Open Bible Data Home  About  News  OET Key

Moff JOS 1 CHR 2 CHR EZRA NEH EST JOB PSA PROV ECC SNG JER LAM EZE DAN HOS JOEL AMOS OBA YNA MIC NAH HAB ZEP HAG ZEC MAL MAT MARK LUKE YHN ACTs ROM 1 COR 2 COR GAL EPH PHP COL 1 TH 2 TH 1 TIM 2 TIM TIT PHM HEB YAC 1 PET 2 PET 1 YHN 2 YHN 3 YHN YUD REV

◄ Moff JOB ►

Job

1 There was a man once in the land of Uz, whose name was Eyob, a blameless and an upright man; God he reverenced and he shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters; 3 also in live-stock he possessed seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred pair of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, besides a very large household; so that this man was the greatest man in all the East. 4 His sons used to go and feast together, each acting in turn as host for the day; they would also invite their three sisters to eat and drink along with them. 5 When each week of feasting was over, Eyob sent for them and had them purified, rising early and offering a burnt-sacrifice for each of them; “It may be,” said Eyob, “that my sons have sinned by cursing God in their hearts.” Eyob did this without fail.

6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Eternal, and among them the Adversary. 7 “Where have you been?” said the Eternal to the Adversary; and the Adversary answered, “Roaming here and there, roving about the earth.” 8 Then the Eternal said to the Adversary, “Have you noticed that there is no one like my servant Eyob on earth, a blameless and an upright man, who reverences God and shuns evil?” 9 The Adversary answered, “But is it for nothing that Eyob reverences God? 10 Have you not hedged him safely in, his house and all he has? You have prospered him in his business, and his flocks are teeming on the land. 11 Only put out your hand, touch whatever he possesses, and see if he will not curse you to your face!” 12 Then said the Eternal to the Adversary, “There! I leave all he has within your power; but lay no hand upon the man himself.” So away went the Adversary from the presence of the Eternal. 13 One day, when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, 14 a messenger came and told Eyob: “The oxen were ploughing, the asses were grazing beside them, 15 when the Arabs made a foray and carried them off; the servants they cut down, and I alone escaped to tell you.” 16 He was still speaking when another came, saying, “Lightning fell from the sky and burned up sheep and goats and shepherds to a cinder; I alone escaped to tell you.” 17 He was still speaking when another came, saying, “The Chaldeans formed three parties for a raid upon the camels; they carried them off, the servants they cut down, and I alone escaped to tell you.” 18 He was still speaking when another came, saying, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, 19 when a whirlwind swept across the desert and struck the four corners of the house, till it fell upon the young folk; they are dead, and I alone escaped to tell you.” 20 Then Eyob rose, tore his tunic, shaved his head, and dropped upon the ground in humble worship, 21 crying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I must return: the Eternal gave, the Eternal has taken--blessed be the Eternal!” 22 In all this Eyob did not sin, nor did he give offence to God.

2 One day the angels again came to present themselves before the Eternal, and among them the Adversary. 2 “Where have you been?” said the Eternal to the Adversary; and the Adversary answered, “Roaming here and there, roving about the earth.” 3 Then the Eternal said to the Adversary, “Have you noticed that there is no one like my servant Eyob on earth, a blameless and an upright man, who reverences God and shuns evil? He still holds to his loyalty: it was idle of you to entice me to undo him.” 4 But the Adversary answered, “He has saved his own skin! A man will let all he has go, to preserve his life. 5 Only put out your hand, touch his flesh and bones, and see if he will not curse you to your face!” 6 So the Eternal said to the Adversary, “There! he is in your power; only, spare his life.” 7 Away went the Adversary from the Eternal’s presence, and he smote Eyob with painful ulcers from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, 8 till Eyob took a potsherd to scrape himself. As he sat among the ashes, 9 his wife said to him, “Still holding to your loyalty? Curse God, though you die for it!” 10 But he told her, “You are talking like an impious fool. Are we to take good from God’s hand, and not evil too?” In all this Eyob sinned not with his lips.

11 Now when Eyob’s three friends heard of all the trouble that had befallen him, they came, each from his own home, Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Maan; they arranged to go and condole with him, to comfort him. 12 But when they caught sight of him at a distance and could not recognize him, they wept aloud; every man of them tore his tunic and flung dust on his head. 13 For seven days and seven nights they sat beside him on the ground; none said a word to him, for they saw how terrible was his anguish.

3 Then Eyob opened his mouth and cursed his birthday. 2 Eyob began:

“Perish the day I was born,

the night that said, Tt is a boy!’

Utter darkness may it be,

longing for light and finding none!

May God on high ignore it,

till not a ray illumines it!

May darkness and gloom re- 5 claim it,

may dense clouds rest on it,

may all eclipses scare it,

the deep dark seize that night!

Be it severed from the days of the year,

kept out of the months’ count!

Aye, barren be that night,

bereft of any joyous cry!

The enchanters curse that day,

enchanters who can rouse the Dragon!

Dark be its stars of the dawn,

may it never see the eyelids of the morning!

For it did not close the womb on me,

and hid not misery from mine eyes.

Why died I not when bom,

why perished I not at birth,

why was I not buried like an abortion,

like still-born babes that never see daylight?

Why were there knees to welcome me,

why were there breasts to suck?

I would have been lying still,

I would have slept in peace,

with kings and statesmen of the world

who had built pyramids for themselves,

with princes, rich in gold,

who had filled palaces with silver.

There villains cease to rage,

and their victims are at peace--

captives lying quiet together,

deaf to the slavedriver’s shout;

high and low are there alike,

the slave free from his master.

Why does God give sufferers fight,

and life to men in bitter despair,

who long for death, and long in vain,

who dig for it more than buried treasure,

who would rejoice to lie covered with stones,

glad could they but reach the grave?

Why does God give fight to a man at his wits’ end,

a man he has hemmed in?

Sighs are my daily bread,

groans pour from me like water;

whate’er I fear befalls me,

and what I dread draws on me;

I get no peace, I get no rest,

I get no ease, only attacks of agony.”

4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite a replied:

“Would you resent it, if we dare to speak?--

though who can keep from speaking?

You have yourself set many 3 right,

and put strength into feeble souls;

your words have kept men on their feet,

the weak-kneed you have nerved.

But now that your own turn has come, you droop;

it touches you close, and you collapse.

Let your religion reassure you;

your blameless life, let that encourage you!

Think now, what guiltless man has ever perished?

When have the just ever been swept away?

Men, as I see it, reap the evil that they plough,

the trouble that they sow;

under God’s blast they perish,

at the breath of his anger they vanish--

roaring lions, hoarse with fury,

they have their fierce fangs shattered,

lions perishing for lack of prey,

cubs of a lioness, they are scattered!

Once a word came stealing to me,

the whisper of it reached my ear.

When men fall into trances in the night,

rapt I lay in my visions,

terror and trembling seized me,

till my limbs all shuddered;

a spirit glided before me,

till my hair was bristling--

there it stood!

I could not make it out,

this form before mine eyes,

but in the hush I heard it murmuring:

‘Before God can a mortal man be just?

Can man be pure before his Maker?’

Even on his heavenly servants he cannot rely,

his very angels he convicts of error;

and what of those in houses made of clay,

with dust for their foundations,

frail as a moth,

crushed in a single day,

perishing utterly, unnoticed?

God blows on them, they wither up,

they die, and die in ignorance of him.

You would appeal? will anyone respond?

what angel would you turn to?

Passion like that is futile, fatal;

’tis death for a fool to flame out against God.

A senseless man may strike root--I have seen it--

but suddenly his branches rot;

his children are left in peril,

defrauded--none to defend them;

hungry men consume their crops,

thirsty men drink up their milk.

[[Suffering? it springs not from the soil,

trouble grows not from the ground;

man brings trouble on himself,

as surely as the sparks fly up.]]

Were I in your place, I would turn to God,

and before God lay my case,

who does great things beyond our ken,

marvels beyond all reckoning;

he pours rain on the ploughland,

and he floods the fields;

he sets the lowly on a height,

and helps the forlorn to victory;

he foils the plots of wily men,

till they win no success;

he snares the cunning with their own guile,

baffling the schemes of shifty men,

till they encounter darkness in the day-time,

groping at noon as if it were the night;

he saves the helpless from the sword,

saves poor souls from the tyrant’s clutch;

and so the hapless have some hope,

and wrongdoers are silenced.

Ah, happy he whom God is chastening!

