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ACT II
Eliphaz’s Appeal to the Unadulterated Doctrine of the Past
15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
2 Would a wise man pour forth windy answers
Or fill with the east wind his breast?
3 Would he reason with profitless words
And with speech that is all unavailing?
4 See! thou art destroying religion,
Disturbing devout contemplation.
5 Thy guilt instructeth thy mouth,
And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
6 Thine own mouth condems thee – not I,
And thine own lips are witness against thee.
7 Wast thou the first man to be born?
Wast thou fashioned before the hills?
8 Wast thou one of the heavenly council?
Was wisdom revealed unto thee?
9 What knowest thou that we know not?
What insight is thine and not ours?
10 With us are the grey and the aged,
More mighty in years than thy father.
11 Dost thou spurn the divine consolations,
The word that dealt with thee so gently?
12 How fierce the emotions that sweep thee!
And how thou flashest thine eyes,
13 As thou turnest thy breath against God
Into words from thy rebel lips!
14 What is man that he should be clean,
Or just – one of woman born?
15 See! He putteth no trust in His saints,
And the heavens are not clean in His sight:
16 How much less one abhorrent and tainted–
A man that drinks evil like water!
17 Now listen to what I will show thee,
The thing I have seen I will tell–
18 Even tales that were told by the wise
And not hidden from them by their fathers,
19 Who had the land all to themselves,
When no stranger had yet come among them.
20 All his days is the wicked in pain,
All the years for the tyrant appointed.
21 In his ears is the sound of terrors,
In peace comes the spoiler upon him.
22 He cannot escape from the darkness
And he is reserved for the sword.
23 Appointed as food for the vulture–
He knows that his doom is at hand.
The day of darkness appals him;
24a Constraint and distress overpower him;
25 For he stretched out his hand against God,
Played the warrior against the Almighty,
26 Running against Him stiff-necked
With the thick of the boss of his bucklers,
24b Like a king prepared for the onset.
27 He covered his face with his fat,
He set thick folds of flesh on his loins;
28 And he dwelt in desolate cities,
In houses that none should inhabit.
What he has won, others shall capture,
29 His substance shall not endure.
On the earth he shall cast no shadow.
30b The fierce heat shall wither his branches,
30c His fruit shall the wind whirl away.
31 Let him not trust his plant when it shoots,
For the branch thereof shall be vanity.
32 It shall wither before its time,
Or ever its fronds become green.
33 His grapes he shall shed like the vine,
And cast off like the olive his blossom.
34 For a barren tribe are the godless;
Tents of bribery the fire shall consume.
35 Big with mischief, they bring forth sin,
And their belly matures with deceit.
Job’s Cry to the Witness in Heaven
16 Then Job answered and said:
2 Many things such as these have I heard:
Ye are wearisome comforters – all of you.
3 Shall windy words have an end?
What is it that provokes thee to answer?
4 I, too, could speak like you,
Were your soul in my soul’s stead.
I could weave words together about you,
And shake my head at you.
5 I could strengthen you with my mouth,
And encourage you with lip-comfort.
6 To speak is no check to my pain;
To keep silence – that easeth me nothing.
7 But now He hath wearied and dazed me;
My misery seizes upon me.
8 It rises for witness against me;
My grief testifies to my face.
9 In His wrath He hath flung me down torn;
He hath gnashed upon me with His teeth.
My foes whet their eyes upon me;
10 With open mouth they gape.
They insult me with blows on the cheek,
Coming on in their masses against me.
11 To knaves God has given me up;
Into wicked hands He has hurled me.
12 I was happy, when He took and shattered me;
Grasped my neck, and then dashed me in pieces.
He set me up for His target;
13 On all sides His archers beset me.
He cleaves through my reins unrelenting;
He pours out my gall on the ground.
14 One breach after another He makes on me,
Rushing at me like a warrior.
15 Sackcloth I sewed on my skin,
And my horn I have laid in the dust.
16 My face is red with weeping,
And over mine eye-lids is darkness–
17 Though wrong there is none in my hands,
And though my prayer be pure.
18 O earth! cover not my blood;
No rest let there be to my crying.
19 Behold, in heaven is my Witness,
And I have a Sponsor on high.
20 My friends pour their scorn upon me,
But my tear-stained eyes look unto God,
21 That He plead for a man with God,
And for son of man with his Friend.
22 For when but a few years come,
I shall go whence I shall not return.
17 His anger hath ruined my days,
And for me is left nought but the grave.
2 Delusion is surely my portion;
On bitterness tarries mine eye.
3 Lay a pledge for me – Thou with Thyself:
For who else would strike hands with me?
4 For their heart Thou hast hidden from wisdom,
And therefore Thou wilt not exalt them.
