Job 3–41

Chapter 3

After this, Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,

²And he said:

³Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived.

⁴Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it.

⁵Let darkness, and the shadow of death, cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness.

⁶Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.

⁷Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise.

⁸Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to raise up a leviathan:

⁹Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day:

¹⁰Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes.

¹¹Why did I not die in the womb? why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?

¹²Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts?

¹³For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have rest in my sleep:

¹⁴With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes:

¹⁵Or with princes, that possess gold, and fill their houses with silver:

¹⁶Or as a hidden untimely birth, I should not be; or as they that, being conceived, have not seen the light.

¹⁷There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied in strength are at rest.

¹⁸And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have not heard the voice of the oppressor.

¹⁹The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

²⁰Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul?

²¹That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure:

²²And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave?

²³To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him with darkness?

²⁴Before I eat I sigh: and as overflowing waters, so is my roaring:

²⁵For the fear which I feared, hath come upon me: and that which I was afraid of, hath befallen me.

²⁶Have I not dissembled? have I not kept silence? have I not been quiet? and indignation is come upon me.

Chapter 4

Then Eliphaz, the Themanite, answered, and said:

²If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill; but who can withhold the words he hath conceived?

³Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the weary hands:

⁴Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees:

⁵But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: It hath touched thee, and thou art troubled.

⁶Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways?

⁷Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed?

⁸On the contrary, I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them,

⁹Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath.

¹⁰The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of lions, are broken:

¹¹The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad.

¹²Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth, as it were, received the veins of its whisper.

¹³In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men,

¹⁴Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted:

¹⁵And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up.

¹⁶There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice, as it were, of a gentle wind.

¹⁷Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker?

¹⁸Behold, they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness:

¹⁹How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth?

²⁰From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever.

²¹And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom.

Chapter 5

Call now, if there be any that will answer thee, and turn to some of the saints.

²Anger indeed killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the little one.

³I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I cursed his beauty immediately.

⁴His children shall be far from safety, and shall be destroyed in the gate, and there shall be none to deliver them.

⁵Whose harvest the hungry shall eat, and the armed man shall take him by violence, and the thirsty shall drink up his riches.

⁶Nothing upon earth is done without a cause, and sorrow doth not spring out of the ground.

⁷Man is born to labour, and the bird to fly.

⁸Wherefore I will pray to the Lord, and address my speech to God:

⁹Who doth great things, and unsearchable and wonderful things without number:

¹⁰Who giveth rain upon the face of the earth, and watereth all things with waters:

¹¹Who setteth up the humble on high, and comforteth with health those that mourn.

¹²Who bringeth to nought the designs of the malignant, so that their hands cannot accomplish what they had begun:

¹³Who catcheth the wise in their craftiness, and disappointeth the counsel of the wicked:

¹⁴They shall meet with darkness in the day, and grope at noonday as in the night.

¹⁵But he shall save the needy from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand of the violent.

¹⁶And to the needy there shall be hope, but iniquity shall draw in her mouth.

¹⁷Blessed is the man whom God correcteth: refuse not, therefore, the chastising of the Lord.

¹⁸For he woundeth, and cureth: he striketh, and his hands shall heal.

¹⁹In six troubles he shall deliver thee, and in the seventh, evil shall not touch thee.

²⁰In famine he shall deliver thee from death; and in battle, from the hand of the sword.

²¹Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue: and thou shalt not fear calamity when it cometh.

²²In destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: and thou shalt not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

²³But thou shalt have a covenant with the stones of the lands, and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with thee.

²⁴And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle is in peace, and visiting thy beauty, thou shalt not sin.

²⁵Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be multiplied, and thy offspring like the grass of the earth.

²⁶Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance, as a heap of wheat is brought in in its season.

²⁷Behold, this is even so, as we have searched out: which thou having heard, consider it thoroughly in thy mind.

Chapter 6

But Job answered, and said:

²O that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, and the calamity that I suffer, were weighed in a balance.

³As the sand of the sea, this would appear heavier: therefore, my words are full of sorrow:

⁴For the arrows of the Lord are in me, the rage whereof drinketh up my spirit, and the terrors of the Lord war against me.

⁵Will the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or will the ox low when he standeth before a full manger?

⁶Or can an unsavoury thing be eaten, that is not seasoned with salt? or can a man taste that which, when tasted, bringeth death?

⁷The things which before my soul would not touch, now, through anguish, are my meats.

⁸Who will grant that my request may come: and that God may give me what I look for?

⁹And that he that hath begun may destroy me, that he may let loose his hand, and cut me off?

¹⁰And that this may be my comfort, that afflicting me with sorrow, he spare not, nor I contradict the words of the Holy one.

¹¹For what is my strength, that I can hold out? or what is my end, that I should keep patience?

¹²My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh of brass.

¹³Behold there is no help for me in myself, and my familiar friends also are departed from me.

¹⁴He that taketh away mercy from his friend, forsaketh the fear of the Lord.

¹⁵My brethren have passed by me, as the torrent that passeth swiftly in the valleys.

¹⁶They that fear the hoary frost, the snow shall fall upon them.

¹⁷At the time when they shall be scattered they shall perish: and after it groweth hot, they shall be melted out of their place.

¹⁸The paths of their steps are entangled: they shall walk in vain, and shall perish.

¹⁹Consider the paths of Thema, the ways of Saba, and wait a little while.

²⁰They are confounded, because I have hoped: they are come also even unto me, and are covered with shame.

²¹Now you are come: and now, seeing my affliction, you are afraid.

²²Did I say: Bring to me, and give me of your substance?

²³Or deliver me from the hand of the enemy, and rescue me out of the hand of the mighty?

²⁴Teach me, and I will hold my peace: and if I have been ignorant of any thing, instruct me.

²⁵Why have you detracted the words of truth, whereas there is none of you that can reprove me?

²⁶You dress up speeches only to rebuke, and you utter words to the wind.

²⁷You rush in upon the fatherless, and you endeavour to overthrow your friend.

²⁸However, finish what you have begun: give ear and see whether I lie.

²⁹Answer, I beseech you, without contention: and speaking that which is just, judge ye.

³⁰And you shall not find iniquity in my tongue, neither shall folly sound in my mouth.

Chapter 7

The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling.

²As a servant longeth for the shade, as the hireling looketh for the end of his work;

³So I also have had empty months, and have numbered to myself wearisome nights.

⁴If I lie down to sleep, I shall say: When shall I rise? and again, I shall look for the evening, and shall be filled with sorrows even till darkness.

⁵My flesh is clothed with rottenness and the filth of dust; my skin is withered and drawn together.

⁶My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver, and are consumed without any hope.

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