The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

Though it were in greene and not cutte downe, yet shall it wither before any other herbe.

So are the paths of al that forget God, and the hypocrites hope shall perish.

His confidence also shalbe cut off, and his trust shalbe as the house of a spyder.

He shall leane vpon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall holde him fast by it, yet shall it not endure.

The tree is greene before the sunne, and the branches spread ouer the garden thereof.

The rootes thereof are wrapped about the fountaine, and are folden about ye house of stones.

If any plucke it from his place, and it denie, saying, I haue not seene thee,

Beholde, it will reioyce by this meanes, that it may growe in another molde.

Behold, God will not cast away an vpright man, neither will he take the wicked by the hand,

Till he haue filled thy mouth with laughter, and thy lippes with ioy.

They that hate thee, shall be clothed with shame, and the dwelling of the wicked shall not remaine.

Then Iob answered, and sayd,

I knowe verily that it is so: for howe should man compared vnto God, be iustified?

If I would dispute with him, hee could not answere him one thing of a thousand.

He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath bene fierce against him and hath prospered?

He remoueth the mountaines, and they feele not when he ouerthroweth them in his wrath.

Hee remooueth the earth out of her place, that the pillars thereof doe shake.

He commandeth the sunne, and it riseth not: hee closeth vp the starres, as vnder a signet.

Hee himselfe alone spreadeth out the heauens, and walketh vpon the height of the sea.

He maketh the starres Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the climates of the South.

He doeth great things, and vnsearcheable: yea, marueilous things without nomber.

Lo, when he goeth by me, I see him not: and when he passeth by, I perceiue him not.

Behold, when he taketh a pray, who can make him to restore it? who shall say vnto him, What doest thou?

God will not withdrawe his anger, and the most mightie helpes doe stoupe vnder him.

Howe much lesse shall I answere him? or howe should I finde out my words with him?

For though I were iust, yet could I not answere, but I would make supplication to my Iudge.

If I cry, and he answere me, yet woulde I not beleeue, that he heard my voyce.

For he destroyeth mee with a tempest, and woundeth me without cause.

He wil not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitternesse.

If we speake of strength, behold, he is strog: if we speake of iudgement, who shall bring me in to pleade?

If I woulde iustifie my selfe, mine owne mouth shall condemne mee: if I would be perfite, he shall iudge me wicked.

Though I were perfite, yet I knowe not my soule: therefore abhorre I my life.

This is one point: therefore I said, Hee destroyeth the perfite and the wicked.

If the scourge should suddenly slay, should God laugh at the punishment of the innocent?

The earth is giuen into the hand of ye wicked: he couereth the faces of the iudges therof: if not, where is he? or who is he?

My dayes haue bene more swift then a post: they haue fled, and haue seene no good thing.

They are passed as with the most swift ships, and as the eagle that flyeth to the pray.

If I say, I wil forget my complaynt, I will cease from my wrath, and comfort mee,

Then I am afrayd of all my sorowes, knowing that thou wilt not iudge me innocent.

If I be wicked, why labour I thus in vaine?

If I wash my selfe with snowe water, and purge mine hands most cleane,

Yet shalt thou plunge mee in the pit, and mine owne clothes shall make me filthie.

For he is not a man as I am, that I shoulde answere him, if we come together to iudgement.

Neyther is there any vmpire that might lay his hand vpon vs both.

Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his feare astonish me:

Then will I speake, and feare him not: but because I am not so, I holde me still.

My soule is cut off though I liue: I wil leaue my complaint vpon my selfe, and wil speake in the bitternesse of my soule.

I will say vnto God, Condemne mee not: shew me, wherefore thou contendest with mee.

Thinkest thou it good to oppresse me, and to cast off the labour of thine handes, and to fauour the counsel of the wicked?

Hast thou carnall eyes? or doest thou see as man seeth?

Are thy dayes as mans dayes? or thy yeres, as the time of man,

That thou inquirest of mine iniquitie, and searchest out my sinne?