Spurn not the discipline of the Almighty;

he binds up where he wounds,

he hurts and heals;

in six afflictions he will save you,

no harm shall come to you in seven;

in famine he will rescue you from death,

in war from the stroke of the sword;

you shall be hidden from the scourge of plague,

you need not be afraid of sudden death;

at sudden death and famine you can laugh,

nor need you fear wild beasts;

the very animals shall be your allies,

and the wild beasts your friends;

you may be sure your house is safe,

you shall miss nothing when you count your flock;

you shall find yourself with many children,

offspring in number like the blades of grass;

you shall come to the grave in a ripe age,

like a sheaf borne home in harvest.

This is the truth we have found to be true;

this we have heard: now, lay it to heart.”

6 Eyob answered:

“‘Passion?’ Compare my passion of despair

with the full weight of my calamity!--

’tis heavier than the sands of the sea.

That makes my words so wild.

The Almighty has buried his arrows deep in me,

their poison stings my soul;

the terrors of God trouble me,

2 my soul refuses to rest.

Does a wild ass bray when he has grass?

Does an ox low at his fodder?

Can one eat insipid food and saltless?

Has the white of an egg any flavour?

Would that I had my desire!

Would that God granted my longing!

Would that God were pleased to crush me,

to let his hand snap off my thread of life!

That would be some comfort to me;

yes, I would exult in its unsparing pain.

What strength have I to hold out?

What is before me, that I should be patient?

Is my strength equal to the strength of stones,

is my flesh made of bronze?

No, there is no help, none;

all saving aid has gone from me.

Friends should be kind to a despairing man,

or he will give up faith in the Almighty;

but my friends disappoint me 15 like a stream,

like mountain brooks that overflow their banks,

swollen and dark with ice,

with melting snow,

but vanishing when they are scorched,

and disappearing in the sum­mer’s glow;

caravans turn to them, then turn away,

take to the desert and then perish;

caravans from Tema look to them for water,

traders from Arabia are in hopes,

but their hopes are disappointed,

they arrive and they are disconcerted;

as I am over you--

you and your fears about my terrible fate!

Did I ask you for a present,

or to pay bribes on my account,

to rescue me from enemies,

to ransom me from bandits?

(Ransom? you fall upon a blameless man,

you would make capital out of a friend!)

Show me where I have gone wrong;

teach me—then I’ll hold my tongue.

Honest reproof, how sweet it is!

But when you argue, what do you reprove?

Words? is it words you mean to censure,

the whirling words of a man desperate?

Come, look me in the face;

I swear I will not he to you.

Do me no longer an injustice;

give over, no guilt has been proved against me.

Am I too blunted to be sure of that?

Is there no sense of wrong left within me?

Has man not a hard service upon earth?

Is not his life like a labourer’s,

a slave who pants for the evening shadow,

a labourer longing for his wages?

I am forced to live empty months,

and nights of misery are allotted me;

I lie down thinking, ‘When will it be day?’

and till the day dawns I toss to and fro.

Worms and a dry crust cover all my flesh;

my skin grows hard, then breaks.

My days go swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

to reach a hopeless end.

O God, my life is but a breath, remember;

remember, I will never thrive again;

[[Those who see me shall never again see me;

I shall be gone, under thy very gaze.]]

As a cloud fades and disappears,

so he who passes down to death rises no more;

never shall he come home again,

never shall his place know him any more.

Well, I will restrain myself no n longer;

I will speak out, so bitter is my soul.

Am I the sea, am I the Dragon,

to be watched narrowly by thee?

When I think my bed will ease me,

my couch will soothe my complaint,

then thou scarest me with dreams,

appalling me with nightmares,

till I would fain be strangled,

I would prefer death to my pains.

I would not live for ever;

let me alone, my life is frail and fleeting!

What is man, that thou dost make so much of him,

fixing thy mind on him,

punishing him every morning,

testing him moment by moment?

Wilt thou never take thine eye off me,

or leave me for a second?

If I sin, what harm is that to thee,

O thou Spy upon mankind?

Why must thou always find me in thy way,

why vex thyself with me?

Why not forgive my guilt,

why not let my sin pass?

Soon, soon have I to fie down in the dust;

and when thou searchest for me, I shall be no more.”

8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:

“How long will you talk like that,

with wild and whirling words?

Does God pervert justice?

Does the Almighty wrest what is right?

Though your children sinned against him,

and he left them to their fate,

seek God out, for yourself,

entreat the Almighty’s favour,

and if you are pure and upright,

he will answer your prayer indeed,

and prosper your godly home;

small though your start may be,

amply he will enrich you in the end.

Question men of bygone ages,

attend to what our fathers found

(for what know we, mere men of yesterday?--

our days on earth are but a flitting shadow);

will they not tell you what they know,

and teach you in their wisdom this--

‘Can the papyrus grow up without mud?

can the reed flourish without water?

No, all uncut, all fresh and green,

it withers before any plant.

So end all who care not for God,

so perishes the hope of an ungodly man;

his confidence is like a gossamer thread,

his trust no stronger than a spider’s web;

on his house he relies, and it gives way,

he clutches it, and yet it will not stay.

He is a green plant, growing in the sun,

with shoots all over the garden,

with roots twined round the spring,

thriving inside the greenhouse;

yet, once it is destroyed,

its place disowns it utterly.

So ends a godless man,

and others rise up in his stead.’

Ah, God will never banish a blameless man,

never will he uphold wrongdoers;

he will yet fill your lips with laughter,

and your mouth with shouts of joy;

your foes shall be covered with confusion,

the tents of evil men shall disappear.”

9 Then Eyob replied:

“Yes, it is true; I know it;

but how is man to get his rights from God?

Even if God chose to argue,

you could not answer one of his thousand questions.

He is so wise, so mighty--

who ever defied him without scathe?

Mountains he moves, and never notices

when he upsets them in his anger;

he shakes the earth out of its place,

till its pillars are a-trembling;

he can forbid the sun to shine,

he can seal up the stars;

he spreads the heavens out, all unhelped,

and stalks along their heights;

he makes Orion and the Pleiades,

the constellations of the south;

he does great things beyond our ken,

marvels beyond all reckoning.

He passes me--I cannot see him;

he sweeps on--I behold him not;

he pounces--who can stop him?

Who dare ask him what he means?

God will let his wrath have way;

made the Dragon’s very allies quail.

How then could I answer him,

what words could I pick to dispute with him?

I would not answer him, though I were in the right,

but beg my adversary to have pity.

Were I to summon him, he would not answer;

I cannot believe that he would listen.

For he storms and strikes at me

with many a wanton blow;

he will not let me draw my breath,

but fills me full of bitter woe.

Is it a trial of strength? Well, there he stands!

Is it a lawsuit? Who then can arraign him?

His lips would condemn me, were I in the right;

and were I blameless, he would prove me wrong!

But I am blameless!--never mind,

I care not about life; what matters it?

He destroys blameless and bad men alike.

(He does not? well, who is it, then?)

When he is scourging us with sudden death,

he mocks at the despair of innocent men.

The world is handed over to the wicked;

he makes the rulers of men blind to justice!

My days go quicker than a courier,

they fly without one happy ray,

they flit as rapidly as skiffs,

like eagles swooping on their prey.

I think to forget about my anguish,

to cheer up and cast care aside;

but I am in dread still of my pain--

I know thou wilt not let me off.

I am bound to be held guilty;

why should I struggle, then, in vain?

Were I to wash myself with snow,

and make my hands ever so white and clean,

thou would’st plunge me in the mud,

till my very friends would loathe me.

He is not a man like me,

that we might meet for a fair trial

(Oh for some umpire over both of us,

who might decide our case!)

Let him but lift his rod from me,

let him not overawe me with his terror!

Then I would not be afraid to speak--

for inwardly I have no guilty fears.

I am sick of life, sick of it;

I will give rein to my complaint of him.

‘Do not condemn me,’ I will say to God,

‘but tell me what thou hast against me.

Does it befit thee to be hard on men,

to disdain what thou hast made?

Are thine eyes only mortal,

is thy sight no more than man’s,

are thy days short as a man’s days,

are thy years like a man’s life,

that thou huntest out my guilt

and searchest thus for sin in me,

all the while knowing I am innocent,

knowing there is no perfidy in me?

Thy hands shaped and moulded me;

and wilt thou turn round to destroy me?

Remember how thou madest me like clay;

and wilt thou grind me into dust again?

Didst thou not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese,

clothe me with skin and flesh,

knit me with bones and sinews?

