JOB 4:1-7:21
4:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
4:2 [If] we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?
4:3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
4:4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
4:5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
4:6 [Is] not [this] thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
4:7 Remember, I pray thee, who [ever] perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
4:8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
4:9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
4:10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
4:11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad.
4:12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
4:13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
4:14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
4:15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
4:16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image [was] before mine eyes, [there was] silence, and I heard a voice, [saying],
4:17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
4:18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
4:19 How much less [in] them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation [is] in the dust, [which] are crushed before the moth?
4:20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding [it].
4:21 Doth not their excellency [which is] in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
5:1 Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
5:2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
5:3 I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
5:4 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither [is there] any to deliver [them].
5:5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
5:6 Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
5:7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
5:8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
5:9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
5:10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
5:11 To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
5:12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform [their] enterprise.
5:13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
5:14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
5:15 But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
5:16 So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
5:17 Behold, happy [is] the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
5:18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
5:19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
5:20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
5:21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
5:22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
5:23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
5:24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle [shall be] in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
5:25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed [shall be] great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
5:26 Thou shalt come to [thy] grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
5:27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it [is]; hear it, and know thou [it] for thy good.
6:1 But Job answered and said,
6:2 Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
6:3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
6:4 For the arrows of the Almighty [are] within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
6:5 Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
6:6 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there [any] taste in the white of an egg?
6:7 The things [that] my soul refused to touch [are] as my sorrowful meat.
6:8 Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant [me] the thing that I long for!
6:9 Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
6:10 Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
6:11 What [is] my strength, that I should hope? and what [is] mine end, that I should prolong my life?
6:12 [Is] my strength the strength of stones? or [is] my flesh of brass?
6:13 [Is] not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?
6:14 To him that is afflicted pity [should be shewed] from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
6:15 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, [and] as the stream of brooks they pass away;
6:16 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, [and] wherein the snow is hid:
6:17 What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
6:18 The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.
6:19 The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
6:20 They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.
6:21 For now ye are nothing; ye see [my] casting down, and are afraid.
6:22 Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?
6:23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy’s hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
6:24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
6:25 How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?
6:26 Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, [which are] as wind?
6:27 Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig [a pit] for your friend.
6:28 Now therefore be content, look upon me; for [it is] evident unto you if I lie.
6:29 Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness [is] in it.
6:30 Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
7:1 [Is there] not an appointed time to man upon earth? [are not] his days also like the days of an hireling?
7:2 As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for [the reward of] his work:
7:3 So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
7:4 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.
7:6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.
7:7 O remember that my life [is] wind: mine eye shall no more see good.
7:8 The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no [more]: thine eyes [are] upon me, and I [am] not.
7:9 [As] the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no [more].
7:10 He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
7:11 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
7:12 [Am] I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?
7:13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;
7:14 Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:
7:15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, [and] death rather than my life.
7:16 I loathe [it]; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days [are] vanity.
7:17 What [is] man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?
7:18 And [that] thou shouldest visit him every morning, [and] try him every moment?
7:19 How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
7:20 I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?
7:21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I [shall] not [be].