Job 6 Cross References - Leeser

¹ Then answered Job, and said, ² Oh that my vexation could be truly weighed, and my calamity; oh that men might lift it up in the balances at once! ³ For now it is already heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore are my words confused. ⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof my spirit drinketh it: the terrors of God set themselves in array against me. ⁵ Doth the wild ass bray over the grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder? ⁶ Is ever tasteless food eaten without salt? or is there any flavor in the white of an egg? ⁷ My soul refuseth to touch them: they are unto me like disgusting food. ⁸ Oh that some one would grant the accomplishment of my request; and that God would grant me the fulfillment of my hope! ⁹ Yea, that it would please God that he might crush me: that he would let loose his hand, and make an end of me! ¹⁰ Then would this be still my comfort; yea, I would rejoice in my pain while be would not spare: that I have not gainsaid the commands of the Holy One.— ¹¹ What is my strength, that I should wait? and what my end, that I should yet longer retain my patience? ¹² Is the strength of stones my strength? or is my flesh brazen? ¹³ Truly, am I not without my help in me? and is not wise counsel driven far away from me? ¹⁴ As though I were one who refuseth kindness to his friend, and forsaketh the fear of the Almighty: ¹⁵ My brothers are treacherous as a brook, like flowing brooks they pass along; ¹⁶ Which are made turbid by reason of the ice, wherein the snow hideth itself; ¹⁷ At the time when they feel the warmth, they vanish; when it is hot, they are quenched out of their place. ¹⁸ The paths of their course wind themselves along; they go in the wilderness and are lost. ¹⁹ The caravans of Thema look hither, the travelling companies Sheba hope for them; ²⁰ But they stand ashamed because they had trusted; they come thither and are made to blush. ²¹ For truly now ye are like such a one: ye see my terrible state and are afraid. ²² Have I then ever said, Give me something, and out of your property offer a bribe in my behalf? ²³ And deliver me from the hand of the adversary? and redeem from the hand of tyrants? ²⁴ Teach me, and I will indeed remain silent; and wherein I erred give me to understand. ²⁵ How pleasant are straightforward words! but what doth arguing prove? ²⁶ Do ye think to reprove words, and to regard as wind the speeches of one that is despairing? ²⁷ Yea, ye would cast any thing upon the fatherless, and ye would dig a pit against your friend. ²⁸ But now, if it please you, turn yourselves toward me, and say whether I would lie before your face. ²⁹ Reflect again, I pray you, there will be no wrong: yea, reflect once more, my righteousness will be found therein. ³⁰ Is there any wrong on my tongue? or should my palate not understand if I spoke what is iniquitous?

¹ Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite, and said,

⁵ Yet now, when it cometh to thee, thou art wearied: it toucheth even thee, and thou art terrified.

² Even now is my complaint bitter: my suffering is heavier than my groans.

⁶ Let him weigh me then in a righteous balance, and let God acknowledge my integrity,

¹⁹ Let us know what we shall say unto him: we cannot set aught in order before him because of darkness. ²⁰ Can all be related of him, when I speak ever so much? or if a man talk of him even till he be swallowed up in death?

^{5 (40:6)} Many things hast thou done, O Lord my God; thy wonderful deeds and thy thoughts toward us—there is none to be compared unto thee—will I tell and speak of, though they are too numerous to be counted.

^{4 (77:5)} Thou holdest my eyes awake: I am troubled and I cannot speak.

³ A stone hath heaviness, and the sand, weight; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them.

²³ I will heap upon them miseries; all my arrows will I spend upon them. ²⁴ They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter deadly disease; also the tooth of beasts will I let loose against them, with the poison of serpents that crawl in the dust.

⁴² I will make my arrows drunken with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; from the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the crushed head of the enemy.

¹⁷ He that bruiseth me with his tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without a cause.

