19 The companies of Tema look for them,

The caravans of Sheba expect to see them;

20 They are ashamed that they have relied on them; They come to the place, and are confounded.

21 So ye also are nothing;

Seeing my calamity, ye shrink back.

22 Have I said, Bring me gifts?

substance?

Or, Give a ransom for me out of your 23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? Or, Rescue me from the hand of the mighty?

24

Convince me, and I will hold my peace;
Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How powerful are the words of truth!
But what do your reproaches prove?

26 Do ye mean to censure words?

The words of a desperate man are`but wind. 27 Truly ye spread a net for the fatherless; Ye dig a pit for your friend.

28 Look now upon me, I pray you ;

See if I appear false before you.

29 Return, I pray, and let there be no unfairness;

Return again, and my righteousness shall still be manifest.

30 Is there iniquity on my tongue?

VII. 1

Cannot my taste discern that which is sinful?

Is there not a hard service for man upon earth?
Are not his days as the days of an hireling?

2 As a servant panteth for the shade,

And as an hireling looketh for the reward of his labour,

3 So am I made to possess months of affliction,

And wearisome nights are appointed unto me.

4 If I lie down, I say,

"When shall I arise, and the night be gone?"

And I am full of restlessness until the dawning of the day.

5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; My skin heals, and breaks out anew.

6 My days are swifter than the weaver's shuttle;

They pass away without hope.

7 O remember that my life is wind;

That mine eye shall no more see good.

8 The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more; Thine eyes shall look for me, but I shall not be. 9 As the cloud dissolveth and wasteth away,

So he that goeth down to the grave

shall arise no more.

10 No more shall he return to his house,

And his dwelling place shall know him no more.

11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;

12

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit,

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Am I a sea, or a sea-monster,

That thou settest a watch over me? 13 When I say, "My bed shall relieve me, My couch shall ease my complaint," 14 Then thou scarest me with dreams, And terrifiest me with visions; 15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, Yea, even death, rather than my life.

16 I am wasting away; I shall not live alway;

Let me alone, for my days are a vapour.

17 What is man, that thou shouldst make account of him,

And that thou shouldst fix thy mind upon him?

18 That thou shouldst visit him every morning,

And prove him every moment?

19 How long ere thou wilt look away from me,

And let me alone, till I have time to breathe?

20 If I have sinned, what have I done to thee, O thou Inspec

tor of men!

Why hast thou set me up as thy mark,

So that I have become a burden to myself?

21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression,

And take away mine iniquity?

22 Soon shall I sleep in the dust;

1

2

Thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

CHAP. VIII.

Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said:

How long wilt thou speak such things?

How long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong

wind?

3 Will God pervert judgment?

Or the Almighty pervert justice?

4 As thy children sinned against him,

He hath given them up to their transgression. 5 But if thou wouldst seek early unto God, And make thy supplication to the Almighty; 6 If thou wert pure and upright,

Surely he would yet arise for thee,

And prosper the abode of thy righteousness; 7 So that thy beginning should be small, And thy latter end very great.

* 8

For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, And prepare thyself to examine their forefathers; 9 (For we are of yesterday and know nothing, Our days upon the earth being but a shadow); 10 They will instruct thee, and counsel thee, And utter words from the understanding. 11 "Can the paper-reed grow up without mire? "Can the bulrush grow without water?

12" While it is yet in its greenness, and is not cut down, "It withereth before any other herb.

13"Such is the fate of all that forget God;

"So perisheth the hope of the ungodly.

し

14"His expectation shall come to nought,

"And his trust shall prove a spider's web.

15 “He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand;
"He shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

16" He is green before the sun,

"And his branches shoot forth in his garden;
17 "His roots are entwined about the fountain,
“And he seeth the place of stones;

18 "Yet shall he be utterly destroyed from his place;
"Yea, it shall deny him, saying, 'I never saw thee.'
19"Lo, such is the joy of his course!

20

"And others shall spring up in his place."

Behold, God will not cast away an upright man;
Nor will he strengthen the hands of evil-doers.

21 He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter,

And thy lips with gladness;

22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame,
And the dwelling-place of the wicked shall come to nought.

CHAP. IX. X.

1 Then Job answered, and said:

X 2

Of a truth, I know that it is so;
How can man be just before God?

3 If he choose to contend with him,

He cannot answer him to one charge of a thousand.

4 He is excellent in wisdom, mighty in strength;

Who hath hardened himself against him, and prospered?

5 He removeth the mountains, and they know it not;
He overturneth them in his anger.

6 He shaketh the earth out of her place,
And the pillars thereof tremble.

7 He commandeth the sun, and it riseth not,

And sealeth up the stars.

8 He alone spreadeth out the heavens,

And walketh upon the high waves of the sea. 9 He made Arcturus, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the secret chambers of the South. 10 He doth great things past finding out,

Yea, wonderful things without number. 11 Lo! he goeth by me, but I see him not, He passeth on, but I perceive him not. 12 Lo! he taketh away; who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, What dost thou?

13 God will not turn away his anger;

The proud helpers are brought low before him. 14 How much less shall I be able to answer him, And to choose out words to reason with him? 15 Though I were innocent, I would not answer him I would cast myself on the mercy of my judge. 16 Should I call, and he make answer to me,

;

I could not believe that he had listened to my voice; 17 He, that breaketh me with a tempest,

And multiplieth my wounds without cause!

18 That will not suffer me to take my breath, But filleth me with bitterness!

19 If I look to strength, "Lo! here am I," [saith he,] If to justice, "Who shall summon me to trial ?" 20 Though I am upright, my own mouth will condemn me, Though I am innocent, it will prove me perverse.

21 Though I am righteous, I shall not know my own soul; I shall condemn my life.

22

One thing, therefore, I will declare ;

He destroyeth the righteous and the wicked alike. 23 When the scourge bringeth sudden destruction, He laugheth at the sufferings of the innocent. 24 The earth is given into the hands of the wicked; He covereth the face of the judges thereof; If it be not he, who is it?