19:1 Then Job answered and said, 19:2 How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?
19:3 These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.
19:4 And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
19:5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach: 19:6 Know now that G.o.d hath overthrown me, and hath compa.s.sed me with his net.
19:7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
19:8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pa.s.s, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
19:9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
19:10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
19:11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.
19:12 His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.
19:13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
19:14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.
19:15 They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.
19:16 I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.
19:17 My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children"s sake of mine own body.
19:18 Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
19:19 All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
19:20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
19:21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of G.o.d hath touched me.
19:22 Why do ye persecute me as G.o.d, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
19:23 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
19:24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see G.o.d: 19:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
19:28 But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
19:29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.
Job Chapter 20.
20:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, 20:2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.
20:3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.
20:4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, 20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
20:6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; 20:7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
20:8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
20:9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
20:10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.
20:11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.
20:12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; 20:13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: 20:14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
20:15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: G.o.d shall cast them out of his belly.
20:16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper"s tongue shall slay him.
20:17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and b.u.t.ter.
20:18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the rest.i.tution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.
20:19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not; 20:20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.
20:21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.
20:22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.
20:23 When he is about to fill his belly, G.o.d shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.
20:24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
20:25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.
20:26 All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
20:27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.
20:28 The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
20:29 This is the portion of a wicked man from G.o.d, and the heritage appointed unto him by G.o.d.
Job Chapter 21.
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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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! G.o.d distributeth sorrows in his anger.
21:18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
21:19 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 b.r.e.a.s.t.s 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?
Job Chapter 22.
22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 22:2 Can a man be profitable unto G.o.d, 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.