¹² I was at ease, but he hath crushed me; he hath also grasped me by the neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up unto himself as a mark; ¹³ His archers encompass me round about; he cleaveth my reins sunder, and doth not pity; he poureth out upon the ground my gall; ¹⁴ He breaketh me down with breach upon breach; he runneth against me like a mighty man.

²⁰ His own eyes ought to see his downfall, and from the wrath of the Almighty ought he to drink.

¹⁵ Terrors have turned their face against me; they chase like the wind my glory: and like a cloud is my happiness passed away.

²³ For dreaded by me was the calamitous punishment of God, and against his highness I can accomplish nothing.

^{13 (7:14)} Also for him he prepareth the instruments of death; he fashioneth his arrows against the persecutors.

^{14 (18:15)} And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them.

^{12 (21:13)} For thou wilt make them turn their back; upon thy bow-strings thou wilt make ready thy arrows against their face.

^{2 (38:3)} For thy arrows have penetrated into me, and thy hand presseth down upon me.

^{5 (45:6)} Thy sharpened arrows—people will fall down beneath thee—will enter into the heart of the king’s enemies.

^{15 (88:16)} I am afflicted and perishing from my youth up: I bear thy terrors, I am distracted. ^{16 (88:17)} Over me have the fires of thy wrath passed; thy terrors have destroyed me;

⁷ Hasten, answer me, O Lord, my spirit falleth: hide not thy face from me, that I may not become like those that go down into the pit.

¹⁴ The spirit of a man will readily bear his disease; but a depressed spirit who can bear:

¹² He hath bent his bow, and placed me as a mark for the arrow. ¹³ He hath caused to enter into my reins the children of his quiver.

¹ BOOK SECOND: To the chief musician, a Maskil, for the sons of Korach. ^(42:2) As a hart panteth after brooks of water, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

¹⁴ Thou art he who causeth grass to grow for the cattle, and herbs by the service of man, that he may bring forth bread out of the earth;

⁶ And the wild asses stand on the mountain-tops, they snuff up the wind like serpents: their eyes fail, because there are no herbs.

¹⁸ How do the beasts groan! how do the herds of cattle roam about; because there is no pasture for them: yea, the flocks of sheep are made to perish. ¹⁹ To thee O Lord, will I cry; for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath singed all the trees of the field. ²⁰ Also the beasts of the field cry unto thee panting; for the brooks of waters are dried up, and a fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

¹³ And every oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with salt; and thou shalt not suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offering: with all thy offerings shalt thou offer salt.

²⁵ How pleasant are straightforward words! but what doth arguing prove?

³⁰ Is there any wrong on my tongue? or should my palate not understand if I spoke what is iniquitous?

¹¹ Doth not the ear try words, as the palate tasteth food for itself?

² I have heard many things such as these: troublesome comforters are ye all.

³ For the ear proveth words, as the palate tasteth the food.

¹⁰³ How much sweeter are to my palate thy sayings than honey to my mouth!

¹² And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have nothing baked, but a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a cruise: and, behold, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son; and when we have eaten it, we shall have to die.

²⁷ And say, Thus hath said the king, Put this man in the prison, and feed him with sparing bread and with sparing water, until I come home in peace.

²⁴ For before my food cometh my groaning, and like the water are poured forth my loud complaints.

^{9 (102:10)} For ashes do I eat like bread, and my drink I mingle with weeping;

¹⁴ Then said I, Ah Lord Eternal! behold, my soul hath not been defiled; and that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces, have I never eaten from my youth up even until now; and never is flesh of abomination come into my mouth.

¹⁶ And he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with anxious care; and they shall drink water by measure, and in confusion;

¹⁸ Son of man, thy bread shalt thou eat with quaking, and thy water shalt thou drink with trembling and with anxious care. ¹⁹ And thou shalt say unto the people of the land, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and concerning the land of Israel, Their bread shall they eat with anxious care, and their water shall they drink with confusion, for the cause that her land will be desolate, deprived of its plenteousness because of the violence of all those that dwell therein.

