Day 78: Job 13–19

1Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.

2What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.

3Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.

4But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

5O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.

6Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.

7Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?

8Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?

9Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?

10He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.

11Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?

12Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.

13^aHold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.

14Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?

15Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will ^bmaintain mine own ways before him.

16He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.

17Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.

18Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.

19Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.

20Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.

21Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.

22Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.

23How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.

24Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?

25Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?

26For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

27Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and ^clookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the ^dheels of my feet.

28And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.

1Man that is born of a woman is of ^afew days, and full of trouble.

2He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

3And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?

4Who ^bcan bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

5Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

6Turn from him, that he may ^crest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

7For 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.

8Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

9Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

10But man dieth, and ^dwasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

11As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

12So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

13O 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!

14If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

15Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

16For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

17My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.

18And surely the mountain falling ^ecometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.

19The waters wear the stones: thou ^fwashest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.

20Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

21His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

22But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

1Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

2Should a wise man utter ^avain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

3Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

4Yea, thou ^bcastest off fear, and restrainest ^cprayer before God.

5For thy mouth ^duttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

6Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

7Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?

8Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?

9What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?

10With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

11Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?

12Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,

13That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?

14What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

15Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

16How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?

17I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;

18Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:

19Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

26He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:

27Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

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

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

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

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

32It shall be ^faccomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

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

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

35They conceive mischief, and bring forth ^gvanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

1Then Job answered and said,

2I have heard many such things: ^amiserable comforters are ye all.

3Shall ^bvain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?

4I 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.

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

6Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, ^cwhat am I eased?

7But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.

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

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

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

11God ^dhath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.

12I 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.

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

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

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

16My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;

17Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.

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

19Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is ^eon high.

20My friends ^fscorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.

21O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his ^gneighbour!

22When ^ha few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

1My ^abreath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

2Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye ^bcontinue in their provocation?

3Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?

4For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.

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

6He hath made me also a byword of the people; and ^caforetime I was as a tabret.

7Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all ^dmy members are as a shadow.

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

9The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall ^ebe stronger and stronger.

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

11My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even ^fthe thoughts of my heart.

12They change the night into day: the light is ^gshort because of darkness.

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

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

15And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?

16They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.

1Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

2How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.

3Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?

4He teareth ^ahimself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?

5Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

6The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his ^bcandle shall be put out with him.

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

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

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

10The snare is ^claid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.

11Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall ^ddrive him to his feet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

20They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that ^gwent before ^hwere affrighted.

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

1Then Job answered and said,

2How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?

3These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye ^amake yourselves strange to me.

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

5If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:

6Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of ^cmine own body.

18Yea, ^dyoung children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.

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

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

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

22Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

23^gOh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!

24That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!

25For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

26^hAnd though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

27Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not ⁱanother; ^jthough my reins be consumed ^kwithin me.

28But ye should say, Why persecute we him, ^lseeing the root of the matter is found in me?

29Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.