THE HOLY BIBLE
Douay-Rheims Version
THE BOOK OF JOB
The Book of Job, Chapter 1
1 There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job,
and that man was simple and upright, and fearing God, and
avoiding evil.
2 And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
3 And his possession was seven thousand sheep, and three
thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five
hundred she asses, and a family exceeding great: and this
man was great among all the people of the east.
4 And his sons went, and made a feast by houses every one in
his day. And sending they called their three sisters to
eat and drink with them.
5 And when the days of their feasting were gone about, Job
sent to them, and sanctified them: and rising up early
offered holocausts for every one of them. For he said:
Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, and have blessed God in
their hearts. So did Job all days.
6 Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to stand
before the Lord, Satan also was present among them.
7 And the Lord said to him: Whence comest thou ? And he
answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and
walked through it.
8 And the Lord said to him: Hast thou considered my servant
Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple
and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil?
9 And Satan answering, said: Doth Job fear God in vain ?
10 Hast not thou made a fence for him, and his house, and all
his substance round about, blessed the works of his hands,
and his possession hath increased on the earth ?
11 But stretch forth thy hand a little, and touch all that he
hath, and see if he blesseth thee not to thy face.
12 Then the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he hath is
in thy hand: only put not forth thy hand upon his person.
And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
13 Now upon a certain day when his sons and daughters were
eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest
brother,
14 There came a messenger to Job, and said: The oxen were
ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them,
15 And the Sabeans rushed in, and took all away, and slew the
servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell
thee.
16 And while he was yet speaking, another came, and said: The
fire of God fell from heaven, and striking the sheep and
the servants, hath consumed them, and I alone have escaped
to tell thee.
17 And while he also was yet speaking, there came another,
and said: The Chaldeans made three troops, and have fallen
upon the camels, and taken them, moreover they have slain
the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to
tell thee.
18 He was yet speaking, and behold another came in, and said:
Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in
the house of their elder brother:
19 A violent wind came on a sudden from the side of the
desert, and shook the four corners of the house, and it
fell upon thy children and they are dead, and I alone have
escaped to fell thee.
20 Then Job rose up, and rent his garments, and having shaven
his head fell down upon the ground and worshipped,
21 And said: Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked
shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord so is it done:
blessed be the name of the Lord.
22 In all these things Job sinned not by his lips, nor spoke
he any foolish thing against God.
The Book of Job, Chapter 2
1 And it came to pass, when on a certain day the sons of God
came, and stood before the Lord, and Satan came among
them, and stood in his sight,
2 That the Lord said to Satan: Whence comest thou ? And he
answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and
walked through it.
3 And the Lord said to Satan: Hast thou considered my
servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a
man simple, and upright, and fearing Cod, and avoiding
evil, and still keeping his innocence ? But thou hast
moved me against him, that I sho uld afflict him without
cause.
4 And Satan answered, and said: Skin for skin, and all that
a man hath he will give for his life:
5 gut put forth thy hand, and touch his bone and his flesh,
and then thou shalt gee that he will bless thee to thy
face.
6 And the Lord said to Satan: Behold be is in thy hand, but
yet save his life.
7 So Satan went forth from the presence Of the Lord, and
struck Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of
the foot even to the top of his head:
8 And he took a potsherd and scraped the corrupt matter,
sitting on a dunghill.
9 And his wife said to him: Dost thou still continue in thy
simplicity? bless God and die.
10 And he said to her: Thou hast; spoken like one of the
foolish women: if we have received good things at the hand
of God, why should we not receive evil? In all these
things Job did not sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job's three friends heard all the evil that had
befallen him, they came every one from his own place,
Alphas the Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and Sophar
the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment to come
together and visit him, a nd comfort him.
12 And when they had lifted up their eyes afar off, they knew
him not, and crying out they wept, and rending their
garments they sprinkled dust upon their heads towards
heaven.
13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven
nights, and no man spoke to him a word: for they saw that
his grief was very great.
