CHAPTERS 11-21
JOB#11
1 ¶ Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2 Should not the
multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?
3 Should thy lies
make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make
thee ashamed?
4 For thou hast
said, 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, that they are double to that which is!
Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.
7 ¶ Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find
out the Almighty unto perfection?
8 It is as high as
heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
9
The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
10 If he cut off,
and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?
11 For he knoweth
vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?
12 For vain man
would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt.
13 ¶ If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine
hands toward him;
14
If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness
dwell in thy tabernacles.
15 For then shalt
thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not
fear:
16 Because thou
shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:
17
And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth,
thou shalt be as the morning.
18 And thou shalt
be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou
shalt take thy rest in safety.
19 Also thou
shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
20 But the eyes
of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as
the giving up of the ghost.
1 ¶ And Job answered and said,
2
No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.
3 But I have
understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not
such things as these?
4 I am as one
mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just
upright man is laughed to scorn.
5
He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the
thought of him that is at ease.
6 ¶ The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that
provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
7 But ask now the
beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, 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 the LORD hath wrought this?
10 In whose hand
is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
11
Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?
12 ¶ With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days
understanding.
13 With him is
wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
14 Behold, he
breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there
can be no opening.
15
Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them
out, and they overturn the earth.
16 With him is
strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leadeth
counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
18 He looseth the
bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
19
He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.
20 He removeth
away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
21 He poureth
contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
22 He discovereth
deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of
death.
23 He increaseth
the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth
them again.
24 He taketh away
the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander
in a wilderness where there is no way.
25
They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like
a drunken man.
1 ¶ Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard
and understood it.
2 What ye know,
the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.
3
Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
4 But ye are
forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.
5 O that ye would
altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.
6 Hear now my
reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
7 Will ye speak
wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?
8
Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?
9 Is it good that
he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?
10 He will surely
reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.
11 Shall not his
excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?
12
Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.
13 ¶ Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and
let come on me what will.
14 Wherefore do I
take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
15 Though he slay
me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
16
He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before
him.
17 Hear
diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.
18 Behold now, I
have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.
19 Who is he that
will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.
20
Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.
21 Withdraw thine
hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.
22 Then call
thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.
23 ¶ How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to
know my transgression and my sin.
24
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?
25 Wilt thou
break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
26 For thou
writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my
youth.
27 Thou puttest
my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.
28 And he, as a
rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.
1 ¶ Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full
of trouble.
2 He cometh forth
like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth
not.
3 And dost thou
open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
4 Who can bring a
clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
5 Seeing his days
are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed
his bounds that he cannot pass;
6 Turn from him,
that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
7 ¶ For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that
it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
8 Though the root
thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;
9 Yet through the
scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.
10 But man dieth,
and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
11 As the waters
fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
12
So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they
shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
13 O that thou
wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy
wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14
If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time
will I wait, till my change come.
15 Thou shalt
call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine
hands.
16 ¶ For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch
over my sin?
17
My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine
iniquity.
18 And surely the
mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.
19 The waters
wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the
earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.
20
Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his
countenance, and sendest him away.
21 His sons come
to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth
it not of them.
22 But his flesh
upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.
1 ¶ Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
2 Should a wise
man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Should he
reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
4
Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
5 For thy mouth
uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
6 Thine own mouth
condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
7 Art thou the
first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
8
Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to
thyself?
9 What knowest
thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?
10 With us are
both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
11
Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing
with thee?
12 Why doth thine
heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,
13 That thou
turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?
14 What is man,
that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should
be righteous?
15 Behold, he
putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
16 How much more
abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
17 ¶ I will shew thee, hear me; and that
which I have seen I will declare;
18 Which wise men
have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:
19 Unto whom
alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
20 The wicked man
travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the
oppressor.
21
A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come
upon him.
22 He believeth
not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
23 He wandereth
abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is
ready at his hand.
24
Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against
him, as a king ready to the battle.
25 For he
stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the
Almighty.
26 He runneth
upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
27
Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat
on his flanks.
28 And he dwelleth
in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to
become heaps.
29 He shall not
be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong
the perfection thereof upon the earth.
30 He shall not
depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath
of his mouth shall he go away.
31 Let not him
that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
32 It shall be
accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
33
He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his
flower as the olive.
34 For the
congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the
tabernacles of bribery.
35 They conceive
mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
1 ¶ Then Job answered and said,
2 I have heard
many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.
3 Shall vain
words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?
4 I also could
speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.
5 But I would
strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your
grief.
6 ¶ Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though
I forbear, what am I eased?