³ Costly food did I not eat, and flesh and wine came not in my mouth, nor did I at all anoint myself, till three whole weeks were elapsed.

¹¹ What is my strength, that I should wait? and what my end, that I should yet longer retain my patience? ¹² Is the strength of stones my strength? or is my flesh brazen? ¹³ Truly, am I not without my help in me? and is not wise counsel driven far away from me?

¹⁴ When I call to corruption, Thou art my father: Thou art my mother, and my sister, to the worms. ¹⁵ Ay, where is then my hope? as for my hope, who will see it fulfilled? ¹⁶ Let then my limbs sink down to the nether world: truly in the dust alone there is rest for all.

⁸¹ CAPH. My soul ardently desireth for thy salvation: for thy word do I wait.

¹⁴ I am not able by myself alone to bear all this people, because it is too heavy for me. ¹⁵ And if thou wilt thus deal with me, then slay me, I pray thee, at once, if I have found favor in thy eyes: that I may not see my wretchedness.

⁴ But he himself went forward into the wilderness a day’s journey, and he came and sat down under a certain broom-bush: and he requested for himself to die; and he said, It is enough, now, O Lord, take away my soul; for I am not better than my fathers.

²⁰ Wherefore giveth He now light to the labor-laden, and life unto the bitter in soul? ²¹ Who wait for death, which cometh not; and who dig for it sooner than for hidden treasures; ²² Who would rejoice even to exulting, who would be glad could they but find a grave?

¹⁵ So that my soul would choose strangling, death rather than these limbs of mine. ¹⁶ I loathe it; I cannot live for ever: let me alone; for my days are but nought.

¹³ Oh who would grant that thou mightest hide me in the nether world, that thou mightest conceal me, until thy wrath be appeased, that thou mightest set for me a fixed time, and remember me then!

²¹ Spare me, spare me, O ye, my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.

⁴ For by day and night lay thy hand heavily upon me: my life’s moisture hath been changed through the droughts of summer. Selah.

¹⁰ Behold, I have refined thee, though not into silver: I have approved thee in the crucible of affliction. ¹¹ For my own sake will I do it: for how would my name be dishonored? and my glory will I not give unto another. ¹² Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel, my called one; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. ¹³ My hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned out the heavens: I call unto them, they stand forward together.

³ And now, O Lord, take, I pray thee, my soul from me; because it is better for me to die, than to live.

⁸ And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God made ready a hot east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he became faint; and he wished for himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

² Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy; for I the Eternal your God am holy.

^{20 (29:19)} The Lord will not pardon him; but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and there shall rest upon him all the curse that is written in this book; and the Lord will blot out his name from under the heavens.

² There is none holy like the Lord; for there is none beside thee; and there is not any rock like our God.

²² Who would rejoice even to exulting, who would be glad could they but find a grave?

⁴ He is wise of heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and escaped unscathed?

³³ Sweet are to him the clods of the valley; and after him succeedeth every man, as those that were before him are without number.

²² Do but accept instruction from his mouth, and lay up his saying in thy heart.

¹² From the commandment of his lips have I also not moved away: as a fixed statute for me have I treasured up the sayings of his mouth.

³⁰ The mouth of the righteous uttereth wisdom, and his tongue speaketh what is just.

^{9 (40:10)} I announce thy righteousness in the great assembly: lo, I will not refrain my lips, O Lord, thou well knowest it. ^{10 (40:11)} Thy righteousness have I never hidden within my heart; thy faithfulness and thy salvation have I spoken of openly: I have not concealed thy kindness and thy truth before the great assembly.

¹⁷ O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto I ever tell of thy wondrous deeds. ¹⁸ Therefore also even in old age, and when I am grayheaded, O God, forsake me not: until I have told of thy strength unto this generation, to every one that may come of thy might.

¹³ With my lips have I related all the ordinances of thy mouth.

