171 "My spirit is broken , my days are extinguished , The grave is ready for me. 2 " Surely e mockers are with me, And my eye gazes on their provocation . 3 "Lay down , now , a pledge for me with Yourself; Who is there that will be my guarantor e ? 4 "For You have kept their heart from understanding , Therefore e You will not exalt them. 5 "He who informs against friends for a share of the spoil, The eyes of his children also will languish . 6 "But He has made me a byword of the people , And I am one at whom men spit . 7 "My eye has also grown dim because of grief , And all my members are as a shadow . 8 "The upright will be appalled at this , And the innocent will stir up himself against the godless . 9 "Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way , And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 "But come again all of you now , For I do not find a wise man among you. 11 "My days are past , my plans are torn apart , Even the wishes of my heart . 12 "They make night into day , saying, 'The light is near ,' in the presence of darkness . 13 "If I look for Sheol as my home , I make my bed in the darkness ; 14 If I call to the pit , 'You are my father '; To the worm , 'my mother and my sister '; 15 Where now is my hope ? And who regards my hope ? 16 "Will it go down with me to Sheol ? Shall we together go down into the dust ?"
181 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded e , 2 "How long will you hunt e for words ? Show understanding and then we can talk . 3 "Why are we regarded as beasts , As stupid in your eyes ? 4 "O you who tear yourself in your anger - For your sake is the earth to be abandoned , Or the rock to be moved from its place ?
5 "Indeed , the light of the wicked goes out, And the flame of his fire gives no light . 6 "The light in his tent is darkened , And his lamp goes out above him. 7 "His vigorous stride is shortened , And his own scheme brings him down . 8 "For he is thrown into the net by his own feet , And he steps on the webbing . 9 "A snare seizes him by the heel , And a trap snaps shut on him. 10 "A noose for him is hidden in the ground , And a trap for him on the path .
11 "All around terrors frighten him, And harry him at every step . 12 "His strength is famished , And calamity is ready at his side . 13 "His skin is devoured by disease , The firstborn of death devours his limbs . 14 "He is torn from the security of his tent , And they march him before the king of terrors . 15 "There dwells in his tent nothing of his; Brimstone is scattered on his habitation . 16 "His roots are dried below e , And his branch is cut off above e . 17 " Memory of him perishes from the earth , And he has no name abroad e . 18 "He is driven from light into darkness , And chased from the inhabited world . 19 "He has no offspring or posterity among his people , Nor any survivor where he sojourned . 20 "Those in the west are appalled at his fate , And those in the east are seized with horror . 21 "Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked , And this is the place of him who does not know God ."
191 Then Job responded e , 2 "How long will you torment me And crush me with words ? 3 "These ten times you have insulted me; You are not ashamed to wrong me. 4 "Even if I have truly erred , My error lodges with me. 5 "If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me And prove my disgrace to me, 6 Know then that God has wronged me And has closed His net around me. 7 "Behold , I cry , 'Violence !' but I get no answer ; I shout for help , but there is no justice .
8 "He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass , And He has put darkness on my paths . 9 "He has stripped my honor from me And removed the crown from my head . 10 "He breaks me down on every side , and I am gone ; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree . 11 "He has also kindled His anger against me And considered me as His enemy . 12 "His troops come together , And build up their way against me And camp around my tent . 13 "He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. 14 "My relatives have failed , And my intimate friends have forgotten me. 15 "Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger . I am a foreigner in their sight . 16 "I call to my servant , but he does not answer ; I have to implore him with my mouth . 17 "My breath is offensive to my wife , And I am loathsome to my own brothers e . 18 "Even young children despise me; I rise up and they speak against me. 19 "All my associates abhor me, And those I love have turned against me. 20 "My bone clings to my skin and my flesh , And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth . 21 "Pity me, pity me, O you my friends , For the hand of God has struck me. 22 "Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh ?
23 "Oh e that my words were written ! Oh e that they were inscribed in a book ! 24 "That with an iron stylus and lead They were engraved in the rock forever ! 25 "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives , And at the last He will take His stand on the earth . 26 "Even after my skin is destroyed , Yet from my flesh I shall see God ; 27 Whom I myself shall behold , And whom my eyes will see and not another . My heart faints within me! 28 "If you say , 'How shall we persecute him?' And 'What pretext for a case against him can we find ?' 29 "Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, For wrath brings the punishment of the sword , So that you may know there is judgment ."
201 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered , 2 "Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me respond , Even because of my inward agitation . 3 "I listened to the reproof which insults me, And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer . 4 "Do you know this from of old , From the establishment of man on earth , 5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short , And the joy of the godless momentary e ? 6 "Though his loftiness reaches the heavens , And his head touches the clouds , 7 He perishes forever like his refuse ; Those who have seen him will say , 'Where is he?' 8 "He flies away like a dream , and they cannot find him; Even like a vision of the night he is chased away . 9 "The eye which saw him sees him no longer, And his place no longer beholds him.
10 "His sons favor the poor , And his hands give back his wealth . 11 "His bones are full of his youthful vigor , But it lies down with him in the dust . 12 "Though evil is sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue , 13 Though he desires it and will not let it go , But holds it in his mouth , 14 Yet his food in his stomach is changed To the venom of cobras within him. 15 "He swallows riches , But will vomit them up; God will expel them from his belly . 16 "He sucks the poison of cobras ; The viper's tongue slays him. 17 "He does not look at the streams , The rivers flowing with honey and curds . 18 "He returns what he has attained And cannot swallow it; As to the riches of his trading , He cannot even enjoy them. 19 "For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor ; He has seized a house which he has not built . 20 "Because he knew no quiet within him, He does not retain anything he desires . 21 "Nothing remains for him to devour , Therefore e his prosperity does not endure . 22 "In the fullness of his plenty he will be cramped ; The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.
23 "When he fills his belly , God will send His fierce anger on him And will rain it on him while he is eating . 24 "He may flee from the iron weapon , But the bronze bow will pierce him. 25 "It is drawn forth and comes out of his back , Even the glittering point from his gall . Terrors come upon him, 26 Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures , And unfanned fire will devour him; It will consume the survivor in his tent . 27 "The heavens will reveal his iniquity , And the earth will rise up against him. 28 "The increase of his house will depart ; His possessions will flow away in the day of His anger . 29 "This is the wicked man's portion from God , Even the heritage decreed to him by God ."