The Book of Job, Chapter 3
1 After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,
2 and he said:
3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in
which it was said: A man child is conceived.
4 Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard
it from above, and let not the light shine upon it.
5 Let darkness, and the shadow of death cover it, let a mist
overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness.
6 Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not
be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the
months.
7 Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise.
8 Let them curse it who curse the day. who are ready to
raise up a leviathan:
9 Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it
expect light and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning
of the day:
10 Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me,
nor took away evils from my eyes.
11 Why did I not die in the womb, why did I not perish when
I came out of the belly?
12 Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts ?
13 For now I should have been asleep and still, and should
have rest in my sleep.
14 With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves
solitudes:
15 Or with princes, that possess gold, and All their houses
with silver:
16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I should not be, or as they
that being conceived have not seen the light.
17 There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied
in strength are at rest.
18 And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have
not heard the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great are there, and the servant is free
from his master.
20 Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to
them that are in bitterness of soul?
21 That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig
for a treasure:
22 And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the
grave.
23 To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him
with darkness?
24 Before I eat I sigh: and as overflowing waters, so is my
roaring:
25 For the fear which I feared hath come upon me: and that
which I was afraid of, hath befallen me.
26 Have I not dissembled ? have I not kept silence ? have I
not been quiet? and indignation is come upon me.
The Book of Job, Chapter 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
2 If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it
ill, but who can withhold the words he hath conceived?
3 Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened
the weary hands:
4 Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and
thou hast strengthened the trembling knees:
5 But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest:
it hath touched thee, and thou art troubled.
6 Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the
perfection of thy ways?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent?
or when were the just destroyed?
8 On the contrary I have seen those who work iniquity, and
sow sorrows, and reap them,
9 Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit
of his wrath.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and
the teeth of the whelps of lions are broken:
11 The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young
lions are scattered abroad.
12 Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears
by stealth as it were received the veins of its whisper.
13 In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is
wont to hold men,
14 Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were
affrighted:
15 And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh
stood up.
16 There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image
before my eyes, and I heard the voice as it were of a
gentle wind:
17 Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a
man be more pure than his maker?
18 Behold they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his
angels he found wickedness:
19 How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who
have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth?
20 From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and
because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever.
21 And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from
them: they shall die, and not in wisdom.
The Book of Job, Chapter 5
1 Call now if there be any that will answer thee, and turn
to some of the saints.
2 Anger indeed killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the
little one.
3 I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I cursed his
beauty immediately.
4 His children shall be far from safety, and shall be
destroyed in the gate, and there shall be none to deliver
them.
5 Whose harvest the hungry shall eat, and the armed man
shall take him by violence, and the thirsty shall drink up
his riches.
6 Nothing upon earth is done without a voice cause, and
sorrow doth not spring out of the ground.
7 Man is born to labour and the bird to fly.
8 Wherefore I will pray to the Lord, and address my speech
to God:
9 Who doth great things and unsearchable and wonderful
things without number:
10 Who giveth rain upon the face of the earth, and watereth
all things with waters:
11 Who setteth up the humble on high, and comforteth with
health those that mourn.
12 Who bringeth to nought the designs of the malignant, so
that their hands cannot accomplish what they had begun:
13 Who catcheth the wise in their craftiness, and
disappointeth the counsel of the wicked:
14 They shall meet with darkness in the day, and grope at
noonday as in the night.
15 But he shall save the needy from the sword of their mouth,
and the poor from the hand of the violent.
16 And to the needy there shall he hope, but iniquity shall
draw in her mouth.
17 Blessed is the mall whom God correcteth: refuse not
therefore the chastising of the lord:
18 For he woundeth, and cureth: he striketh, and his hands
shall heal.
19 In six troubles he shall deliver thee, and in the seventh,
evil shall not touch thee.
20 In famine he shall deliver thee from death: and in battle,
from the hand of the sword.
