Job 7–9

Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth?

Are not his days also ^alike the days of a hireling?

²As a servant earnestly desireth ^bthe shadow,

And as a hireling looketh for ^cthe reward of his work:

³So am I made to possess ^dmonths of ^evanity,

And wearisome nights are appointed to me.

^4eeWhen 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.

⁵My flesh is clothed with ^fworms and clods of dust;

My skin is broken, and ^gbecome loathsome.

⁶My days are swifter than ^ha weaver’s shuttle,

And are spent without hope.

⁷O remember that my life is ⁱwind:

Mine eye shall no more see good.

^8kThe eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more:

Thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.

⁹As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away:

So he that ^lgoeth down to the grave shall come up no more.

^10mHe shall return no more to his house,

ⁿNeither shall ^khis place know him any more.

¹¹Therefore I will not refrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will ^ocomplain ^pin the bitterness of my soul.

¹²Am I a sea, or a whale,

That thou settest a watch over me?

^13qWhen I say, My bed shall comfort me,

My couch shall ^rease my ^ocomplaint;

^14sThen thou scarest me with dreams,

And terrifiest me through visions:

¹⁵So that my soul chooseth strangling,

And death rather than my life.

¹⁶I ^tloathe it; I would not live alway:

^uLet me alone; for my days are ^xvanity.

^17yWhat is man, that thou shouldest magnify him?

And that thou shouldest ^zset thine heart upon him?

¹⁸And that thou shouldest visit him ^aevery morning,

And try him ^bevery moment?

¹⁹How long wilt thou not ^cdepart from me,

Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

²⁰I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee,

O thou ^dpreserver of men?

Why hast thou set me as a ^emark against thee,

So that I am a burden to myself?

²¹And why dost thou not pardon my transgression,

And take away mine iniquity?

For now shall I sleep in the dust;

And thou shalt ^fseek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

VIII.Then answered ^aBildad the Shuhite, and said,

²How long wilt thou speak these things?

And how long shall the words of thy mouth be like ^ba strong wind?

^3cDoth God pervert judgment?

Or ^ddoth the Almighty pervert justice?

⁴If ^ethy children have sinned against him,

And he have cast them away for their transgression;

^5fIf thou wouldest ^gseek unto God betimes,

And make thy supplication to the Almighty;

⁶If thou wert pure and upright;

Surely now he would awake for thee,

And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

⁷Though thy beginning was small,

Yet thy latter end should greatly increase.

^8hFor inquire, I pray thee, of the former age,

And prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:

⁹(For ⁱwe are but of yesterday, and know nothing,

Because our days upon earth are ^ja shadow:)

¹⁰Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee,

And utter words out of their heart?

¹¹Can the ^krush grow up without mire?

Can the ^lflag grow without water?

^12mWhilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down,

It withereth before any other herb.

¹³So are the paths of all that forget God;

And the ⁿhypocrite’s hope shall perish:

¹⁴Whose hope shall be cut off,

And whose trust shall be a spider’s web.

¹⁵He shall lean upon ^ohis house, but it shall not stand:

He shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

¹⁶He is ^pgreen before the sun,

And his ^qbranch shooteth forth in his garden,

¹⁷His roots are ^rwrapped about the heap,

And seeth the place of stones.

¹⁸If he destroy him ^sfrom his place,

Then it shall deny him, ^tsaying, I have not seen thee.

¹⁹Behold, this is the joy of his way,

And ^uout of the earth shall others grow.

²⁰Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man,

Neither will he help the evil doers:

²¹Till he ^xfill thy mouth with laughing,

And thy lips with rejoicing.

²²They that hate thee shall be ^yclothed with shame;

And the ^zdwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.

IX.Then Job answered and said,

²I know ^ait is so ^bof a truth:

But ^chow should man be just with God?

³If he will contend with him,

He cannot answer him one of a thousand.

⁴He is ^dwise in heart, and mighty in strength:

Who hath hardened ^ehimself against him, and hath prospered?

⁵Which removeth the mountains, and they know not:

Which overturneth them in his anger.

⁶Which ^fshaketh the earth out of her place,

And ^gthe pillars thereof tremble.

⁷Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not;

And sealeth up the stars.

⁸Which alone ^hspreadeth out the heavens,

And treadeth upon the waves of the sea.

⁹ⁱWhich maketh ^jArcturus, ^kOrion,

And ^kPleiades, and the chambers of the south.

^10lWhich doeth great things past finding out;

Yea, and wonders without number.

¹¹Lo, he goeth by me, and ^mI see him not:

He passeth on also, ^mbut I perceive him not.

¹²Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him?

ⁿWho will say unto him, What doest thou?

¹³If God will not withdraw his anger,

The proud helpers do stoop under him.

^14oHow much less shall I answer him,

And ^pchoose out my words to reason with him?

^15qWhom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer,

But I would make supplication to my judge.

¹⁶If I had called, and he had answered me;

Yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.

¹⁷For he ^rbreaketh me with a tempest,

And multiplieth my wounds ^swithout cause.

¹⁸He will not suffer me ^tto take my breath,

But filleth me with bitterness.

¹⁹If I speak ^uof strength, lo, he is strong:

And if of judgment, ^wwho shall set me a time to plead?

²⁰If I justify myself, ^xmine own mouth shall condemn me:

If I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.

²¹Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul:

I would ^ydespise my life.

²²This is one thing, therefore I said it,

^zHe destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.

²³If the ^ascourge slay suddenly,

He will laugh at the trial of the innocent.

²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked:

^bHe covereth the faces of the judges thereof;

^cIf not, where, and who is he?

²⁵Now ^dmy days are swifter than ^ea post:

They flee away, ^dthey see no good.

²⁶They are passed away as the swift ships:

As ^fthe eagle that hasteth to the prey.

^27gIf I say, I will forget my complaint,

I will leave off my heaviness, and ^hcomfort myself:

²⁸I am afraid of all my sorrows,

I know that thou ⁱwilt not hold me innocent.

²⁹If I be wicked,

Why then labour I in vain?

³⁰If I wash myself with ^jsnow water,

And ^kmake my hands never so clean;

³¹Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch,

And mine own clothes shall abhor me.

³²For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him,

And ^lwe should come together in judgment.

^33mNeither is there any daysman betwixt us,

That might ⁿlay ^ohis hand upon us both.

^34oLet him take his ^prod away from me,

And ^qlet not his fear terrify me:

³⁵Then would I speak, and not fear him;

But it is not so with me.

X.