Job 24–31

24Why, seeing ^atimes are not ^bhidden from the Almighty,

Do they that ^cknow him not see his ^ddays?

²Some remove the ^elandmarks;

They violently take away flocks, and ^||feed thereof.

³They ^fdrive away the ass of the fatherless,

They ^gtake the widow’s ox for a pledge.

⁴They ^hturn the needy out of the way:

ⁱThe poor of the earth ^lhide themselves together.

⁵Behold, as ^mwild asses in the desert,

ⁿGo they forth to their work; ^orising betimes ^pfor a prey:

The wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

⁶They reap every one his ^†corn in the field:

And ^†they gather the vintage of the wicked.

⁷They cause the naked to lodge without clothing,

That they have no covering in the cold.

⁸They ^qare wet with the showers of the mountains,

And ^rembrace the rock for want of a shelter.

⁹They pluck the fatherless from the breast,

And ^gstake a pledge of the poor.

¹⁰They ^tcause him to go naked ^uwithout clothing,

And ^xthey take away the sheaf from the hungry;

^11xWhich make oil within their walls,

And ^ytread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.

¹²Men ^zgroan from out of the city,

And the soul of the ^zwounded crieth out:

Yet God layeth not ^afolly to them.

¹³They are of those ^bthat rebel against the light;

They know not the ways thereof,

Nor abide in the paths thereof.

¹⁴The murderer rising with the light

Killeth the poor and needy,

And in the night is as a thief.

¹⁵The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for ^cthe twilight,

^dSaying, No eye shall see me:

And ^†disguiseth his face.

¹⁶In the dark they ^dddig through houses,

Which they had marked for themselves in the daytime:

^bThey know not the light.

¹⁷For ^ethe morning is to them even as ^fthe shadow of death:

If one know them, they are in the terrors of ^fthe shadow of death.

^18gHe is swift ^has the waters;

Their portion is cursed in the earth:

He beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

¹⁹ⁱDrought and heat ^†consume the ^ksnow waters:

So doth the grave those which have sinned.

²⁰The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him;

He shall be no more remembered;

And wickedness shall be broken ^las a tree.

²¹He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not:

And doeth not good to the widow.

²²He draweth also the ^mmighty with his power:

He riseth up, and ^||no man is sure of life.

²³Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth;

Yet ⁿhis eyes are upon their ways.

²⁴They are exalted ^ofor a little while, but ^†are gone

And brought low; they are ^†taken out of the way as all other,

And ^pcut off as the tops of ^qthe ears of corn.

^25rAnd if it be not so now, who will make me a liar,

And make my speech nothing worth?

25Then answered ^aBildad the Shuhite, and said,

²Dominion and fear are with him,

He maketh peace in his ^bhigh places.

³Is there any ^cnumber of his ^darmies?

And upon whom doth not ^ehis light arise?

^4fHow then can man be justified with God?

Or ^ghow can he be clean that is ^hborn of a woman?

⁵Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not;

Yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.

⁶ⁱHow much less man, that is a worm?

And the ^kson of man, which is a ^lworm?

26But Job answered and said,

²How hast thou helped him that is without power?

How savest thou the arm that hath no strength?

³How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom?

And how hast thou plentifully declared ^athe thing as it is?

⁴To whom hast thou uttered words?

And whose spirit came from thee?

^5bDead things ^care formed

From under the waters, ^||and the inhabitants thereof.

^6dHell is naked before him,

And ^edestruction hath no covering.

^7fHe stretcheth out the north over ^gthe empty place,

And hangeth the earth upon nothing.

⁸He ^hbindeth up the waters in his thick clouds;

And the cloud is not rent under them.

⁹He holdeth back the face of his throne,

And ⁱspreadeth his cloud upon it.

¹⁰He ^jhath compassed the waters with ^kbounds,

^†Until the day and night come to an end.

^11lThe pillars of heaven tremble

And are astonished at his reproof.

^12mHe divideth the sea with his power,

And by his understanding he smiteth through ^†the proud.

¹³By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens;

His hand ^chath formed ⁿthe crooked serpent.

¹⁴Lo, these are parts of his ⁿⁿways:

But how ^olittle a portion is heard ^pof him?

But the thunder of his power who can understand?

27Moreover Job ^†continued his parable, and said,

^2aAs God liveth, ^bwho hath taken away my judgment;

And the Almighty, who hath ^†vexed my soul;

^3cAll the while my breath is in me,

And ^||the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

⁴My lips shall not speak ^dwickedness,

Nor my tongue utter ^ddeceit.

^5eGod forbid that I should justify you:

Till I die I will not remove mine ^fintegrity from me.

⁶My righteousness I ^ghhold fast, and will not ^hlet it go:

ⁱMy heart shall not reproach me ^†so long as I live.

⁷Let mine enemy be as the wicked,

And ^khe that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

^8lFor what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he ^mhath gained,

When God taketh away his soul?

⁹ⁿWill God hear his cry

When trouble cometh upon him?

^10oWill he delight himself in the Almighty?

Will he always call upon God?

¹¹I will teach you ^||by the hand of God:

That which is ^pwith the Almighty will I not conceal.

¹²Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it;

Why then are ye thus altogether vain?

^13qThis is the portion of a wicked man with God,

And the heritage of ^roppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.

