The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

The waters wear the stones; The overflowings thereof wash away the dust of the earth: So thou destroyest the hope of man.

Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth; Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; And they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

But his flesh upon him hath pain, And his soul within him mourneth.

Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

Should a wise man make answer with vain knowledge, And fill himself with the east wind?

Should he reason with unprofitable talk, Or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

Yea, thou doest away with fear, And hinderest devotion before God.

For thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth, And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; Yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

Art thou the first man that was born? Or wast thou brought forth before the hills?

Hast thou heard the secret counsel of God? And dost thou limit wisdom to thyself?

What knowest thou, that we know not? What understandest thou, which is not in us?

With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men, Much elder than thy father.

Are the consolations of God too small for thee, Even the word that is gentle toward thee?

Why doth thy heart carry thee away? And why do thine eyes flash,

That against God thou turnest thy spirit, And lettest words go out of thy mouth?

What is man, that he should be clean? And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones; Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight:

How much less one that is abominable and corrupt, A man that drinketh iniquity like water!

I will show thee, hear thou me; And that which I have seen I will declare

(Which wise men have told From their fathers, and have not hid it;

Unto whom alone the land was given, And no stranger passed among them):

The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.

A sound of terrors is in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, And he is waited for of the sword.

He wandereth abroad for bread, [saying], Where is it? He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

Distress and anguish make him afraid; They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

Because he hath stretched out his hand against God, And behaveth himself proudly against the Almighty;

He runneth upon him with a [stiff] neck, With the thick bosses of his bucklers;

Because he hath covered his face with his fatness, And gathered fat upon his loins;

And he hath dwelt in desolate cities, In houses which no man inhabited, Which were ready to become heaps;

He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, Neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth.

He shall not depart out of darkness; The flame shall dry up his branches, And by the breath of [God’s] mouth shall he go away.

Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself; For vanity shall be his recompense.

It shall be accomplished before his time, And his branch shall not be green.

He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, And shall cast off his flower as the olive-tree.

For the company of the godless shall be barren, And fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, And their heart prepareth deceit.

Then Job answered and said,

I have heard many such things: Miserable comforters are ye all.

Shall vain words have an end? Or what provoketh thee that thou answerest?

I also could speak as ye do; If your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could join words together against you, And shake my head at you.

[But] I would strengthen you with my mouth, And the solace of my lips would assuage [your grief].

Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged; And though I forbear, what am I eased?

But now he hath made me weary: Thou hast made desolate all my company.

And thou hast laid fast hold on me, [which] is a witness [against me]: And my leanness riseth up against me, It testifieth to my face.

He hath torn me in his wrath, and persecuted me; He hath gnashed upon me with his teeth: Mine adversary sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

They have gaped upon me with their mouth; They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully: They gather themselves together against me.

God delivereth me to the ungodly, And casteth me into the hands of the wicked.

I was at ease, and he brake me asunder; Yea, he hath taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces: He hath also set me up for his mark.

His archers compass me round about; He cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; He poureth out my gall upon the ground.

He breaketh me with breach upon breach; He runneth upon me like a giant.

I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, And have laid my horn in the dust.

My face is red with weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;

Although there is no violence in my hands, And my prayer is pure.

O earth, cover not thou my blood, And let my cry have no [resting]-place.

Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, And he that voucheth for me is on high.

My friends scoff at me: [But] mine eye poureth out tears unto God,

That he would maintain the right of a man with God, And of a son of man with his neighbor!

For when a few years are come, I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct, The grave is [ready] for me.

Surely there are mockers with me, And mine eye dwelleth upon their provocation.

Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself; Who is there that will strike hands with me?

For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: Therefore shalt thou not exalt [them].

He that denounceth his friends for a prey, Even the eyes of his children shall fail.

But he hath made me a byword of the people; And they spit in my face.

Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, And all my members are as a shadow.

Upright men shall be astonished at this, And the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless.

Yet shall the righteous hold on his way, And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.

But as for you all, come on now again; And I shall not find a wise man among you.

My days are past, my purposes are broken off, Even the thoughts of my heart.

They change the night into day: The light, [say they], is near unto the darkness.

If I look for Sheol as my house; If I have spread my couch in the darkness;

If I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; To the worm, [Thou art] my mother, and my sister;

Where then is my hope? And as for my hope, who shall see it?

It shall go down to the bars of Sheol, When once there is rest in the dust.

Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

How long will ye hunt for words? Consider, and afterwards we will speak.

Wherefore are we counted as beasts, [And] are become unclean in your sight?

Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger, Shall the earth be forsaken for thee? Or shall the rock be removed out of its place?

Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, And the spark of his fire shall not shine.

The light shall be dark in his tent, And his lamp above him shall be put out.

The steps of his strength shall be straitened, And his own counsel shall cast him down.

For he is cast into a net by his own feet, And he walketh upon the toils.

A gin shall take [him] by the heel, [And] a snare shall lay hold on him.

A noose is hid for him in the ground, And a trap for him in the way.

Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, And shall chase him at his heels.

His strength shall be hunger-bitten, And calamity shall be ready at his side.

The members of his body shall be devoured, [Yea], the first-born of death shall devour his members.

He shall be rooted out of his tent wherein he trusteth; And he shall be brought to the king of terrors.

There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his: Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.

His roots shall be dried up beneath, And above shall his branch be cut off.

His remembrance shall perish from the earth, And he shall have no name in the street.

He shall be driven from light into darkness, And chased out of the world.

He shall have neither son nor son’s son among his people, Nor any remaining where he sojourned.

They that come after shall be astonished at his day, As they that went before were affrighted.

Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, And this is the place of him that knoweth not God.

Then Job answered and said,

How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?