CHAPTERS 22-32
JOB#22
1 ¶ Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 Can a man be
profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?
3 Is it any pleasure
to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that
thou makest thy ways perfect?
4 Will he reprove
thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?
5 ¶ Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities
infinite?
6 For thou hast
taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their
clothing.
7
Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast
withholden bread from the hungry.
8 But as for the
mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
9 Thou hast sent
widows away empty, 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 abundance of waters cover thee.
12 Is not God in
the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
13 And thou
sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
14
Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in
the circuit of heaven.
15 ¶ Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have
trodden?
16 Which were cut
down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:
17 Which said
unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
18
Yet he filled their houses with good things: 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 Whereas our
substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
21 ¶ Acquaint now thyself with him, and
be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
22 Receive, I
pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
23 If thou return
to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity
far from thy tabernacles.
24 Then shalt
thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
25 Yea, the
Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
26 For then shalt
thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt
make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
28 Thou shalt
also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall
shine upon thy ways.
29
When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he
shall save the humble person.
30 He shall
deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of
thine hands.
1 ¶ Then 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 even to his seat!
4 I would order
my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know
the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would
say unto me.
6 Will he plead
against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
7 There the
righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my
judge.
8 ¶ Behold, I go forward, but he is not
there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
9 On the left
hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the
right hand, that I cannot see him:
10 But he knoweth
the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 My foot hath
held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
12 Neither have I
gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth
more than my necessary food.
13 ¶ But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and
what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
14 For he
performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with
him.
15 Therefore am I
troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.
16 For God maketh
my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:
17
Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered
the darkness from my face.
1 ¶ Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty,
do they that know him not see his days?
2
Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed
thereof.
3 They drive away
the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 They turn the
needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
5 Behold, as wild
asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their
children.
6 They reap every
one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.
7 They cause the
naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.
8
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for
want of a shelter.
9 They pluck the
fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.
10 They cause him
to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;
11
Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and
suffer thirst.
12 Men groan from
out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not
folly to them.
13 ¶ They are of those that rebel against the light; they
know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
14
The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in
the night is as a thief.
15 The eye also
of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and
disguiseth his face.
16 In the dark
they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the
daytime: they know not the light.
17 For the
morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in
the terrors of the shadow of death.
18 ¶ He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed
in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
19
Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which
have sinned.
20 The womb shall
forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered;
and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.
21 He evil
entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.
22
He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is
sure of life.
23 Though it be
given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their
ways.
24 They are
exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears
of corn.
25 And if it be
not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?
1 ¶ Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2
Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places.
3 Is there any
number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?
4 How then can
man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?
5 Behold even to
the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.
6 How much less
man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?
1 ¶ But Job answered and said,
2 How hast thou
helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath
no strength?
3 How hast thou
counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the
thing as it is?
4 To whom hast
thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?
5 ¶ Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the
inhabitants thereof.
6
Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
7 He stretcheth
out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
8 He bindeth up
the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.
9
He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.
10 He hath
compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.
11 The pillars of
heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.
12 He divideth
the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.
13 By his spirit
he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
14 Lo, these are
parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of
his power who can understand?
1 ¶ Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
2 As God liveth,
who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
3 All the while
my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
4
My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
5 God forbid that
I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
6 My
righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach
me so long as I live.
7 ¶ Let mine enemy be as the wicked,
and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
8 For what is the
hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
9 Will God hear
his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
10
Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
11 ¶ I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with
the Almighty will I not conceal.
12 Behold, all ye
yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
13 This is the
portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
14 If his children
be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied
with bread.
15 Those that
remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
16
Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
17 He may prepare
it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
18 He buildeth
his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
19 The rich man
shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.
20 Terrors take
hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
21 The east wind
carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his
place.
22 For God shall
cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
23
Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
1 ¶ Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place
for gold where they fine it.
2 Iron is taken
out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
3 He setteth an
end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness,
and the shadow of death.
4 The flood
breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they
are dried up, they are gone away from men.
5 As for the
earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.
6 The stones of
it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
7
There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath
not seen:
8 The lion's
whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.
9 He putteth
forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
10 He cutteth out
rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.
11
He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid
bringeth he forth to light.
12 But where
shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
13 Man knoweth not
the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
14 ¶ The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith,
It is not with me.
15
It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the
price thereof.
16 It cannot be
valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
17 The gold and
the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of
fine gold.
18
No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom
is above rubies.
19 The topaz of
Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
20 ¶ Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of
understanding?
21 Seeing it is
hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
22 Destruction
and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
23 God
understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
24 For he looketh
to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;
25 To make the
weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.
