the ruin they roll themselves upon me. |
| 15 |
Terrors are turned upon me; They chase mine honor as the wind; And my welfare is passed away as a cloud. |
| 16 |
And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have taken hold upon me. |
| 17 |
In the night season my bones are pierced in me, And the pains that gnaw me take no rest. |
| 18 |
By God's great force is my garment disfigured; It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. |
| 19 |
He hath cast me into the mire, And I am become like dust and ashes. |
| 20 |
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me: I stand up, and thou gazest at me. |
| 21 |
Thou art turned to be cruel to me; With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me. |
| 22 |
Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride upon it; And thou dissolvest me in the storm. |
| 23 |
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living. |
| 24 |
Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help? |
| 25 |
Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? |
| 26 |
When I looked for good, then evil came; And when I waited for light, there came darkness. |
| 27 |
My heart is troubled, and resteth not; Days of affliction are come upon me. |
| 28 |
I go mourning without the sun: I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help. |
| 29 |
I am a brother to jackals, And a companion to ostriches. |
| 30 |
My skin is black, and falleth from me, And my bones are burned with heat. |
| 31 |
Therefore is my harp turned to mourning, And my pipe into the voice of them that weep. |
| 1 |
I made a covenant with mine eyes; How then should I look upon a virgin? |
| 2 |
For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high? |
| 3 |
Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity? |
| 4 |
Doth not he see my ways, And number all my steps? |
| 5 |
If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot hath hasted to deceit |
| 6 |
(Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know mine integrity); |
| 7 |
If my step hath turned out of the way, And my heart walked after mine eyes, And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands: |
| 8 |
Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out. |
| 9 |
If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door; |
| 10 |
Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her. |
| 11 |
For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges: |
| 12 |
For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase. |
| 13 |
If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me; |
| 14 |
What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? |
| 15 |
Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb? |
| 16 |
If I have withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, |
| 17 |
Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof |
| 18 |
(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my mother's womb); |
| 19 |
If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering; |
| 20 |
If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep; |
| 21 |
If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate: |
| 22 |
Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And mine arm be broken from the bone. |
| 23 |
For calamity from God is a terror to me, And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing. |
| 24 |
If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; |
| 25 |
If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much; |
| 26 |
If I have beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in brightness, |
| 27 |
And my heart hath been secretly enticed, And my mouth hath kissed my hand: |
| 28 |
This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above. |
| 29 |
If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him; |
| 30 |
(Yea, I have not suffered by mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse); |
| 31 |
If the men of my tent have not said, Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat? |
| 32 |
(The sojourner hath not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveller); |
| 33 |
If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom, |
| 34 |
Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door- |
| 35 |
Oh that I had one to hear me! (Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); And that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written! |
| 36 |
Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown: |
| 37 |
I would declare unto him the number of my steps; As a prince would I go near unto him. |
| 38 |
If my land crieth out against me, And the furrows thereof weep together; |
| 39 |
If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: |
| 40 |
Let thistles grow instead of wheat, And cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended. |