The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

These ten times have ye reproached me; ye are not ashamed that ye deal harshly with me.

And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.

If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach;

Know now that God hath subverted my cause, and hath compassed me with His net.

Behold, I cry out: 'Violence!' but I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no justice.

He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and hath set darkness in my paths.

He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.

He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone; and my hope hath He plucked up like a tree.

He hath also kindled His wrath against me, and He counteth me unto Him as one of His adversaries.

His troops come on together, and cast up their way against me, and encamp round about my tent.

He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.

My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger; I am become an alien in their sight.

I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer, though I entreat him with my mouth.

My breath is abhorred of my wife, and I am loathsome to the children of my tribe.

Even urchins despised me; if I arise, they speak against me.

All my intimate friends abhor me; and they whom I loved are turned against me.

My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.

Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

That with an iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock for ever!

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He will witness at the last upon the dust;

And when after my skin this is destroyed, then without my flesh shall I see God;

Whom I, even I, shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another's. My reins are consumed within me.

If ye say: 'How we will persecute him!' seeing that the root of the matter is found in me;

Be ye afraid of the sword; for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said:

Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me, even by reason of mine agitation that is in me.

I have heard the reproof which putteth me to shame, but out of my understanding my spirit answereth me.

Knowest thou not this of old time, since man was placed upon earth,

That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?

Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;

Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung; they that have seen him shall say: 'Where is he?'

He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found; yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

The eye which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.

His children shall appease the poor, and his hands shall restore his wealth.

His bones are full of his youth, but it shall lie down with him in the dust.

Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

Though he spare it, and will not let it go, but keep it still within his mouth;

Yet his food in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.

He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again; God shall cast them out of his belly.

He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall slay him.

He shall not look upon the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and curd.

That which he laboured for shall he give back, and shall not swallow it down; according to the substance that he hath gotten, he shall not rejoice.

For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor; he hath violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up.

Because he knew no quietness within him, in his greed he suffered nought to escape,

There was nothing left that he devoured not — therefore his prosperity shall not endure.

In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits; the hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him.

It shall be for the filling of his belly; He shall cast the fierceness of His wrath upon him, and shall cause it to rain upon him into his flesh.

If he flee from the iron weapon, the bow of brass shall strike him through.

He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body; yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall; terrors are upon him.

All darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not blown by man shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tent.

The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.

The increase of his house shall depart, his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.

This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

Then Job answered and said:

Hear diligently my speech; and let this be your consolations.

Suffer me, that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.

As for me, is my complaint to man? Or why should I not be impatient?

Turn unto me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.

Even when I remember I am affrighted, and horror hath taketh hold on my flesh.

Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, wax mighty in power?

Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.

Their houses are safe, without fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

They sing to the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.

They spend their days in prosperity, and peacefully they go down to the grave.

Yet they said unto God: 'Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.

What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit should we have, if we pray unto Him?' —

Lo, their prosperity is not in their hand; the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

How oft is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? that their calamity cometh upon them? that He distributeth pains in His anger?

That they are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm stealeth away?

'God layeth up his iniquity for his children!' — let Him recompense it unto himself, that he may know it.

Let his own eyes see his destruction, and let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

For what pleasure hath he in his house after him? seeing the number of his months is determined.

Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing it is He that judgeth those that are high.

One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet;

His pails are full of milk, and the marrow of his bones is moistened.

And another dieth in bitterness of soul, and hath never tasted of good.

They lie down alike in the dust, and the worm covereth them.

Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

For ye say: 'Where is the house of the prince? And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt?'

Have ye not asked them that go by the way; and will ye misdeem their tokens,

That the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, that they are led forth to the day of wrath?

But who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him what he hath done?

For he is borne to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.

The clods of the valley are sweet unto him, and all men draw after him, as there were innumerable before him.

How then comfort ye me in vain? And as for your answers, there remaineth only faithlessness?

Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said:

Can a man be profitable unto God? Or can he that is wise be profitable unto Him?

Is it any advantage to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? Or is it gain to Him, that thou makest thy ways blameless?

Is it for thy fear of Him that He reproveth thee, that He entereth with thee into judgment?

Is not thy wickedness great? And are not thine iniquities without end?

For thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

And as a mighty man, who hath the earth, and as a man of rank, who dwelleth in it,

Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden dread affrighted thee,