Thou didst bestow upon me life and love,

my spirit was in thy charge and care.

And all the while this was thy dark design!--

plotting this, well I know it, against me!

If I do wrong, thou markest me,

and never wilt acquit me of iniquity.

If I am guilty, woe betide me!

If I am guiltless, I must hang my head!

For, if I dare to raise it, thou art after me like a lion,

so marvellously fresh in thine attacks,

so keen to put me in the wrong,

eager in thy rising wrath!

Why didst thou ever take me from the womb?

Why could I not have died there in the dark?

Then I would be as though I had not been,

borne from the womb straight to the tomb.

My days are few! let me alone awhile,

that I may have life bright with a brief smile,

before I leave it to return no more,

before I pass to darkness and deep gloom,

to a land dark as midnight, utter chaos,

with no light but the shades of death.’ ”

11 Then Zophar the Minsean replied:

“Is a crowd of words to go unanswered?

Is a glib talker to carry the day?

Are men to be silenced by your babbling?

Is no one to expose your blasphemies?

You say, ‘My life is pure,

I am clean in thy sight’?

If God would only speak,

and open his lips against you,

unfolding all the mysteries of 6 his wisdom,

the marvel of its methods,

then you would learn that God does not remember all your guilt against you!

Can you discover the deep things of God?

can you reach the Almighty’s range of wisdom?

Higher it is than heaven--how can you match it?

deeper than death--how can you measure it?

Its scope is vaster than the earth,

and wider than the sea.

If he imprisons and arraigns,

who, as you say, can stop him?

Well does he know who are worthless;

he sees guilt and he marks it,

training a worthless creature to be wise,

taming a wild colt of a man.

If you will turn your mind to God

and stretch your hands to him,

if sin you banish from your life,

and evil from your house,

then you can face him unashamed,

you may be firm and fearless;

you shall forget about your misery,

remembering it no more than floods gone by;

your life will rise more radiant than the noon,

your shadows will be like the dawn;

you can have hope and feel secure,

you can look round you and lie down in safety,

lie down with no one to alarm you;

nay, many will be suing for your favour.

But evil men will strain their eyes in vain,

no chance of an escape is left to them;

their one hope is to breathe their last.” 12 Then Eyob answered: 2 

“No doubt you are the men who know!

Wisdom will die with you!

But I have brains as well as you;

why, anyone knows all you say.

[[A man whose prayers were answered once by God,

is now derided by his friends!--

a just, a blameless man, derided!

Men at ease sneer at the unfortunate;

when a man falters, there are blows for him.

It is the plunderers who live unharmed;

those who provoke God are secure,

who make a god of their own power.]]

Ask the very beasts, and they will teach you;

ask the wild birds--they will tell you;

crawling creatures will instruct you,

fish in the sea will inform you:

for which of them all knows not

that this is the Eternal’s way,

in whose control lies every living soul,

and the whole life of man.

Does not a man’s mind test what he is told,

as the palate tastes food for itself?

Wisdom, you argue, lies with 12 aged men,

a long life means intelligence?

Nay, wisdom and authority belong to God;

strength and knowledge are his own.

He breaks down: there is no rebuilding;

imprisons: there is no release.

He holds the rain back: earth is dry;

he lets it loose: the land is overwhelmed.

Power and providence belong to him:

he is behind deceiver and deceived,

he strips statesmen of their wits,

and makes a fool of councillors,

he dismantles royalty,

and drives off kings in chains,

he marches priests away barefoot,

their ancient orders he o’er-throws,

orators he renders speechless,

aged men lose their judgment

he pours contempt on lords,

and he unnerves the powerful,

dark policies he brings to light,

and shady mysteries he exposes;

he will extend a nation, to undo it,

he will enlarge a nation, then enslave it;

he will distract its leading men

and set them in a pathless waste astray,

where in the dark they grope without a light,

wandering aimless like a drunken wight.

I have seen all this for myself,

I have myself heard it and noted it;

what you know, I know too,

I am no more fool than you.

Only--I would appeal to the Almighty,

it is with God that I would fain join issue.

You whitewash everything with lies,

you patch up futile arguments, all of you

If you would only hold your peace,

then you might pass for wise men!

listen now to the charge I bring,

hear what I have to urge;

listen to all I say,

give me a hearing as I plead my case.

Will you bring unfair arguments for God?

Will you tell lies on his behalf?

Will you be sycophants of the Almighty?

Will you be special pleaders for God?

Will it be well when he probes you?

Can you deceive him like a man?

No, he will punish you,

if you are sycophants of his in secret

Should not his majesty cause you to shudder?

should not the dread of him seize you?

Your maxims crumble like mere ashes,

your arguments collapse like mounds of clay.

Silence! let me alone--I must have speech,

whatever happens!

I will run any risks,

hazard my very life!

He may kill me--what else can I expect?--

but I will maintain my innocence to his face.

This should be in my favour,

that before him no godless man dare come.

I foresee how my case will go,

I know the verdict will be mine.

Will anyone disprove my innocence?

then I would be dumb and die!

Spare me two things alone, O God,

and then I need not hide away from thee;

lift off thy heavy hand,

scare me not with thy terrors,

then I will answer thy summons--

or, answer thou my summons.

Tell me all I have done wrong,

let me know what sin I am guilty of.

Thou wilt not? Why art thou unfriendly,

why treat me as thine enemy?

Wilt thou harry a poor fluttering leaf?

Wilt thou pursue a withered straw?

A bitter sentence thou hast passed on me,

that I must pay for errors of my youth!

Thou fastenest logs to my feet,

thou watchest every step I take;

thou hast clipped my roots, 5 

and hemmed my growth in narrow bounds.

Man born of woman

lives but a few days and is full of trouble;

he flowers and fades,

he is a fleeting shadow.

And thou wilt fasten upon such!

Thou wilt bring him to justice, 28 

his life all rotting in decay

like a moth-eaten robe! 4 

[[Oh that among the impure might be found

one pure man; but there is not one!]]

As thou hast fixed man’s days

and numbered his few months,

take thine eye off him, let him have some peace,

until his labouring day be done.

There is hope for a tree that is felled;

it may flourish yet again,

the shoots of it need not fail;

though its root decays in the soil,

though its stump is dead in the ground,

it may bud at the scent of water,

and put out boughs like a plant.

But man dies and departs,

man breathes his last--and where is he?

Like the water of a vanished lake,

like a dry, drained river,

man lies down, never to arise,

never to waken, though the skies wear out,

never to stir out of his slumber.

Would’st thou but hide me in the nether world,

concealing me until thy wrath is over,

and then remember me when it is time!

If only man might die and live again,

I could endure my weary post until relief arrived;

thou would’st call, and I would come,

when thou didst yearn for life that thou hadst made;

thou would’st not keep account of all I do,

thou would’st not watch for nothing but my faults;

my guilt would be sealed up and set aside,

thou would’st condone my sin.

But alas! even mountains crumble,

rocks are swept aside,

stones are worn out by water,

floods wash the soil away,

and thou destroyest all the hopes of man.

Thou art too strong for him, he has to go;

thou alterest his face in death, and he departs.

His sons are honoured, but he never knows;

his sons are shamed--he never feels it.

But his kinsfolk grieve for him,

and for him his servants mourn.”

15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

“Would any man of sense argue so wildly,

or make himself a windbag?

Would he talk on, to no profit,

with words that serve no purpose?

You undermine religion,

with your threatening of God;

it is your sin inspiring you to speak,

to choose your ground so cunningly.

Were you the first man to be born?

Are you older than the hills?

Are you a member of God’s inner council?

Have you made divine wisdom all your own?

Do you know anything we do not know?

What lore is yours that is not ours?

Grey hairs and age are on our side,

men older far than your own father.

The divine comfort that we bring, you slight,

these words of ours that deal with you so gently?

Why let your passions carry you away?

Why do your eyes flash proudly?

You are convicted out of your own mouth;

your own lips prove--not I--

that you turn angrily on God,

and talk rebelliously.

What is man? how should he be clean?

Man born of woman, how should he be pure?

Even on his angels God cannot rely,

the very heavens are stained to him;

and how much more a loathsome, tainted creature,

a man who gulps down wickedness like water.'

Listen, let me tell you this,

let me relate what I have learned--

a truth that wise men handed down,

imparted to them by their fathers,

who had the land all to themselves,

untainted by a foreigner.

‘The bad man suffers torment all his life,

through all the years he has to work his will.

