211 And Job answered and said, 2 Hear attentively my speech, and let this replace your consolations. 3 Suffer me and I will speak; and after I have spoken, mock on! 4 As for me, is my complaint to a man? or wherefore should not my spirit be impatient? 5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay the hand upon the mouth. 6 Even when I think [thereon], I am affrighted, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh.
7 Wherefore do the wicked live, grow old, yea, become mighty in power? 8 Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes. 9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of +God upon them. 10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. 11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. 12 They shout to the tambour and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe. 13 They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment go down to Sheol. 14 And they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways! 15 What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what are we profited if we pray unto him? 16 Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked be far from me!
17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and cometh their calamity upon them? Doth he distribute sorrows [to them] in his anger? 18 Do they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away? 19 +God layeth up [the punishment of] his iniquity for his children; he rewardeth him, and he shall know [it]: 20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the fury of the Almighty. 21 For what pleasure should he have in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off? 22 Can any teach God knowledge? And he it is that judgeth those that are high. 23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet; 24 His sides are full of fat, and the marrow of his bones is moistened; 25 And another dieth in bitterness of soul, and hath not tasted good: 26 Together they lie down in the dust, and the worms cover them.
27 Lo, I know your thoughts, and the devices ye wrongfully imagine against me. 28 For ye say, Where is the house of the noble? and where the tent of the dwellings of the wicked? 29 Have ye not asked the wayfarers? and do ye not regard their tokens: 30 That the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity? They are led forth to the day of wrath. 31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? 32 Yet is he carried to the graves, and watch is kept over the tomb. 33 The clods of the valley are sweet unto him; and every man followeth suit after him, as there were innumerable before him. 34 How then comfort ye me in vain? Your answers remain perfidious.
221 And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 Can a man be profitable to God? surely it is unto himself that the wise man is profitable. 3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if thou art righteous? And is it gain [to him] that thou makest thy ways perfect? 4 Will he reason with thee for fear of thee? Will he enter with thee into judgment?
5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities without end? 6 For thou hast taken a pledge of thy brother for nought, and stripped off the clothing of the naked. 7 Thou hast not given water to the fainting to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. 8 But the powerful man, he had the land; and the man of high rank dwelt in it. 9 Widows hast thou sent empty away, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. 10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; 11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see, and floods of waters cover thee. 12 Is not +God in the height of the heavens? And behold the summit of the stars: how exalted are they! 13 And thou sayest, What doth God know? will he judge through the dark cloud? 14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh on the vault of the heavens.
15 Dost thou mark the ancient path which wicked men have trodden? 16 Who were carried off before the time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood; 17 Who said unto God, Depart from us! and what could the Almighty do to them? 18 Yet he filled their houses with good. But the counsel of the wicked is far from me. 19 The righteous see it, and are glad; and the innocent laugh them to scorn: 20 Is not he who rose against us destroyed, and doth not the fire consume his residue?
21 Reconcile thyself now with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. 22 Receive, I pray thee, instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart. 23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up. If thou remove unrighteousness far from thy tents, 24 And put the precious ore with the dust, and [the gold of] Ophir among the stones of the torrents, 25 Then the Almighty will be thy precious ore, and silver heaped up unto thee; 26 Yea, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto +God: 27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows; 28 And thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; and light shall shine upon thy ways. 29 When they are made low, then thou shalt say, Rise up! and he shall save him that is of downcast eyes. 30 [Even] him that is not innocent shall he deliver; yea, he shall be delivered by the pureness of thy hands.
231 And Job answered and said, 2 Even to-day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. 3 Oh that I knew where I might find him, that I might come to his seat! 4 I would order the cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments; 5 I would know the words he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. 6 Would he plead against me with [his] great power? Nay; but he would give heed unto me. 7 There would an upright man reason with him; and I should be delivered for ever from my judge.
8 Lo, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I do not perceive him; 9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I behold [him] not; he hideth himself on the right hand, and I see [him] not. 10 But he knoweth the way that I take; he trieth me, I shall come forth as gold. 11 My foot hath held to his steps; his way have I kept, and not turned aside. 12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have laid up the words of his mouth more than the purpose of my own heart.
13 But he is in one [mind], and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, that will he do. 14 For he will perform [what] is appointed for me; and many such things are with him. 15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence; I consider, and I am afraid of him. 16 For God hath made my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me; 17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he hidden the gloom from me.