5 One inviteth his friends to a feast,
While the eyes of his children are failing.
6 Thou has made me the by-word of nations;
They look upon me as a monster.
7 Mine eye is grown dim for vexation;
My members are all as a shadow.
11 My days pass away without hope;
The desires of my heart are extinguished.
12 The night I turn into day,
And the light is before me as darkness.
13 If I hope, then the grave is my home,
And my couch I have spread in the darkness.
14 I call to the pit, "My mother";
And unto the worm, "My sister."
15 Where then were that "hope" of mine?
And my happiness who can espy?
16 Will it go with me down to the grave?
Shall we sink to the dust together?
Bildad’s Picture of the Sure and Terrible Doom of the Wicked
18 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite and said:
2 When with thou end thy words?
Now consider, and we shall speak.
3 Why are we counted as breasts,
And deemed by thee to be dullards?
8 Honest men thrill with horror at this:
A pure man is roused by such godlessness.
9 But the righteous holds on his way,
And the man of clean hands waxes stronger.
10a But turn thee hither and come,
4 Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger.
For thy sake shall earth be made desert,
Or rock be moved out of its place?
5 Nay, the light of the wicked is quenced,
And the flame of his fire shall not shine.
6 The light in his tent shall be dark,
And the lamp o’er his head shall go out.
7 His great swinging strides become shortened;
His own counsel maketh him stumble.
8 His foot is thrust into a net,
So that over the net-work ge sprawleth.
9 A snare shall take hold of his heel,
And a trap shall close tightly upon him.
10 A noose lies concealed on the ground,
And a trap on his path doth await him.
11 On all sides are terrors appalling,
Pursuing him close at his heels.
12 For him shall misfortune be hungry;
Disaster is ready to throw him.
13 The pestilence gnaws at his skin,
And the firstborn of death at his members.
14 Then, dragged from his tent in despair,
He is marched to the King of Terrors.
15 His house shall be haunted by ghosts;
On his homestead shall brimstone be scattered.
16 His roots shall be dried up beneath,
And above shall his branches be withered.
17 From earth shall his memory perish;
No name shall be his on the streets.
18 From the light he is thrust into darkness,
And chased right out of the world.
19 Of his folk, neither kith nor kin–
Where he sojourned, not one is left.
20 The west is appalled at his doom,
And the east is stricken with horror.
21 Yea, such are the homes of the wicked,
Of those who care nothing for God.
Job’s Sublime Faith in his Future Vindication
19 Then Job answered and said:
2 How long will ye vex my soul
And crush me to pieces with words?
3 These ten times ye have put me to shame,
And set upon me unabashedly.
4 Well, be it that I have erred–
Mine error abides with myself.
5 Or would ye be haughty to me,
And insult me with your reproaches?
6 Know, then, it is God that hath wronged me,
And compassed me round with His net.
7 Behold! I cry "Wrong" – but no answer;
I call – but justice is none.
8 My way He hath fenced round impassably,
Darkness He sets on my path.
9 He hath stripped my glory from off me,
And taken the crown from my head.
10 He hath torn me clean down – I am gone:
He hath plucked up my hope like a tree.
11 He hath kindled His anger against me,
And counted me one of His enenmies.
12 On come His troops together;
They throw up a rampart against me.
13 My brethren are gone far from me;
My friends have estranged themselves from me.
14 My neighbours have ceased to acknowledge me;
Guests of my house have forgotten me.
15 Maids of mine count me a stranger;
A foreigner am I in their sight.
16 To my servant I call, but he answers not,
Till with my mouth I entreat him.
17 My breath is strange to my wife,
And my stench to mine own very children.
18 Yea, even young boys despise me,
And mock me when I try to rise.
19 All mine intimate friends abhor me;
The man whom I love turns against me.
20 My skin clings to my bones;
I escape with my flesh in my teeth.
21 Have pity, have pity, my friends;
For the hand of God hath touched me.
22 Why do ye persecute me like – God,
And devour my flesh insatiably?
23 O that my words were now written,
That they were inscribed in a book,
24 That with iron pen and with lead
On a rock they were graven for ever.
25 I know that there liveth a Champion,
Who will one day stand over my dust;
26 Yea, Another shall rise as My Witness,
And, as Sponsor, shall I behold – God;
27 Whom mine eyes shall behold, and no stranger’s.
My heart is faint in my bosom.
28 But if ye are determined to hunt me,
And in me find the root of the matter,
29 Then dread ye the sword for yourselves;
For wrath shall destroy the ungodly.
Zophar’s Warning and Innuendo that Heaven and Earth have already Witnessed against Job
20 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:
2 Nay, not so do my thoughts make answer;
And therefore my heart is uproused.
