JOB 23:1-27:23
23:1 Then Job answered and said,
23:2 Even to day [is] my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! [that] I might come [even] to his seat!
23:4 I would order [my] cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
23:5 I would know the words [which] he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.
23:6 Will he plead against me with [his] great power? No; but he would put [strength] in me.
23:7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
23:8 Behold, I go forward, but he [is] not [there]; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
23:9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold [him]: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see [him]:
23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: [when] he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
23:11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary [food].
23:13 But he [is] in one [mind], and who can turn him? and [what] his soul desireth, even [that] he doeth.
23:14 For he performeth [the thing that is] appointed for me: and many such [things are] with him.
23:15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.
23:16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:
23:17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, [neither] hath he covered the darkness from my face.
24:1 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?
24:2 [Some] remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed [thereof].
24:3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
24:4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
24:5 Behold, [as] wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness [yieldeth] food for them [and] for [their] children.
24:6 They reap [every one] his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.
24:7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that [they have] no covering in the cold.
24:8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
24:9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.
24:10 They cause [him] to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf [from] the hungry;
24:11 [Which] make oil within their walls, [and] tread [their] winepresses, and suffer thirst.
24:12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly [to them].
24:13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
24:14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
24:15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth [his] face.
24:16 In the dark they dig through houses, [which] they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.
24:17 For the morning [is] to them even as the shadow of death: if [one] know [them, they are in] the terrors of the shadow of death.
24:18 He [is] swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
24:19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: [so doth] the grave [those which] have sinned.
24:20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.
24:21 He evil entreateth the barren [that] beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.
24:22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no [man] is sure of life.
24:23 [Though] it be given him [to be] in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes [are] upon their ways.
24:24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all [other], and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.
24:25 And if [it be] not [so] now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?
25:1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
25:2 Dominion and fear [are] with him, he maketh peace in his high places.
25:3 Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?
25:4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean [that is] born of a woman?
25:5 Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.
25:6 How much less man, [that is] a worm? and the son of man, [which is] a worm?
26:1 But Job answered and said,
26:2 How hast thou helped [him that is] without power? [how] savest thou the arm [that hath] no strength?
26:3 How hast thou counselled [him that hath] no wisdom? and [how] hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?
26:4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?
26:5 Dead [things] are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.
26:6 Hell [is] naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, [and] hangeth the earth upon nothing.
26:8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.
26:9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, [and] spreadeth his cloud upon it.
26:10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.
26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.
26:12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.
26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
26:14 Lo, these [are] parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?
27:1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
27:2 [As] God liveth, [who] hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, [who] hath vexed my soul;
27:3 All the while my breath [is] in me, and the spirit of God [is] in my nostrils;
27:4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
27:5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
27:6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach [me] so long as I live.
27:7 Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
27:8 For what [is] the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
27:9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
27:10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
27:11 I will teach you by the hand of God: [that] which [is] with the Almighty will I not conceal.
27:12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen [it]; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
27:13 This [is] the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, [which] they shall receive of the Almighty.
27:14 If his children be multiplied, [it is] for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
27:15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
27:16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
27:17 He may prepare [it], but the just shall put [it] on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
27:18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth [that] the keeper maketh.
27:19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he [is] not.
27:20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
27:21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.
27:22 For [God] shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
27:23 [Men] shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.