13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
15 They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their
sight.
16 I called my servant, and he gave meno answer; I intreated him with my mouth.
17 My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sakeof mine own body.
18 Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
19 All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
22 Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
25 For I know thatmy redeemer liveth, and thathe shall stand at the latter dayupon the earth:
26 And thoughafter my skin wormsdestroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; thoughmy reins be
consumed within me.
28 But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeththe punishments of the sword, that ye may
know there isa judgment.
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for thisI make haste.
3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to
answer.
4 Knowest thou notthis of old, since man was placed upon earth,
5 That the triumphing of the wicked isshort, and the joy of the hypocrite butfor a moment?
6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;
7 Yethe shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is
he?
8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision
of the night.
9 The eye also whichsaw him shall see himno more; neither shall his place any more behold
him.
10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.
11 His bones are full of the sinof his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.
12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, thoughhe hide it under his tongue;
13 Thoughhe spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:
14 Yethis meat in his bowels is turned, it isthe gall of asps within him.
15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of
his belly.
16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him.
17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow itdown: according to his
substance shallthe restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.
19 Because he hath oppressed andhath forsaken the poor; becausehe hath violently taken away
an house which he builded not;
20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.
21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.
22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come
upon him.
23 Whenhe is about to fill his belly, Godshall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall
rain itupon him while he is eating.
24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, andthe bow of steel shall strike him through.
25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall:
terrors areupon him.
26 All darkness shall behid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go
ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.
28 The increase of his house shall depart, and his goodsshall flow away in the day of his
wrath.
29 This isthe portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
1 But Job answered and said,
2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
4 As for me, ismy complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay yourhand upon yourmouth.
6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses aresafe from fear, neither isthe rod of God upon them.
10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15 What isthe Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray
unto him?
16 Lo, their good isnot in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oftcometh their destruction upon
them! Goddistributeth sorrows in his anger.
18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what pleasure hathhe in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off
in the midst?
22 Shall anyteach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices whichye wrongfully imagine against me.
28 For ye say, Where isthe house of the prince? and where arethe dwelling places of the
wicked?
29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,
30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day
of wrath.
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him whathe hath done?
32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as
there areinnumerable before him.
34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?
3 Is itany pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is itgain to him, that thou
makest thy ways perfect?
4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?
5 Isnot thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?
6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their
clothing.
7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the
hungry.
8 But as forthe mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
10 Therefore snares areround about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;
11 Or darkness, thatthou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.
12 Isnot God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
14 Thick clouds area covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of
heaven.
15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:
17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19 The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.
20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from
thy tabernacles.
24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the goldof Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall
shine upon thy ways.
29 When menare cast down, then thou shalt say, There islifting up; and he shall save the
humble person.
30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 Even to day ismy complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! thatI might come evento his seat!
4 I would order mycause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words whichhe would answer me, and understand what he would say unto
me.
6 Will he plead against me with hisgreat power? No; but he would put strengthin me.
7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