Terrors are always sounding in his ears;

some plunderer will break his peace, he fears;

Of lasting through the dark hour, he despairs--

sure that his doom is fixed,

to be the vulture’s prey,

to perish by the sword;

the dark days terrify him,

anguish and agony overpower him.

For he challenged God,

he matched himself against the Almighty,

charging at him haughtily,

behind stout bossed shields--

so swollen in prosperity,

so bloated in his wealth.

He rebuilt ruined cities for himself,

places that no man ought to dwell in.

But what he won he cannot keep,

the harvest of his gain he cannot reap.

His branches wither in the heat,

his fruit is whirled off by the wind;

his boughs fade all too soon,

before their fronds are green;

he drops his unripe clusters like a vine,

he sheds his blossoms like an olive.

For the godless are a barren tribe,

and fire destroys the men who bribe;

big with mischief, they bear mischief--

disappointment--for themselves!’ ”

16 Then Eyob replied:

“Often have I heard you talk like that already--

plaguy comforters that you are!

Will your own windy speeches never end?

What ails you that you will be answering me?

I could talk as you talk,

if you were in my place;

I could string strictures upon you,

and toss my head in scorn;

I could talk courage to you,

would not spare the language of compassion!

I would not spare my pity if I spoke;

even were I silent, I would pity still!

Here is God wearing me out, dazing me!

My misery shrivels me up;

my gauntness proves my guilt,

it is an open evidence against me!

He flings me down and rends me in his rage,

he shows his teeth at me.

When I was happy, he, he crushed me,

he caught me by the neck and mangled me.

He set me up to be his target,

his arrows rain upon me,

piercing my vitals without pity,

till my entrails ooze out on earth.

Breach after breach he makes upon my walls,

he storms me with a warrior’s rush.

I have stitched sackcloth on my skin,

and bowed my glory to the dust;

my face is flushed with tears,

my eyes are dimmed,

though I have done no wrong,

although my life is innocent.

Cover not up my blood, O earth!

let the cry of it go wandering through the world!

Yet even already heaven has a witness for me,

and there is One on high to vouch for me.

My friends deride me,

but my tears turn to God in prayer,

that he would plead for man against Himself,

and vindicate a man against his friends!

Come but a few years more,

and I go, never to return; 17 

my strength and time are spent,

and the grave alone is left me.

Illusions are indeed my lot;

I face the bitter mockery of life.

Give me a pledge that thou thyself will act;

who else would undertake my cause against thee?

Thou has made me a byword in the world;

men look upon me like a monster--

like one who bids friends to a feast,

and lets his children starve!

My eyes are dimmed with weeping,

my limbs worn to a shadow;

my days pass in despair,

my heart is broken;

night is a day to me,

and light is darkness;

all I can hope for is a home below,

to make my bed in the darkness of death,

to call the tomb ‘my mother,’

to call the worm ‘my sister’!

Where, where is any bliss for me?

oh where can I see any hope?

Bliss and hope sink with me below;

we go down to the grave together.” 18 Then Bildad the Shuhite made reply: 2 

“Will you keep quiet?

silence! and let us speak.

Are we to be treated like beasts?

Think you, we are dumb cattle?

Good men are horrified at you, 8 

and honest men provoked by your impiety.

Nevertheless the upright shall not falter;

a stainless soul grows ever stronger.

See here, you angry creature,

tearing yourself to pieces in your rage!--

is the world to go to wrack and ruin,

are things to be upset, because of you?

No, the light of an evil man is quenched,

his fires shall fail,

the light in his home shall be dark,

the lamp over his head goes out;

his stride is checked,

his own plots make him slip;

he strangles himself in a net,

and sprawls within its meshes,

his heels are caught in a snare,

and the trap closes on him tight,

a noose lies hid for him upon the ground,

a pitfall on his path.

Terrors surround and startle him,

they chase him at his heels;

ruin is ravenous for him,

disaster only waits for him to stumble.

Sickness gnaws at his skin,

deadly disease eats away his limbs.

He shall be dragged from his security,

and haled before the king of terrors.

His home shall be infested with disease,

and brimstone shall be scattered on his homestead.

His roots shall be dried up below him,

his boughs shall wither overhead.

His memory shall vanish from the land;

he leaves no name on earth.

He shall be driven from light into the dark,

and chased out of the world.

He shall leave neither son nor scion;

not one remains in the old home.

His fate astounds the west,

appals the east.

So fares a godless home,

so fares the man who has no care for God.”

19 Then Eyob answered:

“How long will you harrow my soul,

and crush me with your words?

Time and again you have taunted me,

you have wronged me shamelessly.

Supposing I have sinned,

does my sin concern you?

Are you to lord it over me,

and to reproach me with my misery?

Understand, it is God who has undone me,

spreading his nets around me.

I cry out ‘Murder’!--there is no reply;

I call for help, and get no justice.

He has blocked up my road,

he has darkened my path,

he has stripped me of honour,

he has degraded me,

he has demolished me,

and torn my hope up by the roots;

he has flamed in wrath at me,

treating me as a foe;

on his troops come, in a swarm,

bent on besieging me!

My clansmen have abandoned me,

my friends are all estranged,

my kinsmen will not own me,

and my guests ignore me;

maids of mine treat me like a stranger,

to them I am an alien;

my serf will not obey my orders,

I have humbly to entreat him;

my breath is loathsome to my very wife,

my smell is hateful to my children;

even young lads despise me,

when I draw near they run away;

all my intimates detest me,

men I love turn against me.

My skin is clinging to my bones,

my teeth are falling out.

Have pity on me, O my friends, have pity,

for God’s own hand has struck me.

Why persecute me like God,

as if no slander were enough for you?

Oh that my defence were written,

oh that my case could be preserved in writing,

cut with an iron pen on lead,

or lastingly engraved on stone!

Still, I know One to champion me at last,

to stand up for me upon earth.

This body may break up, but 26 even then

my life shall have a sight of God;

my heart is pining as I yearn

to see him on my side,

see him estranged no longer.

O you who think to run me down,

to blame me for my sufferings,

beware of your false charges!

Such slanders call for God’s own sword,

to teach you impious men what the Almighty is.”

20 Zophar the Minaean answered:

“Now this does rouse my soul,

my heart is stirred,

to listen to your insults and excuses--

an empty answer to my arguments!

Know you not that from of old,

ever since man was in the world,

the sinner never sings for long,

and godless men have shortlived joy?

Though he may tower in triumph to the skies,

although his head may touch the very clouds,

he shall be swept away like his own dung,

till those who knew him ask, ‘Where is he?’

He disappears like a dream--no trace of him--

he vanishes like a vision of the night;

when manly vigour fills his frame,

he and his manly vigour go to dust;

he leaves his children poor,

his sons have to disgorge his plunder.

Though sin is a sweet morsel in his mouth,

though he rolls it under his tongue,

loth to let it go,

keeping it still on his palate,

yet the food turns to venom in his stomach,

to the poison of asps;

asps shall sting him with their tongues,

and he sucks in poison.

He has to vomit the wealth he has swallowed;

God makes him eject it.

He shall not feed on milk from the meadows,

on honey or on butter from the pastures;

his swelling hoards bring him no happiness,

he has no joy, for all his trafficking.

As he was hard upon the poor,

and seized on houses that he never built,

as his greed knew no pause,

he shall not save one thing that he desired;

as nothing ever escaped his grasp,

his own. prosperity shall not last;

for all his wealth, he finds himself in straits,

exposed to the full force of misery.

God lets his anger loose at him,

and rains on him his wrath!

He flies from men in iron mail,

and is shot down by a bow of bronze;

the arrow comes out at his back,

the point driven through his entrails;

death’s terrors close on him,

deep darkness is his doom.

A fire that no man lit consumes him,

burning up all he leaves at home;

his well-stored house is swept to ruin,

accursed in the day of wrath divine.

Heaven lays bare his guilt,

earth rises to denounce him.

This is what God bestows upon a sinner,

this is what God awards a godless man.”

21 Eyob replied:

“Attend to what I urge; “

it will console me, if you only listen!

Pray let me have my say;

and after I have spoken, mock away!

It is not against man that I complain;

so why should I be patient?

See here! let this astound you,

awe you into silence!--

when I think of it, I am all aghast,

I am seized with shuddering.

Why do wicked men live on,

live to be old and strong?

Their homes are safe from fear;

God’s rod never strikes them.

Their bulls breed without fail,

their cows calve safely.

