Coverdale(i)
1 Eliu proceaded forth in his comunicacion, & sayde:
2 Heare my wordes (O ye wyse men) herken vnto me, ye yt haue vnderstondinge.
3 For like as the mouth tasteth the meates, so the eare proueth & discerneth the wordes.
4 As for the iudgmet, let vs seke it out amonge or selues, yt we maye knowe what is right.
5 And why? Iob hath sayde: I am rightuous, but God doth me wronge.
6 I must nedes be a lyar, though my cause be right: & violetly am I plaged, where as I made no fawte.
7 where is there soch one as Iob, yt drinketh vp scornefulnes like water?
8 which goeth in ye company of wicked doers, & walketh wt vngodly me?
9 For he saieth: Though a ma be good, yet is he naught before God.
10 Therfore herke vnto me, ye yt haue vnderstondinge. Farre be it from God, that he shulde medle with wickednesse: and farre be it from the Allmightie, yt he shulde medle with vnrightuous dealynge:
11 but he rewardeth the workes of man, and causeth euery man to fynde acordinge to his wayes.
12 For sure it is, that God codemneth no man wrongeously, and the iudgmet of the Allmightie is not vnrightuous.
13 Who ruleth the earth in his steade? Or, whom hath he set to gouerne the whole worlde?
14 To whom hath he geuen his herte, for to drawe his sprete and breth vnto him?
15 All flesh shal come together vnto naught, & all me shal turne agayne vnto earth.
16 Yf thou now haue vnderstodinge, heare what I saye and herken to the voyce of my wordes.
17 Maye he be made whole, that loueth no right? Yf thou were a very innocent man, shuldest thou then be punyshed?
18 For he is euen the same, yt knoweth the rebellious kynges, & sayeth to princes:
19 Vngodly men are ye He hath no respecte vnto the personnes of ye lordly, & regardeth not the rich more the poore. For they be all the worke of his hondes.
20 In the twincklinge off an eye shall they be slayne: and at mydnight, when the people & the tyrauntes rage, then shal they perish, ad be taken awaye with out hondes.
21 And why? his eyes loke vpon the wayes of man, and he seyth all his goinges.
22 There is no darcknes ner thicke shadowe, yt can hyde the wicked doers from him.
23 For no ma shalbe suffred to go into iudgment with God.
24 Many one, yee innumerable doth he punyshe and setteth other in their steades.
25 For he knoweth their euell & darcke workes, therfore shal they be destroyed.
26 They that were in ye steade of Seers, dealt like vngodly me.
27 Therfore turned they back traytorously and vnfaithfully fro hi, & wolde not receaue his wayes.
28 In so moch that they haue caused ye voyce of the poore to come vnto him, & now he heareth the coplaynte of soch as are in necessite.
29 Yf he delyuer & graunte pardo, who will iudge or condemne? But yf he hyde awaye his countenaunce, who wil turne it aboute agayne, whether it be to the people or to eny man?
30 For the wickednesse & synne of ye people, he maketh an ypocrite to reigne ouer the.
31 For so moch then as I haue begonne to talke of God, I wil not hyndre the.
32 Yf I haue gone amysse, enfourme me: yf I haue done wronge, I wil leaue of.
33 Wilt thou not geue a reasonable answere? Art thou afrayed of eny thinge, seynge thou beganest first to speake, & not I?
34 For els the men of vnderstodinge & wisdome that haue herde me, might saye: What cast thou speake?
35 As for Iob he hath nether spoken to the purpose ner wysely.
36 O father, let Iob be well tryed, because he he hath turned himself to ye wicked:
37 yee aboue his synnes he hath blasphemed, which offence he hath done euen before vs, in yt he stryueth agaynst God with his wordes.