^14sIf his children be multiplied, it is for ^tthe sword:

And his ^uoffspring ^tshall not be satisfied with bread.

¹⁵Those that remain of him ^tshall be buried in death:

And ^whis widows shall not weep.

¹⁶Though he ^xheap up silver as the dust,

And prepare raiment as the clay;

¹⁷He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on,

And ^ythe innocent shall divide the silver.

¹⁸He buildeth ^zhis house as a ^amoth,

And as a ^bbooth that ^cthe keeper maketh.

¹⁹The rich man ^dshall lie down, but he shall not be ^egathered:

He openeth his eyes, and ^fhe is not.

^20gTerrors take hold on him as ^hwaters,

A ⁱtempest stealeth him away ^djin the night.

²¹The east wind carrieth him away, and ^khe departeth:

And ^las a storm hurleth him ^mout of his place.

²²For God shall ⁿcast upon him, and not spare:

^†He would fain flee out of his hand.

²³Men shall ^oclap their hands at him,

And shall ^phiss him ^mout of his place.

28Surely there is ^||a vein for the ^asilver,

And ^ba place for gold where they ^cfine it.

²Iron is taken out of the ^||earth,

And brass is ^dmolten out of the stone.

³He setteth an end to darkness,

And searcheth out ^eall perfection:

The stones of ^fdarkness, and the ^gshadow of death.

⁴The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant;

Even the waters ^hforgotten of the foot:

They are dried up, they are gone away from men.

⁵As for ⁱthe earth, out of it cometh bread:

And ^junder it is turned up as it were fire.

⁶The stones of it are ^kthe place of ^lsapphires:

And it hath ^||dust of gold.

⁷There is a path which no fowl knoweth,

And which the ^mvulture’s ⁿeye hath not seen:

⁸The ^olion’s whelps have not trodden it,

Nor the ^pfierce lion passed by it.

⁹He putteth forth his hand upon the ^||rock;

He overturneth the mountains by the roots.

¹⁰He cutteth out ^qrivers among the rocks;

And his eye seeth every precious thing.

¹¹He bindeth the ^qfloods ^†from overflowing;

And ^rthe thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

^12sBut where shall ^twisdom be found?

And where is the place of ^tunderstanding?

¹³Man knoweth not the ^uprice thereof;

Neither is it found in ^xthe land of the living.

^14yThe depth saith, It is not in me:

And the sea saith, It is not with me.

^15†It ^zcannot be gotten for ^agold,

Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

¹⁶It cannot ^bbe valued with the ^cgold of ^dOphir,

With the precious ^eonyx, or the ^fsapphire.

¹⁷The gold and the crystal cannot ^gequal it:

And the exchange of it shall not be for ^||jewels of fine gold.

^18hNo mention shall be made of ^||coral, or of ^hhpearls:

For the price of wisdom is above ⁱrubies.

¹⁹The ^jtopaz of ^kEthiopia shall not ^gequal it,

Neither ^bshall it be valued with pure ^cgold.

^20lWhence then cometh wisdom?

And where is the place of understanding?

²¹Seeing it is hid from the eyes ^mof all living,

And kept close from the fowls of the ^||air.

²²ⁿDestruction and death say,

We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

^23oGod understandeth the way thereof,

And he knoweth the place thereof.

²⁴For he looketh to the ends of the earth,

And seeth under the whole heaven;

²⁵To ^pmake the weight for the winds;

And he weigheth the waters by measure.

^26qWhen he made a ^rdecree for the rain,

And a ^sway for the lightning of the thunder:

²⁷Then did he see it, and ^||declare it;

He prepared it, yea, and searched it out.

²⁸And unto man he said, Behold, ^tthe fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;

And ^uto depart from evil is understanding.

29Moreover Job ^†continued his parable, and said,

²Oh that I were ^aas in months past,

As in the days when God preserved me;

^3bWhen his ^||candle shined upon my head,

And when by his light I walked through darkness;

⁴As I was in the days of my youth,

When ^cthe secret of God was upon my ^dtabernacle;

⁵When the Almighty was yet with me,

When ^emy children were about me;

⁶When ^fI washed my steps with ^gbutter,

And ^hthe rock ⁱpoured ^†me out rivers of ^koil;

⁷When I went out to the ^lgate through the ^lcity,

When I prepared my seat in the ^mstreet!

⁸The young men saw me, and hid themselves:

And ⁿthe aged arose, and stood up.

⁹The princes refrained talking,

And ^olaid their hand on their mouth.

^10†The nobles held their peace,

And their ^ptongue cleaved to ^qthe roof of their mouth.

¹¹When the ear heard me, then it blessed me;

And when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:

¹²Because I delivered the poor that cried,

And ^rthe fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

¹³The ^sblessing of him that was ^tready to perish came upon me:

And I caused ^uthe widow’s heart to ^xsing for joy.

^14yI put on righteousness, and it clothed me:

My judgment was as a robe and a ^zdiadem.

¹⁵I was ^aeyes to the blind,

And feet was I to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the poor:

And the cause ^bwhich I knew not I searched out.

¹⁷And I ^bbbrake ^†the jaws of the wicked,

And ^†plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

^18cThen I said, I shall die in my ^dnest,

And I shall multiply my…