Thou knowest that I can not do wickedly: for none can deliuer me out of thine hand.

Thine handes haue made me, and fashioned mee wholy rounde about, and wilt thou destroy me?

Remember, I pray thee, that thou hast made me as the clay, and wilt thou bring me into dust againe?

Hast thou not powred me out as milke? and turned me to cruds like cheese?

Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and ioyned me together with bones and sinewes.

Thou hast giuen me life, and grace: and thy visitation hath preserued my spirit.

Though thou hast hid these things in thine heart, yet I knowe that it is so with thee.

If I haue sinned, then thou wilt streightly looke vnto me, and wilt not holde mee giltlesse of mine iniquitie.

If I haue done wickedly, wo vnto me: if I haue done righteously, I will not lift vp mine head, being full of confusion, because I see mine affliction.

But let it increase: hunt thou me as a lyon: returne and shew thy selfe marueilous vpon me.

Thou renuest thy plagues against me, and thou increasest thy wrath against me: changes and armies of sorowes are against me.

Wherfore then hast thou brought me out of the wombe? Oh that I had perished, and that none eye had seene me!

And that I were as I had not bene, but brought from the wombe to the graue!

Are not my dayes fewe? let him cease, and leaue off from me, that I may take a litle comfort,

Before I goe and shall not returne, euen to the land of darkenesse and shadow of death:

Into a land, I say, darke as darknes it selfe, and into the shadow of death, where is none order, but the light is there as darkenesse.

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and sayde,

Should not the multitude of wordes be answered? or should a great talker be iustified?

Should men holde their peace at thy lyes? and when thou mockest others, shall none make thee ashamed?

For thou hast sayde, My doctrine is pure, and I am cleane in thine eyes.

But, oh that God would speake and open his lippes against thee!

That he might shewe thee the secretes of wisedome, howe thou hast deserued double, according to right: know therefore that God hath forgotten thee for thine iniquitie.

Canst thou by searching finde out God? canst thou finde out ye Almighty to his perfection?

The heauens are hie, what canst thou doe? it is deeper then the hell, how canst thou know it?

The measure thereof is longer then the earth, and it is broader then the sea.

If hee cut off and shut vp, or gather together, who can turne him backe?

For hee knoweth vaine men, and seeth iniquitie, and him that vnderstandeth nothing.

Yet vaine man would be wise, though man new borne is like a wilde asse colte.

If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him:

If iniquitie be in thine hand, put it farre away, and let no wickednesse dwell in thy Tabernacle.

The truely shalt thou lift vp thy face without spot, and shalt be stable, and shalt not feare.

But thou shalt forget thy miserie, and remember it as waters that are past.

Thine age also shall appeare more cleare then the noone day: thou shalt shine and bee as the morning.

And thou shalt bee bolde, because there is hope: and thou shalt digge pittes, and shalt lye downe safely.

For when thou takest thy rest, none shall make thee afraide: yea, many shall make sute vnto thee.

But the eyes of the wicked shall faile, and their refuge shall perish, and their hope shalbe sorow of minde.

Then Iob answered, and sayde,

In deede because that ye are the people onely, wisedome must dye with you.

But I haue vnderstanding aswel as you, and am not inferior vnto you: yea, who knoweth not such things?

I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth vpon God, and he heareth him: the iust and the vpright is laughed to scorne.

Hee that is readie to fall, is as a lampe despised in the opinion of the riche.

The tabernacles of robbers doe prosper, and they are in safetie, that prouoke God, whome God hath enriched with his hand.

Aske now the beasts, and they shall teach thee, and the foules of the heauen, and they shall tell thee:

Or speake to the earth, and it shall shewe thee: or the fishes of the sea, and they shall declare vnto thee.

Who is ignorant of all these, but that the hande of the Lord hath made these?

In whose hande is the soule of euery liuing thing, and the breath of all mankinde.

Doeth not the eares discerne the words? and the mouth taste meate for it selfe?

Among the ancient is wisedome, and in the length of dayes is vnderstanding.