¹¹ Depart you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, remove from before us the Holy One of Israel. ¹² Therefore thus hath said the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and lean thereon for aid:

¹⁵ For thus hath said the high and lofty One, who inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, In the high and holy place do I dwell, yet also with the contrite and humble of spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

⁹ I will not execute the fierceness of my anger, I will not again destroy Ephraim; for God am I, and not man, the Holy One in the midst of thee, and I will not come with an enemy’s hatred.

¹² Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O Protector, thou hast appointed them to correct nations.

³ When God from Theman came, and the Holy One from mount Paran, Selah: his glory covered the heavens, and of his praise the earth was full.

⁵ My flesh is covered with worms and clods of dust: my skin is burst open, and become loathsome. ⁶ My days hasten away more swiftly than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end in the absence of hope. ⁷ Oh remember that nothing but a breath is my life; that my eye will not again see happiness;

²⁰ Lo! my days are but few: cease, then, withdraw from me thy hand, that I may recover my cheerfulness a little.

²⁵ Wilt thou terrify a leaf driven about by the wind? and wilt thou pursue dry stubble?

²⁸ And yet the body decayeth like a rotten thing, as a garment that the moth hath eaten.

¹ My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave is ready for me.

⁴ As for me,—is against man my complaint? and if this be so, why should my spirit not be impatient?

^{5 (39:6)} Behold, measured out with the span hast thou made my days; and my whole duration is nothing before thee: yea, as nothing but vanity doth every man stand here. Selah.

⁵ Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they grow like the grass which changeth. ⁶ In the morning it blossometh, and is changed: in the evening it is mowed off, and withereth. ⁷ For thus are we consumed by thy anger, and by thy fury are we terrified. ⁸ Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our concealed sins before the light of thy countenance. ⁹ For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we consume our years like a word that is spoken. ¹⁰ The days of our years in this life are seventy years; and if by uncommon vigor they be eighty, yet is their greatness trouble and mishap; for it soon hasteneth off, and we fly away.

^{23 (102:24)} He hath weakened on the way my strength; he hath shortened my days.

¹⁴ For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. ¹⁵ As for man, like the grass are his days: as the blossom of the field, so doth he bloom. ¹⁶ When a wind but passeth over it, it is gone, and its place will recognize it no more.

¹⁸ His bones are like pipes of brass: his frame is like bars of iron.

^{24 (41:16)} His heart is firm like a stone: yea, as firm as the nether millstone.

² Truly ye are indeed the right kind of people, and with you wisdom must die out. ³ I also have sense like you; I do not fall short compared with you: and who possesseth not such things as these?

² As much as ye know, do I also know: I do not fall short compared with you.

²⁸ But if ye should say, How will we pursue him? seeing the root of the matter is found in me:

² What assistance hast thou given to the powerless? how hast thou helped the arm without strength?

¹¹ And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will slay me for the sake of my wife.

³ Behold, thou hast ere this corrected many, and weak hands thou wast wont to strengthen. ⁴ Him that stumbled thy words used to uphold, and to sinking knees thou gavest vigor. ⁵ Yet now, when it cometh to thee, thou art wearied: it toucheth even thee, and thou art terrified.

⁴ Yea, thou truly makest void the fear of God, and diminishest devotion before God.

⁵ But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the condolence of my lips should restrain your grief.

¹ To the chief musician, by the servant of the Lord, by David. ^(36:2) Saith vice itself to the wicked—so I feel it within my heart—that he should have no dread of God before his eyes. ^{2 (36:3)} For he flattereth himself in his own eyes too much to find out his iniquity to hate it. ^{3 (36:4)} The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, to do good.

¹⁷ A friend loveth at all times, and as a brother is he born for the time of distress.

¹⁹ All that have had my confidence abominate me; and those whom I have loved are turned against me.

^{11 (38:12)} My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague; and my kinsmen stand afar off.

