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OEB by section JOB 21:1

⌂ ← JOB 21:1–26:14 → ║ ═ ©

ACT III

Eliphaz’s Cruel and Baseless Charges

22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said

2 Can a man bring profit to God?

Nay, the wise man but profits himself

3 Doth Almighty God care for thy righteousness?

Hath He gain from thy blameless ways?

4 For thy piety would He chastise thee,

Or enter with thee into judgment?

5 Is not thy wickedness great?

Are not thine iniquities endless?

6 Thou hast wrongly taken pledge of thy brother,

And stripped from the naked their clothing.

7 No water thou gavest the weary,

And bread thou hast held from the hungry.

8 The land was for him that was strong,

And the man of rank made it his own.

9 Thou has sent widows empty away,

Orphan arms thou hast broken in pieces:

10 And therfore are snares round about thee,

And fear on a sudden confounds thee.

11 Thy light is vanished in darkness,

And floods of waters are over thee.

12 Is not God in the heights of heaven?

And the tops of the high stars He seeth.

13 Yet thou sayest, "What doth God know?

Can He judge aright through the thick darkness?

14 The clouds hide Him, so that He sees not;

He walketh the vault of the heavens."

15 Wilt thou keep to the ancient way,

Which men of sin have trodden,

16 Who untimely were snatched away.

While the ground beneath ran like a stream?

19 The righteous rejoiced at the sight,

And the innocent laughed them to scorn.

20 "Ah! surely our foes are cut off,

And the remnant devoured by the fire."

21 Now be friendly with Him and submissive,

For this is the way to happiness.

22 Acccept from His mouth instruction,

And lay up His words in thy heart.

23 If thou humbly turn to Almighty,

And put away sin from thy tent,

24 And lay in the dust thy treasure,

Ophir gold among stones of the brook,

25 That Almighty become thy treasure,

And His instruction thy silver,

26 Then Almighty shall be thy delight,

Thou shalt lift up thy face unto God.

27 He will hearken unto thy petition,

And so shalt thou pay thy vows.

28 The thing thou decreest shall stand,

And light shall shine on thy ways.

29 For He humbles the high and the proud;

But whose eyes are lowly He saveth.

30 The innocent man He delivers,

And saves for this cleanness of hands.

Job’s Second Sustained Indictment of the Existing Order

23 The Job answered and said:

2 This day also my plaint must be bitter;

His hand on my groaning lies heavy.

3 O that I knew where to find Him,

That I might come unto His throne,

4 And set forth my cause before Him,

With arguments filling my mouth!

5 I would know with what words He would answer,

And understand what He would say to me.

6 Would He use His great power in the contest?

Nay, He would give heed unto me.

7 There the upright might argue with Him,

And my right I should rescue for ever.

8 Behold, I go east, but He is not:

And west, but I cannot perceive Him.

9 Seek on the north, but in vain:

I turn south, but I cannot behold Him.

10 But He knoweth the way that is mine;

I would come forth as gold, should He try me.

11 My foot hath held fast to His steps,

And His way have I kept without swerving.

12 Not once have I strayed from His precepts;

His words have I hid in my bosom.

13 But when He hath resolved – who can turn Him?

And what He desireth, He doeth.

15 For this cause His presence confounds me,

The thought of Him fills me with terror;

16 For God hath weakened my heart,

And Almighty confounded me clean.

17 I am utterly lost in the darkness,

And gloom enwrappeth my face.

24 Why doth God not fix seasons for judgment,

And His friends never see His (great) day?

2 The wicked remove the landmarks,

They plunder the flock with the shepherd.

3 They drive off the ass of the fatherless,

Take the ox of the widow in pledge.

4 The poor they turn out of the way,

And the needy must huddle together.

5 See! like the wild asss in the desert,

They roam forth in search of prey;

Their children eat bread of the jungle.

6 They reap the fields in the night-time;

They punder the vines of the wealthy.

7 All night they lie bare, without clothing,

With nothing to keep out of the cold.

8 They are wet with the showers of the hills,

And the rocks they embrace for a shelter.

9 The fatherless they tear from the breast,

And the babe of the poor take in pledge.

10 They go about bare, without clothing,

And, hungry, they pilfer the sheaves.

11 They press out the oil ’twixt the olive-rows;

The wine-vats they tread and then drain.

12 From cities and homes they are driven;

Their little ones cry out for hunger,

But God takes no heed of the wrong.

13 There are those who rebel against light,

Who recognise not His ways,

But refuse to abide in His paths.

14 In the evening the murderer rises

To butcher the poor and the needy.

The thief stalks abroad in the night.

15 With face muffed up in a veil,

The adulterer watches for twilight,

Assured that no eye can behold him.

16 In the darkness they break into houses;

They shut themselves up in the day-time;

For all of them hate the light.

17 Familiar with gloomy ways,

They seek for themselves the deep darkness,

18 And swiftly they glide on the waters.

His portion of land shall be cursed,

19 Consumed by the drought and the heat,

And flooded away by snow-water.

20 The streets of his place shall forget him,

Shall think of his greatness no more:

Like a dead tree shall he be uprooted.

21 For he did not good to the widow,

No pity he showed to her babe;

22 And his power swept the helpless away.

Vengeance falls: he expects not to live,

23 He is hurled beyond hope of recovery;

The tormentor is on his way.

24 His greatness is brief – he is gone;

Like the mallow he bends, he shrivels–

Cut down like the top ears of corn.

25 And if not, who will prove me a liar,

And reduce mine indictment to nothing?

Bildad’s Declaration of God’s Wisdom and Power

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 How well thou hast aided the weak

And supported the arm of the strengtless!

3 How well thou hast conselled the foolish,

And shown thine abundance of wisdom!

4 Who inspired thee to utter such words,

And whose spirit is it that comes forth from thee?

2 Dominion and fear are with Him.

On His high places He maketh peace.

3 His hosts – are they not beyond counting?

Whom doth not His ambush surprise?

4 How can man then be just before God?

How can one born of woman be pure?

5 See! the moon herself is not clear,

And the stars are not pure in His sight:

6 How much less is man – a mere maggot;

And the on of man – but a worm!

5 Before Him in pain writhe the giants,

Whose home is beneath the waters.

6 Sheol is naked before Him,

Uncovered lieth Abaddon.

7 He stretcheth the North o’er the void,

And He hangeth the earth over nothing.

8 In His thick clouds He tieth the waters,

Yet the clouds are not torn with the weight.

9 He closeth the face of His throne,

And over it spreadeth His cloud.

10 A circle He drew on the deep,

To the confines of light and of darkness.

11 The pillars of heaven fell a-rocking,

Astonished at His rebuke.

12 By His power He stirred up the sea,

By His wisdom He smote clean through Rahab.

13 His breath made the heavens fair;

His hand pierced the serpent that fleeth.

14 See! these are the fringe of His ways;

Yea, ’tis only whisper we hear:

Who can tell how mighty His thunder?

The Last Clash – Between Job and Zophar

JOB C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42