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Bible (KJV) 18: Job (version 3)

21:1 But Job answered and said, 21:2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations. 21:3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on. 21:4 As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? 21:5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth. 21:6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh. 21:7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? 21:8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. 21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. 21:10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. 21:12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. 21:13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. 21:14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. 21:15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? 21:16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me. 21:17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. 21:18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. 21:19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it. 21:20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 21:21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst? 21:22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high. 21:23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. 21:24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. 21:25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. 21:26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them. 21:27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me. 21:28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked? 21:29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, 21:30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. 21:31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? 21:32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. 21:33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. 21:34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood? 22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 22:2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? 22:3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect? 22:4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? 22:5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? 22:6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. 22:7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. 22:8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it. 22:9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. 22:10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; 22:11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee. 22:12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! 22:13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven. 22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? 22:16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood: 22:17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? 22:18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. 22:19 The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn. 22:20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth. 22:21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. 22:22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. 22:23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. 22:24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. 22:25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. 22:26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. 22:27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. 22:28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. 22:29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. 22:30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands. 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. 28:1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. 28:2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. 28:3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. 28:4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men. 28:5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. 28:6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold. 28:7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen: 28:8 The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. 28:9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. 28:10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. 28:11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. 28:12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? 28:13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. 28:14 The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me. 28:15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. 28:16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. 28:17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. 28:18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. 28:19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. 28:20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? 28:21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. 28:22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. 28:23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. 28:24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; 28:25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. 28:26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: 28:27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. 29:1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, 29:2 Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; 29:3 When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness; 29:4 As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle; 29:5 When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me; 29:6 When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil; 29:7 When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! 29:8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up. 29:9 The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. 29:10 The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. 29:11 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: 29:12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. 29:13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. 29:15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. 29:16 I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. 29:17 And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth. 29:18 Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand. 29:19 My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch. 29:20 My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand. 29:21 Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. 29:22 After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them. 29:23 And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain. 29:24 If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down. 29:25 I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners. 30:1 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. 30:2 Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished? 30:3 For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. 30:4 Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat. 30:5 They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;) 30:6 To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks. 30:7 Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together. 30:8 They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth. 30:9 And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. 30:10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face. 30:11 Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me. 30:12 Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction. 30:13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper. 30:14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me. 30:15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud. 30:16 And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. 30:17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest. 30:18 By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. 30:19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes. 30:20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not. 30:21 Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me. 30:22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance. 30:23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. 30:24 Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction. 30:25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? 30:26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness. 30:27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. 30:28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. 30:29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. 30:30 My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. 30:31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep. 31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? 31:2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? 31:3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? 31:4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? 31:5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; 31:6 Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity. 31:7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands; 31:8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out. 31:9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbours door; 31:10 Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her. 31:11 For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. 31:12 For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase. 31:13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me; 31:14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? 31:15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb? 31:16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; 31:17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof; 31:18 (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;) 31:19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; 31:20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; 31:21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: 31:22 Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. 31:23 For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure. 31:24 If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; 31:25 If I rejoice because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; 31:26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; 31:27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: 31:28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. 31:29 If I rejoice at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him: 31:30 Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. 31:31 If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied. 31:32 The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller. 31:33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom: 31:34 Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door? 31:35 Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book. 31:36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me. 31:37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him. 31:38 If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain; 31:39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: 31:40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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