They see their family flourishing,

their eyes rest on their offspring;

their children flock out to the fields,

boys and girls dancing merrily.

They sing to the lyre and tambourine,

make merry to the music of the pipe;

they lead a prosperous life,

die in peace--

men who bade God, ‘Begone from us;

we have no interest in thee and thine!

Why should we serve the Almighty?

What is the good of us praying to him?’ 18 

(--to him who fills them 18 with prosperity!

Far be such impious thoughts from me!) 16 

Are they not masters of their fortunes?

Does God concern himself with what they scheme?

How often does he extinguish evil men?

Tell me how often calamity befalls them!

How often does God rack them in his anger?

How often are they mere straws before the wind,

chaff swept before the storm?

‘God,’ you say, ‘punishes the children for it’?

Better he made the men themselves feel punishment!

The evil man should witness his own ruin,

and drink the Almighty’s anger for himself.

What interest has he in his family,

once his own span of life is snapped?

Does God draw any difference between men?

In high heaven is he governing this world?

Why, one man dies, robust and hale,

in full peace and prosperity;

his powers are full and fresh,

his health is sound.

Another man dies, brokenhearted,

and never gets the good of life.

Both lie down in the dust together,

and worms swarm over both of them.

I know what you are thinking,

I know the cruel wrong you do me.

Why offer me your idle consolations,

when all you urge is false?

‘What of the tyrant’s house?’ you ask,

‘where are the dwellings of evil men?’

Well, talk to travellers,

learn what they have to tell:

of how an evil man is spared calamity,

how he goes scatheless from the wrath of God.

Who ever tells him plainly what 31 he is?

Who ever punishes him for his misdeeds?

No, he is carried to a stately grave,

and all men follow his great funeral;

quiet he lies amid the clods,

and well his tomb is cared for.”

22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

“Can man offer God any insight,

so that a sage should be of use to him?

Has the Almighty any interest in your goodness?

Does he gain by your blameless life?

Why should he punish you for your religion,

and pass sentence on you?

Grave must your guilt be,

endless your sins.

You have fleeced your fellows selfishly,

and stripped your debtors to the skin;

you have not given the weary any water,

the hungry you have starved;

you have sent widows away empty-handed,

you have been oppressing orphans,

to let the powerful hold the land,

to let squires settle down.

Therefore it is that snares close on you,

and panic fear is scaring you;

therefore has your light turned to darkness,

and floods have overwhelmed you.

Is not God high in heaven?

Does he not look down on the topmost star?

And yet you say, ‘God never notices!

Can he rule through the darkness dense?

He moves on the high vault of heaven;

he cannot see us for the clouds that veil him.’

Is that the line you choose,

the line that evil men took long ago?

They came to an untimely end;

when the floods undermined them,

good men rejoiced to see their fate,

and over them the guiltless jeered,

shouting, ‘Our* foes are now effaced,

and what they leave the flames will bum!’

Give way to God, submit to him,

and it will mean prosperity for you;

accept the orders that he issues,

take his words to heart.

If you turn humbly to the Almighty,

and banish evil from your home,

[[if you will throw your treasures to the ground,

and fling your gold of Ophir in the stream,

and make the Almighty himself your treasure,

sound wisdom your wealth,]]

then the Almighty shall be a joy to you,

and you can raise your eyes to God;

when you pray, he will answer you,

and then you can fulfil your vows to him;

whatever you plan shall prosper,

and you shall live in sunshine;

for he humbles haughty upstarts,

and he helps the lowly,

he saves those who are guiltless,

rescuing them for their unspotted record.” 23 Then Eyob replied: 2 

“But my complaint is bit- 2 ter still;

under his heavy hand I lie and moan.

Oh that I knew where to find 3 him,

how to reach his very throne,

and there lay my case before him,

arguing it out to the full!

Fain would I learn what his reply would be,

and understand what he would say to me.

Would he confront me with his 6 almighty power?

No, he would listen to me;

there I might argue with him as one innocent,

and have my judge acquit me for all time.

But I go forward, and he is not there;

backward, and yet I cannot behold him;

I seek him on my left, in vain;

when I turn to the right, I cannot see him.

Yet he knows how I live;

when he tests me, I shall prove sterling gold,

I have kept closely to his footsteps,

never swerving from his path;

I never stray from his commands,

I treasure up his orders.

But who can make him change his mind?

He does whatever he may choose!

So I am cowed before him;

the thought of him dismays me.

For God makes my heart faint,

the Almighty cows me;

I am appalled at his dark mystery,

and its black shadow has bewildered me. 24 

Why has not the AImighty sessions of set justice?

Why do his followers never see him intervening?

Evil men are removing landmarks,

plundering flocks and shepherds,

driving off the orphan’s ass,

seizing the widow’s cow for debt,

tearing the fatherless babe from her breast,

seizing the very infants of the poor for debt,

evicting poor folk, till these 4 humble souls

must hide and huddle away;

they wander like the wild ass in the desert,

roaming in search of food--

for the children have no bread.

They have to steal corn from the fields by night,

and rob the vineyards of the rich;

all night they lie naked, unclad, uncovered from the cold,

drenched by downpour from the hills,

and clinging to rocks for shelter,

till vigour fails them, 2 

and their vital strength is gone.

Gaunt with hunger and with want,

they gnaw herbs in the wold,

gathering saltwort under bushes,

using broom-roots for their fuel.

They grope in waste and desolate places,

driven from the haunts of men--

the hue and cry after them, like thieves!

They live in dark ravines,

in caves and rocks,

grunting among the bushes,

coupling under the scrub,

brainless creatures and base-born,

routed out of the country.

Some have to go bare, sy A unclothed, 10 

hungry while they are harvesting,

pressing the oil between the 11 rows of olives,

thirsty while they crush wine from grapes.

Others evade the daylight,

caring not for the ways of God,

refusing to pursue his paths.

The murderer rises in the dark,

to kill poor folk and helpless;

The groan of victims rises from the town,

and wounded men cry out--

but God pays no heed to the crime.

The adulterer watches for the twilight;

he muffles up his face,

and mutters, ‘Not a soul will see me!’

The thief prowls in the night,

and breaks into houses in the dark;

thieves keep themselves shut up during the day,

they all detest the light;

they choose the midnight as their time,

they are familiar with the ways of darkness.

[[He is swept off by the flood,

a curse lies on his property;

no foot turns to his vineyard,

ruined by drought and heat,

flooded with melting snow.

The streets of his native place forget him,

his greatness is no more remembered,

he is uprooted like a rotten tree,

he who ill-treats the widow,

and pities not her children.]]

Yet God lets them remain alive and strong;

they rise, though they despaired of life;

He lets them rest in safety,

he watches over them!

[[Have patience! they will soon be gone,

brought low and bundled off like all the rest,

lopped like the ears of com.]]

Who can deny it? who can prove I lie,

and show that what I urge is idle talk?”

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite * answered: 2 

“What a help you are to poor God!

What a support to his failing powers!

What wise directions you can give to him,

out of your ample stores of knowledge!

Who helped you to such eloquence?

Who was it that inspired you?

He wields a dread authority,

he keeps the peace within high heaven.

His armies, who can number them?

Whom cannot he surprise and seize?

Then how can man be just before God?

How can a mortal man be pure?

To him the very moon is not unsullied,

the very stars are stained!

How much more that mere maggot, man,

that worm, a mortal man?

Before him the primaeval giants writhe,

under the ocean in their prison;

the underworld lies open to his eyes,

the nether regions are unveiled.

The northern skies he spreads o’er empty space,

and hangs the earth on nothing;

he wraps up water in his clouds,

and the clouds burst not under it;

he veils the face of the full moon,

spreading his cloud over it.

The dome of heaven he arched over the deep,

bounding the darkness from the light;

then swayed the pillars of the sky,

appalled at the thunder of his rebuke;

by his power he quelled the sea,

and by his wisdom he laid low the Dragon;

by his breath the skies were cleared,

and his hand maimed the swift cloud-monster.

And all this is the mere fringe of his force,

the faintest whisper we can hear of him!

Who knows then the full thunder of his power?”

27 Then Eyob again replied:

“As God lives, who has wronged me,

as the Almighty lives, who has embittered me,

I swear I speak the truth,

no lie upon my lips,

when I maintain (by God!) that you are wrong,

when I assert that I am innocent!

For I am sound and sane;

God’s breath is in me.

I hold unflinching to my innocence;

not for one hour need I reproach myself.

• • • • •

You have all seen this for yourselves;

then why vapour so vainly?”