3 Must I hear thine insulting reproof,
While mere breath without sense is thine answer?
4 Knowest thou not this from of old,
From the time there were men on the earth,
5 That the song of the wicked is short,
And the hypocrite’s joy but a moment?
6 Though his majesty mount on the heavens,
And his head reach unto the clouds,
7 He shall utterly perish like dung;
Those that knew him shall ask, "Where is he?"
8 Like a dream he shall fly beyond finding,
Dispelled like a vision of night.
9 No more shall the eye see that saw him;
His place shall behold him no more.
10 His sons shall be crushed by privation;
His wealth shall his children restore.
11 The vigour of youth filled his bones,
But within him it shall lie in the dust.
12 Though evil be sweet in his mouth,
As he keeps it hid under his tongue;
13 Though he spare it and let it not go,
But still holdeth it back in his mouth;
14 Yet his food in his stomach is turned;
It is poison of asps within him.
15 The wealth that he swallowed he vomits;
God easteth it forth from his belly.
16 The poison of asps he has sucked,
And the tongue of the viper shall slay him.
17 No rivers of oil shall he see,
No torrents of honey and butter.
18 His increasing gain brings him no gladness;
His traffickling yields him no joy;
19 For he crushed down the gains of the poor,
And he plundered the house that he built not.
20 His treasures have brought him no peace.
And his precious things cannot deliver.
21 And since none has escaped his devouring,
His own fortune shall not endure.
22 Brought to straits in the fullness of plenty,
The fell force of trouble assails him.
23 He shall let loose His hot wrath against him,
And terrors shall rain down upon him.
24 As he flees from the weapon of iron,
And bronze bow pierces him through.
25 The missle comes out at his back,
And the glittering point from his gall.
Terrors keep coming upon him;
26 Deep darkness is stored up for him.
A mysterious fire shall devour him,
And ravage those left in his tent.
27 The heavens shall reveal his guilt,
And the earth shalll rise up against him.
28 His house shall be swept by destruction,
Accursed in the day of His wrath.
29 Such the wicked man’s portion from God,
God’s heritage unto the rebel.
Job’s Fierce Indicment of the Existing Order
21 Then Job answered and said:
2 Hear now my word with attention:
Your consolation be this.
3 Suffer me, for I would speak also:
Then, when I have spoken, mock on.
4 Is it man that I would complain of?
And why should I not be impatient?
5 Now listen to me; and, in horror,
Lay ye your hand on your mouth.
6 When I think of it, I am confounded,
And shuddering seizeth my flesh.
7 Why are wicked men suffered to live,
To grow old and wax mighty in power?
8 Their seed is established before them,
Their offspring in sight of their eyes.
9 Their homes are strangers to terror;
No rod of God is on them.
10 Their bull doth unfailingly gender,
Their cow never loses her calf.
11 Like a flock they send their young children;
Their boys and their girls dance.
12 They sing to the timbrel and lyre;
At the sound of the pipe they make merry.
13 They finish their days in prosperity,
And go down to Sheol in peace–
14 Though they said unto God, "O leave us,
We desire not to know Thy ways.
15 Why should we serve the Almighty?
And what is the good of prayer?"
16 See! their fortune is in their own hand:
Nought He cares for the schemes of the wicked.
17 How oft is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How oft does disaster assail them,
Or the pains of His anger lay hold of them?
18 How often are they as as the straw before wind,
Or like chaff that is stolen by the storm?
19 "God stores up his guilt for his children."
("Nay," I reply); "let Him punish
The man himself, that he feel it.
20 Let his own eyes behold his disaster,
Let him drink the wrath of Almighty.
21 For what doth he care for his house,
When his own tale of months is cut short?"
22 Will any teach knowledge to God,
Seeing He judgeth (angels) on high?
23 One dies with his strength unimpaired,
In the heyday of ease and prosperity;
24 Filled are his buckets with milk;
His bones at the marrow are moistened.
25 And one dies with soul embittered,
With never a taste of good.
26 In the dust they lie down together;
The worm covers them both.
Behold! I know your Thoughts
And your cruel devices against me,
28 In askng, "Where lives now the tyrant?
Where now doth the godless dwell?"
29 Have ye never asked those that travel?
Have ye never noted their proofs
30 That the wicked is kept from disaster,
Is saved in the day of wrath?
31 Who tells him his way to his face,
Or requites him for what he hath done?
32 And yet he is borne to the grave,
And men keep watch over his tomb.
33 Sweet for him are the clods of the valley,
And after him all men draw.
34 Why then offer your idle comfort?
Your answers leave nothing but falsehood
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