The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

These ten times ye put me to shame, ye blush not. Ye make yourselves strange to me —

And also — truly, I have erred, With me doth my error remain.

If, truly, over me ye magnify yourselves, And decide against me my reproach;

Know now, that God turned me upside down, And His net against me hath set round,

Lo, I cry out — violence, and am not answered, I cry aloud, and there is no judgment.

My way He hedged up, and I pass not over, And on my paths darkness He placeth.

Mine honour from off me He hath stripped, And He turneth the crown from my head.

He breaketh me down round about, and I go, And removeth like a tree my hope.

And He kindleth against me His anger, And reckoneth me to Him as His adversaries.

Come in do His troops together, And they raise up against me their way, And encamp round about my tent.

My brethren from me He hath put far off, And mine acquaintances surely Have been estranged from me.

Ceased have my neighbours And my familiar friends have forgotten me,

Sojourners of my house and my maids, For a stranger reckon me: An alien I have been in their eyes.

To my servant I have called, And he doth not answer, With my mouth I make supplication to him.

My spirit is strange to my wife, And my favours to the sons of my [mother's] womb.

Also sucklings have despised me, I rise, and they speak against me.

Abominate me do all the men of my counsel, And those I have loved, Have been turned against me.

To my skin and to my flesh Cleaved hath my bone, And I deliver myself with the skin of my teeth.

Pity me, pity me, ye my friends, For the hand of God hath stricken against me.

Why do you pursue me as God? And with my flesh are not satisfied?

Who doth grant now, That my words may be written? Who doth grant that in a book they may be graven?

With a pen of iron and lead — For ever in a rock they may be hewn.

That — I have known my Redeemer, The Living and the Last, For the dust he doth rise.

And after my skin hath compassed this [body], Then from my flesh I see God:

Whom I — I see on my side, And mine eyes have beheld, and not a stranger, Consumed have been my reins in my bosom.

But ye say, 'Why do we pursue after him?' And the root of the matter hath been found in me.

Be ye afraid because of the sword, For furious [are] the punishments of the sword, That ye may know that [there is] a judgment.

And Zophar the Naamathite answereth and saith: —

Therefore my thoughts cause me to answer, And because of my sensations in me.

The chastisement of my shame I hear, And the spirit of mine understanding Doth cause me to answer:

This hast thou known from antiquity? Since the placing of man on earth?

That the singing of the wicked [is] short, And the joy of the profane for a moment,

Though his excellency go up to the heavens, And his head against a cloud he strike —

As his own dung for ever he doth perish, His beholders say: 'Where [is] he?'

As a dream he fleeth, and they find him not, And he is driven away as a vision of the night,

The eye hath not seen him, and addeth not. And not again doth his place behold him.

His sons do the poor oppress, And his hands give back his wealth.

His bones have been full of his youth, And with him on the dust it lieth down.

Though he doth sweeten evil in his mouth, Doth hide it under his tongue,

Hath pity on it, and doth not forsake it, And keep it back in the midst of his palate,

His food in his bowels is turned, The bitterness of asps [is] in his heart.

Wealth he hath swallowed, and doth vomit it. From his belly God driveth it out.

Gall of asps he sucketh, Slay him doth the tongue of a viper.

He looketh not on rivulets, Flowing of brooks of honey and butter.

He is giving back [what] he laboured for, And doth not consume [it]; As a bulwark [is] his exchange, and he exults not.

For he oppressed — he forsook the poor, A house he hath taken violently away, And he doth not build it.

For he hath not known ease in his belly. With his desirable thing he delivereth not himself.

There is not a remnant to his food, Therefore his good doth not stay.

In the fulness of his sufficiency he is straitened. Every perverse hand doth meet him.

It cometh to pass, at the filling of his belly, He sendeth forth against him The fierceness of His anger, Yea, He raineth on him in his eating.

He fleeth from an iron weapon, Pass through him doth a bow of brass.

One hath drawn, And it cometh out from the body, And a glittering weapon from his gall proceedeth. On him [are] terrors.

All darkness is hid for his treasures, Consume him doth a fire not blown, Broken is the remnant in his tent.

Reveal do the heavens his iniquity, And earth is raising itself against him.

Remove doth the increase of his house, Poured forth in a day of His anger.

This [is] the portion of a wicked man from God. And an inheritance appointed him by God.

And Job answereth and saith: —

Hear ye diligently my word, And this is your consolation.

Bear with me, and I speak, And after my speaking — ye may deride.

I — to man [is] my complaint? and if [so], wherefore May not my temper become short?

Turn unto me, and be astonished, And put hand to mouth.

Yea, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh hath taken fright.

Wherefore do the wicked live? They have become old, Yea, they have been mighty in wealth.

Their seed is established, Before their face with them, And their offspring before their eyes.

Their houses [are] peace without fear, Nor [is] a rod of God upon them.

His bullock hath eaten corn, and doth not loath. His cow bringeth forth safely, And doth not miscarry.

They send forth as a flock their sucklings, And their children skip,

They lift [themselves] up at timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of an organ.

They wear out in good their days, And in a moment [to] Sheol go down.

And they say to God, 'Turn aside from us, And the knowledge of Thy ways We have not desired.

What [is] the Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with Him?'

Lo, not in their hand [is] their good, (The counsel of the wicked Hath been far from me.)

How oft is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, And come on them doth their calamity? Pangs He apportioneth in His anger.

They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a hurricane hath stolen away,

God layeth up for his sons his sorrow, He giveth recompense unto him — and he knoweth.

His own eyes see his destruction, And of the wrath of the Mighty he drinketh.

For what [is] his delight in his house after him, And the number of his months cut off?

To God doth [one] teach knowledge, And He the high doth judge?

This [one] dieth in his perfect strength, Wholly at ease and quiet.

His breasts have been full of milk, And marrow his bones doth moisten.

And this [one] dieth with a bitter soul, And have not eaten with gladness.

Together — on the dust they lie down, And the worm doth cover them over.

Lo, I have known your thoughts, And the devices against me ye do wrongfully.

For ye say, 'Where [is] the house of the noble? And where the tent — The tabernacles of the wicked?'

Have ye not asked those passing by the way? And their signs do ye not know?

That to a day of calamity is the wicked spared. To a day of wrath they are brought.

Who doth declare to his face his way? And [for] that which he hath done, Who doth give recompence to him?

And he — to the graves he is brought. And over the heap a watch is kept.

Sweet to him have been the clods of the valley, And after him every man he draweth, And before him there is no numbering.

And how do ye comfort me [with] vanity, And in your answers hath been left trespass?

And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: —

To God is a man profitable, Because a wise man to himself is profitable?

Is it a delight to the Mighty One That thou art righteous? is it gain, That thou makest perfect thy ways?

Because of thy reverence Doth He reason [with] thee? He entereth with thee into judgment:

Is not thy wickedness abundant? And there is no end to thine iniquities.

For thou takest a pledge of thy brother for nought, And the garments of the naked Thou dost strip off.

Thou causest not the weary to drink water, And from the hungry thou withholdest bread.

As to the man of arm — he hath the earth, And the accepted of face — he dwelleth in it.

Widows thou hast sent away empty, And the arms of the fatherless are bruised.

Therefore round about thee [are] snares, And trouble thee doth fear suddenly.