^{9 (41:10)} Yea, even the man that should have sought my welfare, in whom I trusted, who eateth my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

^{12 (55:13)} For it is not an enemy that reproached me; then I could bear it: not he that hateth me hath magnified himself against me; then I would have hidden myself from him; ^{13 (55:14)} But it is thou, a man my equal, my guide, and my acquaintance; ^{14 (55:15)} So that we took sweet secret counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in tumultuous company.

^{18 (88:19)} Thou hast removed far from me lover and friend, my acquaintances are in darkness.

^{4 (9:3)} Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and on any brother place ye no reliance; for every brother will surely supplant, and every neighbor will go about as a talebearer. ^{5 (9:4)} And they will deceive every one his neighbor, and the truth will they not speak: they have taught their tongue to speak falsehood, they weary themselves to commit iniquity.

¹⁸ Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable? it refuseth to be healed; it is truly become unto me as a deceptive spring, as waters that are not reliable.

¹⁴ All thy lovers have forgotten thee; thee they seek not; for with the blow of an enemy have I smitten thee, with cruel chastisement, for the multitude of thy iniquity, because thy sins were so numerous.

⁵ Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a confidant: from her that lieth in thy bosom guard the doors of thy mouth. ⁶ For the son disgraceth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

¹ Then said Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gil’ad, unto Achab, As the Lord the God of Israel liveth, before whom I have stood, there shall not be in these years dew or rain, except according to my word.

¹⁹ Drought and heat speedily consume the snow-waters: so doth the grave those who have sinned.

⁷ And the sons of Cush: Seba and Havilah, Sabtah and Raamah, and Sabtecha; and the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

³ And Yokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.

¹⁵ Chadad, and Tema, Yetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

¹ And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon in connection with the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with riddles.

¹⁰ The kings of Tharshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

¹⁴ Toward him that is thirsty they bring water; the inhabitants of the land of Thema meet with suitable bread the fugitive.

²³ Dedan, and Thema, and Buz, and all those that have their hair cut round;

²² The merchants of Sheba and Ra’mah,—these were thy merchants: in the best of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold, they furnished thy supplies. ²³ Charan, and Canneh, and ‘Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Kilmad, were thy merchants.

³ And their nobles have sent out their subordinates for water: they come to the pits, they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed and confounded, and cover their head. ⁴ Because of the ground which is cracked open, since there hath been no rain in the land, are the ploughmen ashamed, they cover their head.

¹³ Hope of Israel, O Lord, all that forsake thee shall be made ashamed, and the backsliders among me shall be written down on the earth; because they have forsaken the fountain of living waters, the Lord.

¹¹ When now the three friends of Job had heard of all this evil that was come over him, they came every one from his own place, Eliphaz the Themanite, and Bildad the Shuchite, and Zophar the Na’amthite; and they met together to come to condole with him and to comfort him. ¹² And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and they recognised him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his robe, and strewed dust upon their heads toward heaven. ¹³ They likewise sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights; but no one spoke a word unto him; for they saw that his pain was very great.

¹⁵ My brothers are treacherous as a brook, like flowing brooks they pass along;

⁴ But ye are inventors of falsehood, physicians of no value are all of you.

^{9 (62:10)} Verily nought are the sons of common men, a lie the sons of the great; they must rise in the balance; they are altogether lighter than nought.

⁷ All the brothers of the poor hate him: how much more do his friends go far away from him! he pursueth their promises; but these are all that he hath.

²² Withdraw yourselves then from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; because, for what is he to be esteemed?

⁵ Thus hath said the Lord, Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and placeth on flesh his dependence, while from the Lord his heart departeth. ⁶ And he shall be like a lonely tree in the desert, which feeleth not when the good cometh; but abideth in the parched places in the wilderness, in a salty land which cannot be inhabited.

⁹ “We would have healed Babylon, but she was not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one unto his own country; for her punishment reacheth unto the heavens, and it is lifted up even to the skies.”

