Post by 1MAM4f…iohE

Or with princes that had gold, Who filled their houses with silver:

I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; But trouble cometh.

For the thing which I fear cometh upon me, And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.

Who rejoice exceedingly, And are glad, when they can find the grave?

After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

Lo, let that night be barren; Let no joyful voice come therein.

The small and the great are there: And the servant is free from his master.

As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it: Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months.

For my sighing cometh before I eat, And my groanings are poured out like water.

Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own; Let a cloud dwell upon it; Let all that maketh black the day terrify it.

There the prisoners are at ease together; They hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

Because it shut not up the doors of my `mother's' womb, Nor hid trouble from mine eyes.

`Why is light given' to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in?

Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bare me?

Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark: Let it look for light, but have none; Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:

Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, As infants that never saw light.

Let the day perish wherein I was born, And the night which said, There is a man-child conceived.

Let that day be darkness; Let not God from above seek for it, Neither let the light shine upon it.

Who long for death, but it cometh not, And dig for it more than for hid treasures;

With kings and counsellors of the earth, Who built up waste places for themselves;

There the wicked cease from troubling; And there the weary are at rest.

Let them curse it that curse the day, Who are ready to rouse up leviathan.

And Job answered and said:

Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, And life unto the bitter in soul;

Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should suck?

For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then had I been at rest,

Then Job answered and said,

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

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas: Therefore have my words been rash.

Oh that my vexation were but weighed, And all my calamity laid in the balances!

My soul refuseth to touch `them'; They are as loathsome food to me.

Even that it would please God to crush me; That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

And be it still my consolation, Yea, let me exult in pain that spareth not, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

Oh that I might have my request; And that God would grant `me' the thing that I long for!

Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? Or loweth the ox over his fodder?

To him that is ready to faint kindness `should be showed' from his friend; Even to him that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.

Which are black by reason of the ice, `And' wherein the snow hideth itself:

Is it not that I have no help in me, And that wisdom is driven quite from me?

Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass?

My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, As the channel of brooks that pass away;

What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is mine end, that I should be patient?

What time they wax warm, they vanish; When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

The caravans `that travel' by the way of them turn aside; They go up into the waste, and perish.

The caravans of Tema looked, The companies of Sheba waited for them.

For now ye are nothing; Ye see a terror, and are afraid.

Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice; Yea, return again, my cause is righteous.

Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?

Or, Deliver me from the adversary's hand? Or, Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?

How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what doth it reprove?

Do ye think to reprove words, Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are as wind?

Teach me, and I will hold my peace; And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

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

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

Yea, ye would cast `lots' upon the fatherless, And make merchandise of your friend.

Did I say, Give unto me? Or, Offer a present for me of your substance?

And his sons went and held a feast in the house of each one upon his day; and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

and the Sabeans fell `upon them', and took them away: yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

and he said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah.

But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will renounce thee to thy face.

And Jehovah said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil.

And it fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house,

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have taken them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath, on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and turned away from evil.

And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

And Jehovah said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house;

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped;

And Jehovah said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah.

Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan also came among them.

His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.

that there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them;

So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce thee to thy face.

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to bemoan him and to comfort him.

But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his robe, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself therewith; and he sat among the ashes.

And Jehovah said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

And Jehovah said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil: and he still holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still hold fast thine integrity? renounce God, and die.

And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

And Jehovah said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand; only spare his life.

Again it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Jehovah.

They meet with darkness in the day-time, And grope at noonday as in the night.