26
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the
thunder:
27 Then did he
see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
28 And unto man
he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil
is understanding.
1 ¶ Moreover Job continued his parable,
and said,
2 Oh that I were
as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
3 When his candle
shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
4 As I was in the
days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
5 When the
Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
6 When I washed
my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
7 ¶ When I went out to the gate through the city, when I
prepared my seat in the street!
8
The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood
up.
9 The princes
refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
10 The nobles
held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
11 When the ear
heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
12
Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him
that had none to help him.
13 The blessing
of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to
sing for joy.
14 I put on
righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
15 I was eyes to
the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
16 I was a father
to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
17 And I brake
the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
18 ¶ Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall
multiply my days as the sand.
19
My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my
branch.
20 My glory was
fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.
21 Unto me men
gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
22 After my words
they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
23
And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide
as for the latter rain.
24 If I laughed
on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not
down.
25 I chose out
their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.
1 ¶ But now they that are younger than I have me in
derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my
flock.
2 Yea, whereto
might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?
3 For want and
famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate
and waste.
4 Who cut up
mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
5 They were
driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)
6
To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the
rocks.
7 Among the
bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
8 They were
children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.
9 And now am I
their song, yea, I am their byword.
10
They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
11 Because he
hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle
before me.
12 Upon my right
hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the
ways of their destruction.
13
They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.
14 They came upon
me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves
upon me.
15 ¶ Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as
the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
16
And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken
hold upon me.
17 My bones are
pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.
18 By the great
force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of
my coat.
19
He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry unto
thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.
21 Thou art
become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.
22
Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and
dissolvest my substance.
23 For I know
that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
24 Howbeit he
will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
25 Did not I weep
for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 When I looked
for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came
darkness.
27
My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
28 I went
mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
29 I am a brother
to dragons, and a companion to owls.
30 My skin is
black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.
31 My harp also
is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.
1 ¶ I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I
think upon a maid?
2 For what
portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from
on high?
3
Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the
workers of iniquity?
4 Doth not he see
my ways, and count all my steps?
5 If I have
walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
6 Let me be
weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.
7
If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine
eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
8 Then let me
sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
9 ¶ If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I
have laid wait at my neighbour's door;
10
Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
11 For this is an
heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
12 For it is a
fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.
13 If I did
despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
14 What then
shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he
that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 ¶ If I have withheld the poor from
their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
17 Or have eaten
my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
18 (For from my
youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from
my mother's womb;)
19
If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without
covering;
20 If his loins
have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 If I have lifted
up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:
22
Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken
from the bone.
23 For
destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could
not endure.
24 ¶ If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the
fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
25 If I rejoiced
because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;
26 If I beheld
the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
27 And my heart
hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
28
This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should
have denied the God that is above.
29 If I rejoiced
at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found
him:
30 Neither have I
suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.
31
If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we
cannot be satisfied.
32 The stranger
did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.
33 ¶ If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding
mine iniquity in my bosom:
34 Did I fear a
great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?
35 Oh that one
would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and
that mine adversary had written a book.
36 Surely I would
take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.
37 I would
declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.
38 If my land cry
against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;
39 If I have
eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to
lose their life:
40 Let thistles
grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
1 ¶ So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he
was righteous in his own eyes.
2 Then was
kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he
justified himself rather than God.
3 Also against
his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and
yet had condemned Job.
4 Now Elihu had waited
till Job had spoken, because they were elder than he.
5
When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men,
then his wrath was kindled.
6 ¶ And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and
said, I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not
shew you mine opinion.
7 I said, Days
should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.
8
But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth
them understanding.
9 Great men are
not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.
10 Therefore I
said, Hearken to me; I also will shew mine opinion.
11 Behold, I
waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasons, whilst ye searched out what to say.
12 Yea, I
attended unto you, and, behold, there was none of you that convinced Job, or
that answered his words:
13 Lest ye should
say, We have found out wisdom: God thrusteth him down, not man.
14
Now he hath not directed his words against me: neither will I answer him
with your speeches.
15 ¶ They were amazed, they answered no more: they left
off speaking.
16 When I had
waited, (for they spake not, but stood still, and answered no more;)
17 I said, I will
answer also my part, I also will shew mine opinion.
18
For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me.
19 Behold, my
belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles.
20 I will speak,
that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer.
21 Let me not, I
pray you, accept any man's person, neither let me give flattering titles unto man.
22 For I know not
to give flattering titles; in so doing my maker would soon take me away.