Job 3–41

Chapter 3

¹After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. ²And Job answered and said, ³Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, There is a man child conceived. ⁴That day—let it be darkness, let not †God care for it from above, neither let light shine upon it: ⁵Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it; let clouds dwell upon it; let darkeners of the day terrify it. ⁶That night—let gloom seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months. ⁷Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful sound come therein; ⁸Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse Leviathan; ⁹Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it wait for light, and have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the dawn: ¹⁰Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, and hid not trouble from mine eyes.

¹¹Wherefore did I not die from the womb, —come forth from the belly and expire? ¹²Why did the knees meet me? and wherefore the breasts, that I should suck? ¹³For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept: then had I been at rest, ¹⁴With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build desolate places for themselves, ¹⁵Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver; ¹⁶Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that have not seen the light. ¹⁷There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the wearied are at rest. ¹⁸The prisoners together are at ease; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. ¹⁹The small and great are there, and the bondman freed from his master.

²⁰Wherefore is light given to him that is in trouble, and life to those bitter of soul, ²¹Who long for death, and it cometh not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures; ²²Who rejoice even exultingly and are glad when they find the grave? — ²³To the man whose way is hidden, and whom †God hath hedged in? ²⁴For my sighing cometh before my bread, and my groanings are poured out like the waters. ²⁵For I feared a fear, and it hath come upon me, and that which I dreaded hath come to me. ²⁶I was not in safety, neither had I quietness, neither was I at rest, and trouble came.

Chapter 4

¹And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, ²If a word were essayed to thee, wouldest thou be grieved? But who can refrain from speaking? ³Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands; ⁴Thy words have upholden him that was stumbling, and thou hast braced up the bending knees: ⁵But now it is come upon thee, and thou grievest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. ⁶Hath not thy piety been thy confidence, and the perfection of thy ways thy hope?

⁷Remember, I pray thee, who that was innocent has perished? and where were the upright cut off? ⁸Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity and sow mischief, reap the same. ⁹By the breath of †God they perish, and by the blast of his nostrils are they consumed. ¹⁰The roar of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken; ¹¹The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

¹²Now to me a word was secretly brought, and mine ear received a whisper thereof. ¹³In thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men: — ¹⁴Fear came on me, and trembling, and made all my bones to shake; ¹⁵And a spirit passed before my face—the hair of my flesh stood up— ¹⁶It stood still; I could not discern the appearance thereof: a form was before mine eyes; I heard a slight murmur and a voice: ¹⁷Shall mortal man be more just than †God? Shall a man be purer than his Maker? ¹⁸Lo, he trusteth not his servants, and his angels he chargeth with folly: ¹⁹How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed as the moth! ²⁰From morning to evening are they smitten: without any heeding it, they perish for ever. ²¹Is not their tent-cord torn away in them? they die, and without wisdom.

Chapter 5

¹Call, I pray thee! Is there any that answereth thee? and to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn? ²For vexation killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the simple. ³I myself saw the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation. ⁴His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer: ⁵Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh even out of the thorns; and the snare gapeth for his substance.

⁶For evil cometh not forth from the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; ⁷For man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards. ⁸But as for me I will seek unto •God, and unto God commit my cause; ⁹Who doeth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number; ¹⁰Who giveth rain on the face of the earth, and sendeth waters on the face of the fields; ¹¹Setting up on high those that are low; and mourners are exalted to prosperity. ¹²He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, and their hands carry not out the enterprise. ¹³He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong: ¹⁴They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at midday as in the night. ¹⁵And he saveth the needy from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. ¹⁶So the poor hath what he hopeth for, and unrighteousness stoppeth her mouth.

¹⁷Behold, happy is the man whom †God correcteth; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty. ¹⁸For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole. ¹⁹He will deliver thee in six troubles, and in seven there shall no evil touch thee. ²⁰In famine he will redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword. ²¹Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue; and thou shalt not be afraid of destruction when it cometh. ²²At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, and of the beasts of the earth thou shalt not be afraid. ²³For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. ²⁴And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; and thou wilt survey thy fold, and miss nothing. ²⁵And thou shalt know that thy seed is numerous, and thine offspring as the herb of the earth. ²⁶Thou shalt come to the grave in a ripe age, as a shock of corn is brought in in its season. ²⁷Behold this, we have searched it out, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thyself.

Chapter 6

¹And Job answered and said, ²Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! ³For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words are vehement. ⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, their poison drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of †God are arrayed against me. ⁵Doth the wild ass bray by the grass? loweth an ox over his fodder? ⁶Shall that which is insipid be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg? ⁷What my soul refuseth to touch, that is as my loathsome food.

⁸Oh that I might have my request, and that †God would grant my desire! ⁹And that it would please †God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! ¹⁰Then should I yet have comfort; and in the pain which spareth not I would rejoice that I have not denied the words of the Holy One. ¹¹What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should have patience? ¹²Is my strength the strength of stones? is my flesh of brass? ¹³Is it not that there is no help in me, and soundness is driven away from me?

¹⁴For him that is fainting kindness is meet from his friend; or he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. ¹⁵My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a stream, as the channel of streams which pass away, ¹⁶Which are turbid by reason of the ice, in which the snow hideth itself: ¹⁷At the time they diminish, they are dried up; when heat affecteth them, they vanish from their place: ¹⁸They wind about in the paths of their course, they go off into the waste and perish. ¹⁹The caravans of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba counted on them: ²⁰They are ashamed at their hope; they come thither, and are confounded. ²¹So now ye are nothing; ye see a terrible object and are afraid.

²²Did I say, Bring unto me, and make me a present from your substance? ²³Or, rescue me from the hand of the oppressor, and redeem me from the hand of the violent? ²⁴Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred. ²⁵How forcible are right words! but what doth your upbraiding reprove? ²⁶Do ye imagine to reprove words? The speeches of one that is desperate are indeed for the wind. ²⁷Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and dig a pit for your friend. ²⁸Now therefore if ye will, look upon me; and it shall be to your face if I lie. ²⁹Return, I pray you, let there be no wrong; yea, return again, my righteousness shall be in it. ³⁰Is there wrong in my tongue? cannot my taste discern mischievous things?

Chapter 7

¹Hath not man a life of labour upon earth? and are not his days like the days of a hireling? ²As a bondman earnestly desireth the shadow, and a hireling expecteth his wages, ³So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. ⁴If I lie down, I say, When shall I rise up, and the darkness be gone? and I am full of tossings until the dawn. ⁵My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and suppurates. ⁶My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.

⁷Remember thou that my life is wind; mine eye shall no more see good. ⁸The eye of him that hath seen me shall behold me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not. ⁹The cloud consumeth and vanisheth away; so he that goeth down to Sheol shall not come up. ¹⁰He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him again. ¹¹Therefore I will not restrain my mouth: I will speak in the anguish of my…