Job 20-23

Job 20

¹And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

²Therefore do my thoughts give me an answer, and for this is my haste within me.

³I hear a reproof putting me to shame; and my spirit answereth me by mine understanding.

⁴Knowest thou not this, that of old, since man was placed upon earth,

⁵The exultation of the wicked is short, and the joy of the ungodly man but for a moment?

⁶Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds,

⁷Like his own dung doth he perish for ever; they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

⁸He flieth away as a dream, and is not found; and is chased away as a vision of the night.

⁹The eye which saw him shall see him not again; and his place beholdeth him no more.

¹⁰His children shall seek the favour of the poor, and his hands restore his wealth.

¹¹His bones were full of his youthful strength; but it shall lie down with him in the dust.

¹²Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth and he hide it under his tongue,

¹³Though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it within his mouth,

¹⁴His food is turned in his bowels; it is the gall of asps within him.

¹⁵He hath swallowed down riches, but he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

¹⁶He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall kill him.

¹⁷He shall not see streams, rivers, brooks of honey and butter.

¹⁸That which he laboured for shall he restore, and not swallow down; its restitution shall be according to the value, and he shall not rejoice therein.

¹⁹For he hath oppressed, hath forsaken the poor; he hath violently taken away a house that he did not build.

²⁰Because he knew no rest in his craving, he shall save nought of what he most desired.

²¹Nothing escaped his greediness; therefore his prosperity shall not endure.

²²In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits; every hand of the wretched shall come upon him.

²³It shall be that, to fill his belly, he will cast his fierce anger upon him, and will rain it upon him into his flesh.

²⁴If he have fled from the iron weapon, the bow of brass shall strike him through.

²⁵He draweth it forth; it cometh out of his body, and the glittering point out of his gall: terrors are upon him.

²⁶All darkness is laid up for his treasures: a fire not blown shall devour him; it shall feed upon what is left in his tent.

²⁷The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.

²⁸The increase of his house shall depart, flowing away in the day of his anger.

²⁹This is the portion of the wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God.

Job 21

¹And Job answered and said,

²Hear attentively my speech, and let this replace your consolations.

³Suffer me and I will speak; and after I have spoken, mock on!

⁴As for me, is my complaint to a man? or wherefore should not my spirit be impatient?

⁵Mark me, and be astonished, and lay the hand upon the mouth.

⁶Even when I think thereon, I am affrighted, and trembling taketh hold of my flesh.

⁷Wherefore do the wicked live, grow old, yea, become mighty in power?

⁸Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.

⁹Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of +God upon them.

¹⁰Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

¹¹They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

¹²They shout to the tambour and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.

¹³They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment go down to Sheol.

¹⁴And they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways!

¹⁵What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what are we profited if we pray unto him?

¹⁶Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked be far from me!

¹⁷How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and cometh their calamity upon them? Doth he distribute sorrows to them in his anger?

¹⁸Do they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away?

¹⁹+God layeth up the punishment of his iniquity for his children; he rewardeth him, and he shall know it:

²⁰His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the fury of the Almighty.

²¹For what pleasure should he have in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?

²²Can any teach God knowledge? And he it is that judgeth those that are high.

²³One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet;

²⁴His sides are full of fat, and the marrow of his bones is moistened;

²⁵And another dieth in bitterness of soul, and hath not tasted good:

²⁶Together they lie down in the dust, and the worms cover them.

²⁷Lo, I know your thoughts, and the devices ye wrongfully imagine against me.

²⁸For ye say, Where is the house of the noble? and where the tent of the dwellings of the wicked?

²⁹Have ye not asked the wayfarers? and do ye not regard their tokens:

³⁰That the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity? They are led forth to the day of wrath.

³¹Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?

³²Yet is he carried to the graves, and watch is kept over the tomb.

³³The clods of the valley are sweet unto him; and every man followeth suit after him, as there were innumerable before him.

³⁴How then comfort ye me in vain? Your answers remain perfidious.

Job 22

¹And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

²Can a man be profitable to God? surely it is unto himself that the wise man is profitable.

³Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if thou art righteous? And is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect?

⁴Will he reason with thee for fear of thee? Will he enter with thee into judgment?

⁵Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities without end?

⁶For thou hast taken a pledge of thy brother for nought, and stripped off the clothing of the naked.

⁷Thou hast not given water to the fainting to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

⁸But the powerful man, he had the land; and the man of high rank dwelt in it.

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

¹⁰Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

¹¹Or darkness, that thou canst not see, and floods of waters cover thee.

¹²Is not +God in the height of the heavens? And behold the summit of the stars: how exalted are they!

¹³And thou sayest, What doth God know? will he judge through the dark cloud?

¹⁴Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh on the vault of the heavens.

¹⁵Dost thou mark the ancient path which wicked men have trodden?

¹⁶Who were carried off before the time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood;

¹⁷Who said unto God, Depart from us! and what could the Almighty do to them?

¹⁸Yet he filled their houses with good. But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁹The righteous see it, and are glad; and the innocent laugh them to scorn:

²⁰Is not he who rose against us destroyed, and doth not the fire consume his residue?

²¹Reconcile thyself now with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

²²Receive, I pray thee, instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.

²³If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up. If thou remove unrighteousness far from thy tents,

²⁴And put the precious ore with the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrents,

²⁵Then the Almighty will be thy precious ore, and silver heaped up unto thee;

²⁶Yea, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto +God:

²⁷Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows;

²⁸And thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; and light shall shine upon thy ways.

²⁹When they are made low, then thou shalt say, Rise up! and he shall save him that is of downcast eyes.

³⁰Even him that is not innocent shall he deliver; yea, he shall be delivered by the pureness of thy hands.

Job 23

¹And Job answered and said,

²Even to-day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

³Oh that I knew where I might find him, that I might come to his seat!

⁴I would order the cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments;

⁵I would know the words he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

⁶Would he plead against me with his great power? Nay; but he would give heed unto me.

⁷There would an upright man reason with him; and I should be delivered for ever from my judge.

⁸Lo, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I do not perceive him;

⁹On the left hand, where he doth work, but I behold him not; he hideth himself on the right hand, and I see him not.

¹⁰But he knoweth the way that I take; he trieth me, I shall come forth as gold.

¹¹My foot hath held to his steps; his way have I kept, and not turned aside.

¹²Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have laid up the words of his mouth more than the purpose of my own heart.

¹³But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, that will he do.

¹⁴For he will perform what is appointed for me; and many such things are with him.

¹⁵Therefore am I troubled at his presence; I consider, and I am afraid of him.

¹⁶For God hath made my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me;

¹⁷Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he hidden the gloom from me.