7 Zophar the Minsean replied:

“May my worst enemy fare like the wicked,

may my foe die the death of the unjust!

For what hope has a godless man,

when God demands his soul?

Will God ever listen to his cry,

when woe befalls him?

Will he obtain his wish from 10 the Almighty?

Will the Almighty heed him when he calls?

I can show you how God’s n power works,

I will disclose the dealings of the Almighty.

Here is what God awards an 13 evil man,

what the Almighty bestows upon a tyrant:

if his children grow up, some fall by the sword,

some starve;

his sons are victims of the plague,

their widows cannot wail for them;

he may store silver up like dust,

and prepare robes abundant as the clay;

he may prepare them, but the just shall wear them,

and good men shall divide his silver;

the house he builds is like a spider’s,

flimsy as a watchman’s shelter.

He lies down rich--it is the end!

he opens his eyes, to find that all is over!

Terrors seize him in the day,

a tempest carries him off by night;

an east wind whirls him clean away,

sweeping him from his site.

God pelts him without pity,

though fain he would escape;

God openly derides him,

and hisses scorn at him from heaven.

Where is wisdom to be ey found?

And knowledge, where does it abound?

For silver there are mines,

and places for refining gold;

iron from the earth is taken,

copper smelted out of stones.

Men searched the darkness to its depth,

and in the pitchy gloom for stones they grope;

they run a shaft down, far from daylight,

they hang below, swinging upon a rope.

A harvest comes out of the earth below,

when the miner blasts it underground;

sapphires lie among its stones,

and he picks up lumps of gold;

he falls to work upon the flinty rocks,

he turns hills up by the roots;

he drills a channel in the cliff,

to draw the water off;

he delves for what is rare,

and hidden gems he will unbare.

But where is wisdom to be found?

And knowledge, where does it abound?

No vulture knows the path to it,

no hawk’s eye ever spies it,

no proud beast ever paces it,

no lion moves along it;

not a man knows that path,

in the land of the living none finds it.

The deep says, ‘Not in me!’

The sea says, ‘Not in me!’

No solid gold can purchase wisdom,

no silver can be paid for her;

there is no price for her in gold of Ophir,

in precious beryls or in sapphires;

gold and glass are no match for her,

jewels of gold are no exchange for her;

coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;

wisdom is more precious even than rubies;

the Ethiopian chrysolite is not equal to her,

no weight of gold can be paid down for her.

Where is wisdom to be found?

And knowledge, where does it abound?

For she is hid from every living creature,

even from the eyes of a wild bird.

Death and the underworld declare,

‘We have only heard of her.’

God knows where she is,

God only is aware of her abode;

for he saw to the very ends of earth,

he scanned the whole world under heaven,

when he fixed the forces of the wind,

and measured out the waters,

when he made rules for the rain,

and paths for the lightning flash;

he saw wisdom then, and studied her,

worked with her and proved her.

And he declares to man, ‘For you

to revere me is your wisdom,

to shun evil--that is knowledge!” ’

29 Then Eyob again replied:

“Oh to be as once I was in months gone by,

in the days when God was guarding me,

when his lamp shone over my head,

and I could walk by his light through the dark!

Oh to be as I once was in my prime,

when God was kindly sheltering my home,

when the Almighty still was with me,

when my children were about me,

when my farms were a-flow with milk,

and oil gushed from my oil- press!

When I went to the city-council,

and sat down among the burghers,

the youths fell back before me,

seniors rose to their feet,

the nobles ceased to talk,

and held their peace,

the magnates became mute,

and were struck dumb.

Men listened to me carefully,

q2 and silently awaited my advice;

my words fell fresh on them like showers,

they waited for me as for rain,

like the dry clods in spring for rain,

and when I spoke, no one would speak again.

When I smiled, it encouraged them,

my cheerful gaze put heart into the hopeless;

I fixed their policy, I presided there,

commanding as a monarch among men.

Men blessed me when they heard of me,

men owned my worth who saw me;

for I delivered poor men when they cried,

the fatherless and helpless;

perishing people would give me their blessing,

I gladdened the heart of the widow;

I wore the robe of charity and 14 kindness,

my justice was a tunic and a turban;

I was eyes to the blind,

I was feet to the lame,

I was a father to protect the poor,

taking their case up, though it was not mine;

I broke the jaws of any who oppressed,

and forced their fangs to drop their prey.

So I thought, ‘I shall grow old among my brood,

my days shall be like sand for number;

my roots reach to the water,

the dew lies on my branches all the night;

fresh honours fall to me,

I grow in might.’ 30 

And now my juniors mock me

men whose sires I would have 1 scorned

to trust with a sheep-dog’s task! 11 

God leaves me to these impudent lads,

he throws me to malicious men;

my foes glare on me grimly,

panting with open mouth,

they strike me on the cheek, insulting me,

banding together to attack me. 9 

I am the butt of their songs,

I am a byword among them;

they loathe me, hold aloof from me,

and at the sight of me spit in disgust.

They have unstrung me and undone me,

with their unbridled onset;

a rabble rises against me,

they set on to besiege me,

they cut off my escape,

determined to destroy me;

and, loose to all restraints,

they pour in at the open breach,

rushing upon me through the ruined wall.

Thus terrors are let loose on me;

my happiness is blown away,

and like a cloud my welfare disappears.

So now my soul within me melts with sorrow,

misery masters me;

the bones are rotting in my body,

the pain that gnaws me never slumbers;

my skin is wrinkled with the fell disease,

drawn tight over my limbs.

God has plunged me in the mud,

I am reduced to dust and ashes.

Thou wilt not answer when I cry,

thou hast ceased to care for me;

thou hast turned cruel to me,

thou layest thy heavy lash on me,

thou tossest me before the wind,

I break up under the blast;

for I know thou wilt house me with death,

where all the living have to dwell.

And yet a sinking man will stretch his hand,

crying for help in his calamity.

Will not a man in trouble weep?

Is not the soul of the forlorn distressed?

I hoped for good, and evil came,

I waited for the light, and darkness fell;

my heart is hot and restless,

misery faces me;

I wail, with none to comfort me,

fit company for howling jackals,

for any pack of wolves,

for screaming ostriches.

My skin is peeling off me blackened,

my limbs burn with the fever,

my dances turn to dirges,

my lyrics to laments.

Let God take scales of justice to my life,

and he would own that I am innocent!

If ever I lived a false life,

if ever I took to fraud,

if ever I went wrong,

if my heart ever followed my eyes,

may others eat up what I sow,

and may my crops be rooted up!

I laid an interdict upon my eyes,

never to look with longing on a maiden.

What would I get from the High God for that?

What would the Almighty send on me for that?

What but the suffering that falls to sinners,

the ruin that rewards the vicious?

Does he not see whate’er I do,

and count each step I take?

If ever my heart was enticed by women,

if ever I haunted my neighbour’s door,

may my own wife be a slave to strangers,

a concubine for other men!

Adultery would be an infamous offence,

a crime that calls for punishment;

it is a fire that burns life to a cinder,

it would burn up whatever I possess.

If ever I ignored the rightful claim

of any servant, man or woman,

what could I do when God rose up?

If he took me to task, what could I say?

No, I feared suffering at the hands of God;

I could not do it, in my dread of him.

Did not my Maker make my servant too,

and form us both alike within the womb?

I never grudged a poor man anything,

I never let a widow pine in want;

I never ate my bite of food alone

and did not share it with the fatherless.

For, like a father, God has brought me up,

caring for me since ever I was bom.

If ever I saw any perishing

for lack of clothing, naked in their need,

and did not warm them with my fleeces,

till they blessed me for covering them;

if ever I sued unoffending men,

because I knew the verdict would be mine;

then may my shoulder drop from its socket,

my arm snap from the collarbone!

If ever my land accused me,

if the furrows all complained with tears,

that I paid not for the fields I worked,

or murdered those who owned the land,

may thorns grow up instead of wheat,

foul weeds for barley!

If ever I relied on gold,

or rested everything on solid gold,

if I rejoiced because my wealth was great,

because my hands had gathered riches;

if I looked on the shining sun

or on the moon that moved in splendour,

and let my heart go out to them,

wafting a kiss to them,

that also would be a crime for punishment,

for I should have denied the God on high.

If ever I rejoiced at my foe’s ruin,

or exulted when evil befell him,

or practised the sweet sin of cursing him

and praying for his death;

if my household did not say,

‘Who is not satisfied with his provision?’

