101 My soul is weary of my life: I will give free course to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say unto +God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou strivest with me. 3 Doth it please thee to oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thy hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? 4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? 5 Are thy days as the days of a mortal? are thy years as a man's days, 6 That thou searchest after mine iniquity, and inquirest into my sin; 7 Since thou knowest that I am not wicked, and that there is none that delivereth out of thy hand?
8 Thy hands have bound me together and made me as one, round about; yet dost thou swallow me up! 9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as clay, and wilt bring me into dust again. 10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? 11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews; 12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy care hath preserved my spirit; 13 And these things didst thou hide in thy heart; I know that this was with thee.
14 If I sinned, thou wouldest mark me, and thou wouldest not acquit me of mine iniquity. 15 If I were wicked, woe unto me! and righteous, I will not lift up my head, being [so] full of shame, and beholding mine affliction;— 16 And it increaseth: thou huntest me as a fierce lion; and ever again thou shewest thy marvellous power upon me. 17 Thou renewest thy witnesses before me and increasest thy displeasure against me; successions [of evil] and a time of toil are with me. 18 And wherefore didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? I had expired, and no eye had seen me. 19 I should be as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. 20 Are not my days few? cease then and let me alone, that I may revive a little, 21 Before I go, and never to return,—to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; 22 A land of gloom, as darkness itself; of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as thick darkness.
111 And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, 2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man of much talk be justified? 3 Should thy fictions make men hold their peace? and shouldest thou mock, and no one make [thee] ashamed? 4 For thou sayest, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes. 5 But oh that +God would speak, and open his lips against thee; 6 And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, how that they are the double of what is realised; and know that +God passeth by [much] of thine iniquity!
7 Canst thou by searching find out +God? canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? 8 [It is as] the heights of heaven; what wilt thou do? deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know? 9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. 10 If he pass by, and shut up, and call to judgment, who can hinder him? 11 For he knoweth vain men, and seeth wickedness when [man] doth not consider it; 12 Yet a senseless man will make bold, though man be born [like] the foal of a wild ass.
13 If thou prepare thy heart and stretch out thy hands toward him, 14 If thou put far away the iniquity which is in thy hand, and let not wrong dwell in thy tents; 15 Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot, and thou shalt be stedfast and shalt not fear: 16 For thou shalt forget misery; as waters that are passed away shalt thou remember it; 17 And life shall arise brighter than noonday; though thou be enshrouded in darkness, thou shalt be as the morning, 18 And thou shalt have confidence, because there shall be hope; and having searched about [thee], thou shalt take rest in safety. 19 Yea, thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; and many shall seek thy favour. 20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and [all] refuge shall vanish from them, and their hope [shall be] the breathing out of life.
121 And Job answered and said, 2 Truly ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you! 3 I also have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you; and who knoweth not such things as these? 4 I am to be one that is a derision to his friend, I who call upon +God, and whom he will answer: a derision is the just upright [man]. 5 He that is ready to stumble with the foot is a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
6 The tents of desolators are in peace, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand +God bringeth. 7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowl of the heavens, and they shall tell thee; 8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. 9 Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this? 10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man. 11 Doth not the ear try words, as the palate tasteth food?
12 With the aged is wisdom, and in length of days understanding. 13 With him is wisdom and might; he hath counsel and understanding. 14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it is not built again; he shutteth up a man, and there is no opening. 15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; and he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. 16 With him is strength and effectual knowledge; the deceived and the deceiver are his. 17 He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and judges maketh he fools; 18 He weakeneth the government of kings, and bindeth their loins with a fetter; 19 He leadeth priests away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty; 20 He depriveth of speech the trusty, and taketh away the judgment of the elders; 21 He poureth contempt upon nobles, and slackeneth the girdle of the mighty; 22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out into light the shadow of death; 23 He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them; he spreadeth out the nations, and bringeth them in; 24 He taketh away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a pathless waste. 25 They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunkard.
131 Lo, mine eye hath seen all [this], mine ear hath heard and understood it. 2 What ye know, I know also: I am not inferior to you. 3 But I will speak to the Almighty, and will find pleasure in reasoning with God; 4 For ye indeed are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value. 5 Oh that ye would be altogether silent! and it would be your wisdom. 6 Hear now my defence, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips. 7 Will ye speak unrighteously for God? and for him speak deceit? 8 Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God? 9 Will it be well if he should search you out? or as one mocketh at a man, will ye mock at him? 10 He will certainly reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons. 11 Shall not his excellency terrify you? and his dread fall upon you? 12 Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, your bulwarks are bulwarks of mire.
13 Hold your peace from me, and I will speak, and let come on me what [will]! 14 Wherefore should I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand? 15 Behold, if he slay me, yet would I trust in him; but I will defend mine own ways before him. 16 This also shall be my salvation, that a profane man shall not come before his face. 17 Hear attentively my speech and my declaration with your ears. 18 Behold now, I have ordered the cause; I know that I shall be justified. 19 Who is he that contendeth with me? For if I were silent now, I should expire. 20 Only do not two things unto me; then will I not hide myself from thee. 21 Withdraw thy hand far from me; and let not thy terror make me afraid: 22 Then call, and I will answer; or I will speak, and answer thou me.
23 How many are mine iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin. 24 Wherefore dost thou hide thy face, and countest me for thine enemy? 25 Wilt thou terrify a driven leaf? and wilt thou pursue dry stubble? 26 For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth; 27 And thou puttest my feet in the stocks, and markest all my paths; thou settest a bound about the soles of my feet;— 28 One who, as a rotten thing consumeth, as a garment that the moth eateth.