³ Behold, here am I; testify against me in the presence of the Lord, and in the presence of his anointed: Whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or from whose hand have I received any ransom so that I withdrew my eyes from him? and I will restore it you.

¹¹ And then came unto him all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all that had been of his acquaintance before, and ate bread with him in his house; and they condoled with him, and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and they gave him, every one, a kessitah, and every one an earring of gold.

⁴⁸ After he hath sold himself shall he have the right of redemption; one of his brethren may redeem him.

⁸ And I said unto them, We have indeed ransomed our brethren the Jews, who had been sold unto the various nations, as far as our means went: and will ye yourselves even sell your brethren, so that they will be sold again unto us? And they remained silent, and found no answer.

²⁰ In famine he redeemeth thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword.

^{7 (49:8)} No one can in any wise redeem his brother, nor can he give to God redemption money for himself; ^{8 (49:9)} For the ransom of their soul is too costly, and it is omitted for ever.

^{15 (49:16)} But God will redeem my soul from the power of the nether world; for he will take me away. Selah.

² Thus let the Lord’s redeemed say, even those whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the adversary;

²¹ And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the grasp of the tyrants.

²⁷ Behold this, we have searched it out, so it is: hear it, and do thou note it well for thyself.

² I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; let me know for what cause thou contendest against me.

¹¹ Behold, I waited for your words: I gave an attentive ear to your reasonings, till you might have searched out the proper words.

¹⁵ They are dismayed, they answer no more: words have escaped away from them. ¹⁶ And should I wait longer, because they cannot speak, because they stand stilt and answer no more?

¹ Therefore do thou but hear, O Job, my speeches, and give ear to all my words.

³¹ Listen well, O Job, hearken unto me: keep silence, and I will truly speak. ³² If thou hast any words, answer me: speak, for I wish to justify thee. ³³ If not, hearken thou unto me: keep silence, and I will teach thee wisdom.

³² What I cannot see myself, do thou truly teach me; if I have done what is unjust, I will do so no more.”

^{12 (19:13)} Who can guard against errors? from secret faults do thou cleanse me.

⁸ I will instruct thee and I will teach thee concerning the way which thou oughtest to go: I will counsel thee with my eye.

¹ To the chief musician, to Jeduthun, a psalm of David. ^(39:2) I said, I will guard my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked is before me. ^{2 (39:3)} I was dumb in deep silence, I was quite still, even from speaking good; but my pain was greatly excited;

⁹ Give to the wise instruction, and he will become yet wiser: impart knowledge to the righteous, and he will increase his information.

¹² As an earring of gold, and a pendant of fine gold, so is a wise reprover toward an ear that listeneth.

⁴ Him that stumbled thy words used to uphold, and to sinking knees thou gavest vigor.

⁵ Oh, who would grant that ye might keep a profound silences! and it would he accounted unto you as wisdom.

³ Shall there be any end to words of wind? or what compelleth thee that thou shouldst answer? ⁴ I also could well speak as ye do: if your soul were but in my soul’s stead, I could overwhelm you with words, and could shake my head at you. ⁵ But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the condolence of my lips should restrain your grief.

³⁴ How then will ye comfort me with vanity? and of your answers there remaineth only deception.

²⁵ But if it be not so, who will prove me a liar, and render nought my word?

³ And against his three friends was his wrath kindled; because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

¹⁸ There is some one that useth words which are like the thrusts of a sword; but the tongue of the wise is healing.

²¹ The wise in heart is called a man of understanding; and the sweetness of the lips increaseth information. ²² Intelligence is a source of life unto its possessor; but the correction of fools is folly. ²³ The heart of the wise maketh his mouth intelligent, and upon his lips he increaseth information. ²⁴ Like the droppings of honey are pleasant sayings, sweet to the soul, and healing to the bones.

²¹ Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it will eat its fruit.

¹¹ Like apples of gold among figures of silver is a word spoken in a proper manner.