(for never a stranger had to sleep in the streets--

I opened my door to the traveller);

if ever I concealed my sin from men,

covering up my guilt,

if ever I kept quiet within doors,

afraid of what the crowd would say,

dreading public opinion--

well, here I enter my own plea of innocence.

Oh for a hearing!

Oh for an answer from the Almighty!

Would that I had his indictment,

whatever my Opponent has against me!

Proud would I be to bear it on my shoulder,

to bind it like a crown upon my head,

entering his presence like a prince,

and telling every detail of my life.” 32 Eyob ended, and the three men said no more to him, because he considered himself in the right. 2 Then Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite, belonging to the clan of Ram, blazed out in anger--against Eyob, for making himself out to be better than God, 3 but also against his three friends for compromising God by failing to refute Eyob. 4 As they were older men, Elihu had waited for them to argue with Eyob; 5 but when Elihu saw that the three men had no answer to make, his anger blazed. 6 Then said Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite:

“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.

Now, Eyob, listen and attend;

be silent, let me speak!

If you have anything to say, indeed,

then answer, for I fain would see you cleared;

not, then listen to me,

be silent, I will teach you wisdom. 16 

Pray understand this,

listen to my lesson:

Can one opposed to justice govern?

Would you denounce the strong God and the just,

who tells a king he is a knave,

tells nobles they are villains,

who never favours princes,

never prefers rich men to poor?

All are his handiwork,

and suddenly, at midnight, they are dead!

Rich men are torn away,

the mighty disappear mysteriously,

for God’s eye is on human life,

he watches every step that a man takes;

there is no darkness, there are no black shadows,

where evildoers can ever hide.

God has not to fix sessions,

in order to bring men to justice;

shatters mighty men without a trial,

and leaves their place to other men;

he overturns them in the night,

because he marks what they are doing;

he breaks the villains in his wrath,

and strikes them down before the world,

because they swerved from following his lead,

reckless of all his rules,

till wails reached him from the oppressed,

and cries from the forlorn came to his ears.

If he did nothing, who would dare denounce him?

Were he indifferent, who dare blame him?--

though he does watch over men and nations,

that none may reign who would beguile the people.

No, tell God: ‘Now that I have suffered,

I will offend no more;

teach me what I am blind to,

and, if I sinned, I will not sin again.’

Leave him to deal with you, as he may please;

are you to choose the terms, not God?

Say what you like,

but thinking men will say with me,

any wise man who hears me will agree,

that Eyob has been speaking thoughtlessly,

his words are void of wisdom.

Oh that the trials of Eyob might continue,

for his impious replies!

He adds rebellion to his guilt,

by heaping scornful blasphemies on God.” 35 Elihu went on: 2 

“Is it fair, think you--

call this your ‘rights before God’?--

to ask, ‘What do I gain,

what good is it to me, if I sin not?’

Well, I will answer you,

you and your friends.

Look up to heaven, on Mgh,

behold the skies above;

how can your sin injure God?

What are your many misdeeds to Mm?

Your innocence--is that a gain to him?

Can you be any benefit to Mm?

Your guilt affects men like yourself,

your innocence is man’s concern alone.

Eyob argues idly,

lavishing words thoughtlessly;

he never asks, ‘Where is God my Maker,

who gives men songs of gladness in the night,

who grants us better knowledge than the beasts,

more wisdom than the birds?'

God will not listen to an idle outcry,

the Almighty will not heed it-—

as when you say you ‘cannot see him’!

Hush! only wait for him.

But now, because his anger does not strike,

he is not serious about sin, you say!” 36 Then Elihu continued: 2 

“One moment I will soon convince you:

there is still something to be said for God!

I will now justify my Creator

from a wide survey of the truth.

Truly it is no false plea that I urge;

here stands a man whose insight is unerring!

The stubborn God disdains,

he will not spare the wicked,

he rights those who are 'wronged,

and gives the just their due; 9 

when they cry, cruelly oppressed,

for rescue from the tyrant’s arm,

cry out against his impious pride,

and can get no redress, 37 

he seats them beside kings,

high on a throne.

When they are fettered,

fast bound in misery,

he lets them see what they have done,

so proudly, so rebelliously;

he makes them listen to sense then,

bidding them turn from sin.

If they will hear him and submit,

they spend a life of prosperous days,

and pleasant years.

But if not, then they die a violent death,

perishing in their folly;

godless at heart, they are enraged with him,

they will not cry for help when he confines them;

they die an early death,

like men, debased by vice.

God saves the sufferer by suffering,

and by adversity gets them to listen;

but your wide freedom has beguiled you,

your life so undisturbed,

With never trouble to haunt you,

with rich food on your table.

And so you meet the full doom of the wicked;

God’s judgment grips you.

Let not his chastening make you rage at him;

let not the cost of discipline deter you.

Would your wealth save you without suffering,

or all the strength you have at your command?

Let not your folly tempt you to be proud,

like men who think that they know everything.

Beware, banish all evil thoughts

--you prefer sin to suffering!

God’s power has a high hand;

who calls him to account?

Who ever tells him what to do?

Who says, ‘Thou hast done wrong’?

Remember to extol him for his creation,

that has moved men to song,

that all men love to see,

though man beholds it only from afar,

He draws up water from the sea,

distils it from his vapours,

and pours the rain down from the clouds,

dropping in showers on man;

therewith he sustains the nations,

arid provides food for mankind.

Who knows how the clouds are spread,

or how he thunders out of his pavilion?

Lo, he surrounds himself with clouds,

and shrouds the mountain-tops;

he hurls the lightning from an unseen hand,

and bids it strike the mark;

the thunder tells of him,

of anger blazing at iniquity.

Does it not make you tremble?

does it not make your heart leap to your mouth?

Listen, oh listen to his voice so loud,

to the rumbling from his lips!

He sends the sound pealing across the sky;

he sends his flash to the fringes of the earth.

After the lightning comes a roar,

God thundering in his majesty;

nor does he hold the downpour back,

whenever his voice thunders.

God lets us see his wonders;

great things he does, beyond our ken.

He bids the snow fall on the earth,

also the heavy rains,

that keep men within doors--

to let all mortals feel his power;

the beasts retire into their dens,

and lurk inside their lairs.

Storms blow out of the south,

and cold comes from the north;

the ice forms at his breath,

and freezes the broad water hard;

he loads a heavy cloud with hail,

and from the clouds his lightning scatters,

darting here and darting there,

turning as he directs it,

doing whatsoe’er he bids it

over all his world,

either smiting with a curse,

or sent in mercy.

Listen to this, Oh Eyob, stand still

think of the wonders of God.

when God works, do you know how?--

he makes lightning flash from the clouds?

Do you know how the clouds are poised,

that pour a deluge when it thunders?

Do you know why your clothes are hot,

when he stills the earth for the sirocco?

Can you, like him, roll out the sky,

solid, as any molten mirror?

Tell me, what can we say to him?

How can we argue, with our darkened minds?

What! man to cavil at his word?

Man to charge him with confusion?

Men cannot gaze even upon yonder sun,

so dazzling in the heavens,

now that the wind has come to clear the clouds,

now radiant light streams from the northern sky;

and the Splendour of God is awful,

the Almighty is beyond our minds.

Supreme in power and rich in justice,

he violates no right.

For this men do him reverence,

and thoughtful men revere him.”

38 Then the Eternal answered Eyob out of a storm, saying:

“Who darkens my design

with a cloud of thoughtless words?

Confront me like a man;

come answer me these my questions

When I founded the earth, where were you then?

Answer me that, if you have wit to know

Who measured out the earth?--do you know that?

Who stretched the builder's line?

What were its pedestals placed on?

Who laid the corner-stone,

when the morning-stars were singing,

and all the angels chanted in their joy?

Who helped to shut in the sea,

when it burst from the womb of chaos,

when I swathed it in mists,

and swaddled it in clouds of darkness,

when I fixed its boundaries,

barred and bolted it,

saying, ‘Thus far and no further!

Here your proud waves shall not pass’?

Have you ever roused the morning,

given directions to the dawn,

to catch earth by the corners

and shake out the wicked?--

earth stands out clear like clay stamped by a seal,

in all its colours like a robe,

while wicked men are robbed of their dark hours,

and their uplifted arms are broken.

What path leads to the home of Light,

and where does Darkness dwell?

Can you conduct them to their fields,

and lead them home again?

Have you found out the fountains of the sea?

Have you set foot upon the depths of ocean?

Have the gates of Death been ever shown to you?