7
But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.
8 And thou hast
filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising
up in me beareth witness to my face.
9 He teareth me
in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy
sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
10
They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the
cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.
11 God hath
delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at ease,
but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck,
and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.
13 His archers
compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he
poureth out my gall upon the ground.
14 He breaketh me
with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.
15 I have sewed sackcloth
upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.
16
My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
17 ¶ Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer
is pure.
18 O earth, cover
not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.
19 Also now,
behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.
20 My friends
scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.
21
O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his
neighbour!
22 When a few
years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
1 ¶ My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves
are ready for me.
2
Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their
provocation?
3 Lay down now,
put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?
4 For thou hast
hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
5 He that
speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.
6 He hath made me
also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.
7 Mine eye also
is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.
8 Upright men
shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against
the hypocrite.
9 The righteous
also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and
stronger.
10 ¶ But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for
I cannot find one wise man among you.
11
My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my
heart.
12 They change
the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.
13 If I wait, the
grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.
14 I have said to
corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.
15
And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?
16 They shall go
down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.
1 ¶ Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 How long will
it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.
3 Wherefore are
we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?
4 He teareth
himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock
be removed out of his place?
5 ¶ Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and
the spark of his fire shall not shine.
6 The light shall
be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.
7 The steps of
his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.
8 For he is cast
into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.
9
The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against
him.
10 The snare is
laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.
11 ¶ Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and
shall drive him to his feet.
12 His strength
shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.
13 It shall
devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.
14 His confidence
shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of
terrors.
15 It shall dwell
in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon
his habitation.
16
His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut
off.
17 His
remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the
street.
18 He shall be
driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.
19 He shall
neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.
20 They that come
after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were
affrighted.
21 Surely such
are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not
God.
1 ¶ Then Job answered and said,
2 How long will ye
vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times
have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to
me.
4
And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
5 If indeed ye
will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:
6 Know now that
God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
7 Behold, I cry
out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
8 ¶ He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he
hath set darkness in my paths.
9 He hath
stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
10 He hath
destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed
like a tree.
11 He hath also
kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his
enemies.
12 His troops
come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my
tabernacle.
13
He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily
estranged from me.
14 My kinsfolk
have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 They that
dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in
their sight.
16
I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my
mouth.
17 My breath is
strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own
body.
18 Yea, young
children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
19 All my inward
friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My bone
cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my
teeth.
21 Have pity upon
me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
22
Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 ¶ Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were
printed in a book!
24 That they were
graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
25 For I know
that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth:
26
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God:
27 Whom I shall
see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be
consumed within me.
28 But ye should
say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in
me?
29 Be ye afraid
of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know
there is a judgment.
1 ¶ Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2
Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.
3 I have heard
the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to
answer.
4 Knowest thou
not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
5 That the
triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
6 Though his
excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;
7 Yet he shall
perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is
he?
8
He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be
chased away as a vision of the night.
9 The eye also
which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold
him.
10 ¶ His children shall seek to please the poor, and his
hands shall restore their goods.
11 His bones are
full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.
12 Though
wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;
13 Though he
spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:
14
Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
15 He hath swallowed
down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his
belly.
16 He shall suck
the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him.
17 He shall not
see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
18
That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it
down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not
rejoice therein.
19 Because he
hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away
an house which he builded not;
20 Surely he
shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.
21 There shall
none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.
22 In the fulness
of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come
upon him.
23 ¶ When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast
the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him
while he is eating.
24 He shall flee
from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
25 It is drawn,
and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall:
terrors are upon him.
26 All darkness
shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
27 The heaven
shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.
28 The increase
of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his
wrath.
29 This is the
portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him
by God.
1 ¶ But Job answered and said,
2 Hear diligently
my speech, and let this be your consolations.
3 Suffer me that
I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
4
As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my
spirit be troubled?
5 Mark me, and be
astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 Even when I
remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
7 ¶ Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are
mighty in power?
8
Their seed is established in their sight with them, 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 take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13 They spend
their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
14 Therefore 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 profit should we have,
if we pray unto him?
16 Lo, their good
is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 ¶ How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how
oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
18 They are as
stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
19
God layeth up 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 wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what
pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months
is cut off in the midst?
22 Shall any
teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
23 One dieth in
his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
24 His breasts
are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25 And another
dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
26
They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
27 ¶ Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye
wrongfully imagine against me.
28 For ye say,
Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the
wicked?
29
Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their
tokens,
30 That the
wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought 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 shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
33 The clods of
the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as
there are innumerable before him.
34 How then
comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?