¹⁰ Koheleth sought to find out acceptable words, and that which would be written down uprightly, even words of truth. ¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails fastened are the words of the men of the assemblies, which are given by one shepherd.

¹⁰ But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the worthless women would speak. What? should we accept the good alone, from God, and the evil we should not accept? With all this did Job not sin with his lips.

³ Oh that the day whereon I was born might perish, and the night when it was said, There hath been a male child conceived. ⁴ May that day be covered with darkness; may not God from above inquire for it, and may no light beam upon it. ⁵ Oh that darkness and the shadow of death might defile it; may a cloud rest upon it; may the blackness of the day terrify it. ⁶ Yon night—let darkness seize upon it; let it not be united to the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the periods lighted by the moon. ⁷ Lo, may that night be solitary, let no song of joy occur thereon. ⁸ Let those denounce it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning cry. ⁹ Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; let it hope for light, and there be none; and let it not behold the eyelids of the morning-dawn; ¹⁰ Because God closed not against me the doors of the womb, and thus concealed trouble from my eyes. ¹¹ Why did I not die the moment I issued from the womb, and why was I not born merely to perish at once? ¹² Wherefore were knees ready to receive me? and for what purpose were breasts there that I might suck? ¹³ For now should I be lying still and be quiet; I should sleep: then would I be at rest, ¹⁴ With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build up ruined places for themselves; ¹⁵ Or with princes possessing gold, who fill their houses with silver; ¹⁶ Or as an untimely birth, hidden from view I should not exist; as infants that never have seen the light; ¹⁷ There where the wicked cease from troubling; and where the exhausted weary are at rest; ¹⁸ Where the prisoners repose together, and they hear no more the taskmaster’s voice. ¹⁹ The small with the great is there, and the servant free from his master. ²⁰ Wherefore giveth He now light to the labor-laden, and life unto the bitter in soul? ²¹ Who wait for death, which cometh not; and who dig for it sooner than for hidden treasures; ²² Who would rejoice even to exulting, who would be glad could they but find a grave? ²³ Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and around whom God hath placed a fence? ²⁴ For before my food cometh my groaning, and like the water are poured forth my loud complaints. ²⁵ Because what I greatly dreaded is come upon me, and what I apprehended is come unto me. ²⁶ I have had no safety, and no quiet, and no rest; and now harrowing trouble is come.

³ Behold, thou hast ere this corrected many, and weak hands thou wast wont to strengthen. ⁴ Him that stumbled thy words used to uphold, and to sinking knees thou gavest vigor.

⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof my spirit drinketh it: the terrors of God set themselves in array against me.

⁹ Yea, that it would please God that he might crush me: that he would let loose his hand, and make an end of me!

² How long wilt thou speak these things? and let like a mighty wind be the words of thy mouth?

¹ My soul is disgusted with my life; I will give free vent to my complaint over myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

³ For the ear proveth words, as the palate tasteth the food. ⁴ Let us choose for ourselves what is just: let us acknowledge between ourselves what is good. ⁵ For Job hath said, “I am righteous; and God hath taken away justice from me. ⁶ Should I lie concerning the justice due me? incurable is my wound from the arrow I bear in me without any transgression.” ⁷ What man is there like Job, who drinketh scorning like water, ⁸ And is on the road to keep company with the wrong-doers, and to walk with men of wickedness? ⁹ For he hath said, “It profiteth a man nothing when he acteth according to the pleasure of God.”

² Who is this that casteth darkness on my counsel by words without knowledge?

⁵ Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will not repeat it again.

⁸ Wilt thou indeed annul my decree? wilt thou condemn me, in order that thou mayest appear righteous?

³ Who is he that dareth to conceal thy counsel without knowledge? Truly I have spoken of what I understood not, of things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

⁷ And it came to pass, after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Themanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; because ye have not spoken of me properly, like my servant Job.

^{1 (12:2)} Ephraim feedeth on wind, and pursueth the east wind; the whole day he increaseth deceit and corruption; and a covenant do they make with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.