Have the warders cowered before you?

Have you grasped earth in all its breadth?

How large is it? Tell me, if you know that.

Surely you know! you, born when it was made,

you who have lived so long!

Have you ever entered the stores of the snow?

Have you seen the arsenals of hail--

the hail I keep for stormy days,

for battery and assault?

How are the mists marshalled,

that scatter fresh water on earth?

Who cut a channel for the rain in torrents,

who made a path for thunderbolts--

raining on lands where no man lives,

on deserts uninhabited,

to gladden lonely wastes,

and clothe the dry land with green award?

Have showers a human sire?

Who was the father of the dew?

From whose womb came the ice?

Who gave birth to the hoarfrost,

when water freezes hard as stone,

and the ice hides the depth below?

Can you bind up the Pleiades in a cluster,

or loose the chains of Orion?

Can you direct the signs of the Zodiac?

or guide the constellations of the Bear?

Can you control the skies?

Can you prescribe their sway over the earth?

Can you send orders to the clouds,

for water in abundance to be yours?

Can you send out the lightning on its mission?

Does it say humbly to you, 'Here am I'?

Who taught the feathery clouds, or trained the meteors?

or trained the meteors?

Who has the skill to mass the clouds,

or tilt the pitchers of the sky,

when the soil runs into cakes of earth,

and the clods stick fast together?

Can you hunt for the lioness,

and feed her hungry cubs,

Who furnishes the lion's food at evening,

when his young ones cry to God,

seeking their prey?

Do you know how wild goats breed upon the hills?

Can you control the calving of the hinds?

Do you fix their appointed time?

Do you know when they are to bear?

Down they bend, and the womb opens,

as they drop their young--

lusty offspring, thriving in the open,

that run off and return not to the herd.

Who gave the wild ass his freedom?

Who let the swift ass roam at large,

whose home I make the steppes,

whose dwelling is the salty land?

He scorns the noisy town,

he hears no driver’s shout;

he scours the hills for pasture,

in search of any green thing.

Will the wild ox be content to slave for you?

Will he stay in your stable?

Can you rope him to your plough?

Will he harrow the furrows for you?

Will you trust to his tremendous strength,

and let him do your fieldwork?

Will you rely on him to come

and carry corn home to your threshing-floor?

Do you supply the war-horse with his strength,

or cover his neck with the tossing mane?

Do you make him leap forward like a locust,

snorting bravely, furiously?

He paws the valley proudly,

facing the clash of arms;

he mocks at fear, unterrified,

he flies not from the sword;

the quiver rattles against him,

the glittering spear and javelin,

but on he charges in wild rage,

straight ahead, never swerving;

the trumpet sounds--‘Aha!’ he cries,

scenting the battle from afar,

where captains thunder, ’mid the shouts of war.

Does your wit send the hawk to soar

and spread her wings for the south?

Does your word make the eagle mount

to nest aloft among the hills?

Her home is high upon the cliffs,

on the peak of the crag she perches;

she spies her prey from the height,

with eyes that see from far;

her young ones suck up blood,

and where the slain are, there is she.

[[The ostrich flaps her wings in pride;

but is the feathered creature kind?

She leaves her eggs upon the earth

to warm and hatch out in the dust,

forgetting that a foot may crush them,

or a wild beast tread on them--

harsh to her young, as if they were not hers,

unheeding though her labour is in vain;

for God makes her devoid of 17 sense,

he denies her intelligence.

Let hunters come, and she will scour the plain,

scorning the horse and its rider.]]

Will critics still dispute with the Almighty?

To argue with God, answer all these questions.

Will you seek to discredit my just ruling?

To justify yourself, will you condemn me?

If you have an arm like God’s

if you can thunder with a voice like his,

then deck yourself in majesty and pomp,

array yourself in grandeur and in glory;

pour out the fury of your wrath

abase all who are proud,

lay all the lofty low,

and crush the wicked on the spot,

bury them all in the dust,

and shroud their faces with the darkness;

then I will offer praise to you,

because your own right hand wins victory!”

3 Then Eyob replied to the Eternal:

“I am of small account: how can I answer thee?

I lay my hand upon my lips;

once I have spoken--never again!

twice--but I will not say one other word! 42 

I admit thou canst do anything,

that nothing is too hard for thee.

I thoughtlessly confused the issues;

I spoke without intelligence,

of wonders far beyond my ken.

I had heard of thee by hearsay,

but now mine eyes have seen thee;

so I despise myself,

in dust and ashes I repent.”

7 Now after the Eternal had spoken thus to Eyob, the Eternal said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My anger is hot against you and your two friends, for, unlike my servant Eyob, you have not told the truth about me." 8 But go to my servant Eyob with seven bullocks and seven rams: offer them as a burnt-sacrifice for yourselves, and my servant Eyob shall intercede for you; out of regard for him, I will not wreak destruction upon you for your impiety.” 9 Whereupon Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Minaean, went and did as the Eternal had told them; and the Eternal paid regard to Eyob’s intercession. 10 Also, when Eyob prayed for his friends, the Eternal turned his own fortunes; the Eternal gave Eyob twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came all his brothers and sisters and his old friends; they dined with Eyob in his house, condoling with him and consoling him for all the misery that the Eternal had brought upon him; they each presented him with a piece of money and a gold ring.

12 In the end, then, the Eternal made Eyob more prosperous than he had been at first; he had fourteen thousand sheep and goats, six thousand camels, a thousand pair of oxen, and a thousand she-asses; 13 also, he had seven sons, and three daughters 14 whom he called Ringdove, Cassia, and Applescent. 15 In all the world there were no women to be found as handsome as the daughters of Eyob; their father even let them share the right of inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After this Eyob lived for a hundred and forty years; he lived to see his grandsons and great-grandsons--four generations. 17 Then Eyob died, old, after a full life.

[[Look at the hippopotamus there,

munching grass like an ox!

Look at the strength of his thighs,

and the stout muscles of his belly;

his tail is stiff as any cedar,

the sinews of his thighs are closely knit;

his bones are tubes of bronze,

his ribs like iron bars,

He is God’s very masterpiece,

made to be lord of his fellows.

The rivers furnish him with food;

wild animals are all amazed at him,

as there he lies, below the lotus-trees,

in covert of the reed and fen,

in the shade of thorny thickets,

surrounded by the water-willows.

He never trembles, though the torrent rages;

he is unmoved amid the swollen streams.

Who catches him with any barb?

Who runs a rope through his nose?

All hopes of seizing him are vain;

the very sight of him dismays.

No one is bold enough to stir him up;

what man could face him?

Who could attack him with success?

None, none beneath the sky.

No hunter would survive to boast

and brag of his exploits and his fine arms.

Can you pull out the crocodile with a hook,

or tie his tongue down with a string,

or run a cord right through his gills,

or carry him with a gaff between his jaws?

Will he make many a prayer to you?

Will he speak softly to you?

Will he come to terms with you,

always to be at your service?

Will you play with him like a pet bird,

or cage him to amuse your maidens?

Will fishermen make a meal of him?

Will traders cut him up?

Can you plant harpoons in his skin,

or pierce the head of him with spears?

Just lay a hand on him!--just once!--

you will not forget the fray!

Who can strip him of his hide?

Who can pierce his armoured scales?

Who can force open his jaws?

His teeth are a terror!

His back is row on row of shields,

sealed close and tight,

one scale so near another

that no air can pass between,

welded each to each,

clasped till they cannot be parted.

The light plays on his snorting snout;

his eyes flash like the morning rays;

flames issue from his mouth,

and sparks fly out;

steam pours out of his nostrils,

as from a seething, boiling pot;

his breath would kindle coals,

with the fire from his mouth.

Strength is seated in his neck--

all creatures twitch in terror at him.

Firm are the flakes of his flesh;

his heart is stout as a mill- 24 stone.

When he comes up, strong men are terrified,

scared by the swirl in the water;

no sword avails against him,

no spear, no dart, no shaft;

he treats a harpoon like a straw,

a bronze lance is like rotten wood;

no arrow makes him fly,

stones from a sling to him are merely stubble,

bludgeons are mere bulrushes,

and whizzing javelins he derides.

His lair is the sharp rocks,

he rests his loins upon the mud.

He makes the water boil and foam,

churning the deep like unguents in a pot;

he leaves a shining furrow in his wake--

one would think the deep was hoary!

Nowhere on earth is there the like of him,

a creature born to know no fear;

wild animals are all in fear of him,

the monarch of proud creatures.]]