[20] They were put to shame because they had hoped; They came thither, and were confounded.

[21] For now ye are nothing;

Ye see a terror, and are afraid.

[22] Did I say, Give unto me?

Or, Offer a present for me of your substance? [23] Or, Deliver me from the adversary's hand? Or, Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?

[24] Teach me, and I will hold my peace;

And cause me to understand wherein I have erred. [25] How forcible are words of uprightness!

But your reproof, what doth it reprove?

[26] Do ye think to reprove words,

Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are as" wind?

[27] Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless, And make merchandise of your friend.

[28] Now therefore be pleased to look upon me; For" surely I shall not lie to your face.

[29] Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice;

13

Yea, return again, my cause is righteous.

[30] Is there injustice on my tongue?

Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?

VII

[1] Is there not a warfare' to man upon earth?
And are not his days like the days of a hireling?
[2] As a servant that earnestly desireth the shadow,
And as a hireling that looketh for his wages:
[3] So am I made to possess months of misery,
And wearisome nights are appointed to me.

[4] When I lie down, I say,

When shall I arise, and the night be gone?

And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

10 Another reading is, are like thereto.

12 Or, And it will be evident unto you if I lie.

11 Or, for the wind.

18 Heb. my righteousness is in it. i Or, time of service.

[5] My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; My skin closeth' up, and breaketh out afresh.

[6] My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, And are spent without hope.

[7] Oh remember that my life is a breath:

Mine eye shall no more see good.

[8] The eye of him that seeth me shall behold me no more; Thine eyes shall be upon me, but I shall not be.

[9] As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away,

So he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more. [10] He shall return no more to his house,

[II]

Neither shall his place know him any more.

Therefore I will not refrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
[12] Am I a sea, or a sea-monster,

That thou settest a watch over me?
[13] When I say, My bed shall comfort me,
My couch shall ease my complaint;
[14] Then thou scarest me with dreams,
And terrifiest me through visions:
[15] So that my soul chooseth strangling,

And death rather than these my bones.
[16] I loathe my life; I would not live alway:
Let me alone; for my days are vanity."

[17] What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him,
And that thou shouldest set thy mind upon him,
[18] And that thou shouldest visit him every morning,
And try him every moment?

[19] How long wilt thou not look away from me,

Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

[20] If I have sinned, what do I unto thee, O thou watcher' of men?

Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee,

So that I am a burden to myself?

[21] And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity?

Or, is broken and become loathsome..

• Or, shall.

Or, I waste away.

Or, as a breath. Or, can I do. Or, preserver.

For now shall I lie down in the dust;

And thou wilt seek me diligently, but I shall not be.

[1]

VIII

THEN answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

[2] How long wilt thou speak these things?

And how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a mighty wind?

[3] Doth God pervert justice?

Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness?

[4] If thy children have sinned against him,

And he hath delivered them into the hand of their transgression;

[5] If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God,

And make thy supplication to the Almighty;

[6] If thou wert pure and upright:

Surely now he would awake for thee,

And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosper

ous.

[7] And though thy beginning was small,

Yet thy latter end would greatly increase.

[8] For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age,

And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out:

[9] (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days upon earth are a shadow:) [10] Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, And utter words out of their heart?

[11] Can the rush' grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water?

[12] Whilst it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down, It withereth before any other herb.

[13] So are the paths of all that forget God;

And the hope of the godless man shall perish:

1 Or, If thy children sinned ..he delivered &c. Or, reed-grass.

2 Or, papyrus

[14] Whose confidence shall break' in sunder,

And whose trust is a spider's web.

[15] He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.

[16] He is green before the sun,

And his shoots go forth over his garden.

[17] His roots are wrapped about the stone-heap, He beholdeth the place of stones.

[18] If he be destroyed from his place,

Then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

[19] Behold, this is the joy of his way;

And out of the earth' shall others spring.

[20] Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he uphold the evil-doers.

[21] He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter,

And thy lips with shouting.

[22] They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; And the tent of the wicked shall be no more.

[1]

IX

THEN Job answered and said,

[2] Of a truth I know that it is so:

But how can man be just with God?

[3] If he be pleased to contend with him,

He cannot answer him one of a thousand.

[4] He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength:

Who hath hardened himself against him, and prospered?

[5] Him that removeth the mountains, and they know it not, When he overturneth them in his anger;

[6] That shaketh the earth out of its place,

And the pillars thereof tremble;

[7] That commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, And sealeth up the stars;

[8] That alone stretcheth out the heavens,

And treadeth upon the waves of the sea;

Or, be cut off.
5 Heb. house.
Or, dust. 8 Or, Till he fill.
Or, If one should desire

•Or, beside the spring. 1 Or, For.

he could not &c.

2 Or, before.
Heb. high places.

[9] That maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south;

[10] That doeth great things past finding out, Yea, marvellous things without number. [II] Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not:

He passeth on also, but I perceive him not. [12] Behold, he seizeth the prey, who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, What doest thou? [13] God will not withdraw his anger;

The helpers of Rahab do' stoop under him.

[14] How much less shall I answer him,

And choose out my words to reason with him? [15] Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not

answer;

I would make supplication to my judge.

[16] If I had called, and he had answered me,

Yet would I not believe that he hearkened unto my voice.

[17] For he breaketh me with a tempest,

And multiplieth my wounds without cause.

[18] He will not suffer me to take my breath, But filleth me with bitterness.

[19] If we speak of strength, lo,' he is mighty!

And if of justice, Who, saith he, will summon me?

[20] Though I be righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me:

Though I be perfect, it shall prove me perverse.

[21] I am perfect; I regard not myself;

I despise my life.

[22] It is all one; therefore I say,

He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.

[23] If the scourge slay suddenly,

He will mock at the trial12 of the innocent.

[24] The earth is given into the hands of the wicked;
He covereth the faces of the judges thereof:
If it be not he, who then is it?

Or, turn him back.
Heb. He who.

• Or, arrogancy.

See Is. 30, 7.

'Or, did.

Or, Lo, here am I, saith he; and if of judgment, Who &c. 10 Or, he. 11 Or, Though I be perfect, I will not regard &c. 12 Or, calamity.