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Moff JOB Chapter 32

◄ JOB 32 ► ║ ═ ©

“I am young and you are aged men;

so I held back, afraid to tell you my opinion.

I felt the word lay with a long life,

and years entitled men to instruct wisely.

Yet God inspires a man,

’tis the Almighty who breathes knowledge into him;

it is not always seniors who are sage,

or aged men who understand;

they get dumbfounded and they say no more,

words fail them.

But am I to wait because they will not speak,

because they stand in silence?

No, I will offer my own answer

and speak my mind upon the matter.

I waited till you spoke,

I listened for your arguments;

I paid attention carefully to you,

as you went over your reasons;

and not a man of you confuted Eyob,

or answered what he urged.

Say not, ‘We found him too 13 clever for us!

It must be God, not man, who puts him down!’

He has not met me yet;

and I will not meet him with your replies.

For I am full of things to say,

and my mind urges me to speech.

My mind is like wine bottled up,

ready to burst out, like new bottles.

I must relieve myself by speaking,

I must emit my answer.

I would show favour to no man,

I would not flatter anyone;

I know not how to flatter--

or my Maker would soon make an end of me.

Now, Eyob, mark my words,

listen to all I urge.

Here am I with open mouth,

here is my tongue talking,

my heart uttering what is right and true,

and my speech utterly sincere.

Answer me, if you can;

stand up and argue with me.

You and I before God are the same;

I too am formed of clay;

God’s spirit made me,

and the Almighty breathes life into me.

No fear of me need scare you;

I will not be hard on you.

You argued, in my hearing,

for I heard you claim--

‘I am pure and sinless,

innocent and guiltless: 10 but God picks a quarrel with me,

he treats me as his enemy,

he fastens logs to my feet,

he watches every step I take;

and if I cry, he will not answer:

no, God conceals himself from men.’

Now, why complain of him

for never answering your cry?

God has one mode of speech;

yes, and if man heeds it not, another.

In dreams, in visions of the night,

when men fall into trances,

slumbering on their beds,

he reveals things to them,

and sends them awful warnings,

to draw them back from evil,

and make them give up pride,

to save their souls from death,

their lives from rushing on their doom.

Or, man is chastened on a bed of pain,

his limbs are all benumbed.

till his soul turns from food,

and even dainty dishes he abhors;

his flesh grows lean and foul,

his bones stick out;

his life is on the verge of death,

near the destroying angels.

But another angel comes to his aid,

one of God’s thousand angels;

he tells the man his faults,

and then in pity intercedes for him,

that his life may be saved from death,

since he has found a ransom for the man.

Then his flesh turns fresher than a child’s,

his early strength returns;

he prays to God and wins his 26 favour,

he worships in his presence joyfully;

he tells men how God saved him,

singing aloud to others,

‘I sinned, I went astray,

but he has not punished me;

he saved my soul from death,

and let me see the dear light of the living.’

Now God does all this over and again,

twice, thrice, for men,

to bring them back from death

into the sunshine of life.”

34 Elihu went on:

“Listen to my words, ye wise,

hear me, O ye sages.

A man’s mind tests what he is told,

as the palate tastes food for itself;

let us choose what may be true,

let us decide on what is right.

Eyob claims that he is innocent,

that God has wronged him;

‘Though I am right,’ he says, ‘God makes me out a liar,

he wounds me fatally, though I am faultless.’

Was there ever a man like Eyob,

who gulps down blasphemy like water,

who goes in league with evildoers,

and holds with scoffers?

He says it is no use for man

to be the friend of God.

Listen, you are men of sense:

far be it from God to do evil,

far be it from the Almighty to go wrong!

He makes man answer for his deeds,

and fare exactly as he may deserve.

No, never will God do an evil deed,

never will the Almighty act unjustly--

he is no viceroy lording it on earth!--

his heart and hand are on the universe,

and were he to withdraw his spirit,

were he to gather in his breath,

the human race would perish in a moment,

man would return to the dust.

◄ JOB 32 ► ║ ═ ©

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