^{22 (22:21)} Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. ^{23 (22:22)} If thou afflict him in any wise; for if he cry at all unto me, I will surely hear his cry: ^{24 (22:23)} My wrath shall wax hot, and I will slay you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

⁹ Widows hast thou sent away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

³ They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take in pledge the widow’s ox.

⁹ The others pluck from the breast the fatherless, and the garment of the poor they take in pledge.

¹² Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, yea, that had none to help him.

¹⁷ Or if ever I ate my bread by myself alone, and the fatherless did not eat thereof;

²¹ If I have swung my hand against the fatherless, because I saw in the gate those that would help me:

^{15 (7:16)} He hath hollowed out a pit, and dug it, and is fallen into the ditch which he hath wrought.

^{6 (57:7)} A net have they prepared for my steps; my soul hath been bent down; they have dug before me a pit; they are fallen into the midst thereof. Selah.

³ Judge uprightly the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and indigent.

¹⁰ Remove not the ancient landmark, and into the fields of the fatherless must thou not enter; ¹¹ For their redeemer is strong; he will indeed plead their cause with thee.

²⁰ Shall evil be recompensed instead of good, that they have dug a pit for my life? Remember my standing before thee to speak good concerning them, to cause thy wrath to turn away from them.

²² Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou bringest a troop over them suddenly; for they have dug a pit to catch me, and laid concealed snares for my feet.

⁷ Father and mother they esteemed lightly within thee, toward the stranger they acted with extortion in the midst of thee, the fatherless and the widow they oppressed within thee.

^{3 (4:3)} And for my people did they cast lots; and gave a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, and drank it.

¹⁰ Yet also she was exiled, was carried away into captivity; also her young children were dashed in pieces at the corners of all streets: and for her honorable men they cast lots, and all her great ones were bound with chains.

⁵ And I will come near unto you to hold judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those that swear falsely, and against those that withhold the wages of the hired laborer, oppress the widow, and the fatherless, and that do injustice to the stranger, and fear me not, saith the Lord of hosts.

³ Thy inventions are to bring men to silence; and when thou utterest thy mocking no one is to cause thee to feel abashed!

⁴ Shall my lips not speak any wrong, nor shall my tongue utter deceit.

³ Out of my straightforward heart come my sayings, and my lips utter knowledge clearly.

⁴ For truly no falsehood is in my words: one that is upright in his opinions dealeth now with thee.

¹⁰ But all of you, do only return, and come but to me: and yet I shall not find among you one wise man.

¹⁰ But he knoweth the way that I take: were he to probe me, I should come forth as gold.

⁴ Shall my lips not speak any wrong, nor shall my tongue utter deceit. ⁵ Far be it from me that I should justify you; till I depart hence will I not allow any one to take my integrity away from me. ⁶ I have laid fast hold on my righteousness, and I will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me for my conduct during all my life.

⁵ For Job hath said, “I am righteous; and God hath taken away justice from me.

⁶ Therefore I reject what I have said, and repent; because I am dust and ashes.

¹⁸ And ye shall return, and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that hath not served him.

⁶ Is ever tasteless food eaten without salt? or is there any flavor in the white of an egg?

⁸ But thou hast said before my ears, and the sound of the words I still hear, ⁹ “I am pure without transgression, I am quite clean; and there is no iniquity in me: ¹⁰ Yet, behold, he findeth hateful backsliding on me, he regardeth me as an enemy unto him; ¹¹ He putteth my feet in the stocks, he watcheth all my paths.” ¹² Behold, In this thou art not just: I will answer thee; for God is far greater than a mortal.

³ Who is he that dareth to conceal thy counsel without knowledge? Truly I have spoken of what I understood not, of things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. ⁴ Oh do but hear me, and I will indeed speak: I will ask of thee, and do thou inform me. ⁵ I had only heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye hath seen thee. ⁶ Therefore I reject what I have said, and repent; because I am dust and ashes.