21 Thou shalt he hidden from the scourge of the tongue: and
thou shalt not fear calamity when it cometh.
22 In destruction and famine then shalt laugh: and thou shalt
not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
23 But thou shalt have a covenant with the stones of the
lands, and the beasts of the earth shall be at pence with
thee.
24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle is in peace, and
visiting thy beauty thou shalt not sin.
25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be multiplied,
and thy offspring like the grass of the earth.
26 Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance, as a heap of
wheat is brought in its season.
27 Behold, this is even so, as we have searched oat: which
thou having heard, consider it thoroughly in thy mind.
The Book of Job, Chapter 6
1 But Job answered, and said:
2 O that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, and the
calamity that I suffer, were weighed in a balance.
3 As the sand of the sea this would appear heavier:
therefore my words are full of sorrow:
4 For the arrows of the Lord are in me, the rage whereof
drinketh up my spirit, and the terrors of the Lord war
against me.
5 Will the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or will the ox
low when he standeth before a full manger?
6 Or can an unsavoury thing be eaten, that is not seasoned
with salt? or can a man taste that which when tasted
bringeth death?
7 The things which before my soul would not touch, now,
through anguish are my meats.
8 Who will grant that my request may come: and that God may
give me what I look for?
9 And that he that hath begun may destroy me, that he may
let loose his hand, and cut me off?
10 And that this may be my comfort, that afflicting me with
sorrow, he spare not, nor I contradict the words of the
Holy One.
11 For what is my strength, that I can hold out? or what is
my end that I should keep patience?
12 My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh
of brass.
13 Behold there is no help for me in myself, and my familiar
friends also are departed from me.
14 He that taketh away mercy from his friend, forsaketh the
fear of the Lord.
15 My brethren have passed by me, as the torrent that passeth
swiftly in the valleys.
16 They that fear the hoary frost, the snow shall fall upon
them.
17 At the time when they shall be scattered they shall
perish: and after it groweth hot they shall be melted out
of their place.
18 The paths of their steps are entangled: they shall walk in
vain, and shall perish.
19 Consider the paths of Thema, the ways of Saba, and wait a
little while.
20 They are confounded, because I have hoped: they are come
also even unto me, and are covered with shame.
21 Now you are come: and now seeing my affliction you are
afraid.
22 Did I say: Bring to me, and give me of your substance?
23 Or deliver me from the hand of the enemy, and rescue me
out of the hand of the mighty?
24 Teach me, and I will hold my peace: and if I have been
ignorant in any thing, instruct me.
25 Why have you detracted the words of truth, whereas there
is none of you that can reprove me?
26 You dress up speeches only to rebuke, and you utter words
to the wind.
27 You rush in upon the fatherless, and you endeavour to
overthrow your friend.
28 However finish what you have begun, give ear, and see
whether I lie.
29 Answer, I beseech you, without contention: and speaking
that which is just, judge ye.
30 And you shall not And iniquity in my tongue, neither shall
folly sound in my mouth.
The Book of Job, Chapter 7
1 The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are
like the days of a hireling.
2 As a servant longeth for the shade, as the hireling
looketh for the end of his work;
3 So I also have had empty months, and have numbered to
myself wearisome nights.
4 If I lie down to sleep, I shall say: When shall arise? and
again I shall look for the evening, and shall be filled
with sorrows even till darkness.
5 My flesh is clothed with rottenness and the filth of dust,
my skin is withered and drawn together.
6 My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by
the weaver, and are consumed without any hope.
7 Remember that my life is but wind, and my eyes shall not
return to see good things.
8 Nor shall the sight of man behold me: thy eyes are upon
me, and I shall be no more.
9 As a cloud is consumed, and passeth away: so he that shall
go down to hell shall not come up.
10 Nor shall he return my more into his house, neither shall
his place know him any more.
11 Wherefore I will not spare my month, I will speak in the
affliction of my spirit: I will talk with the bitterness
of my soul.
12 Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou hast enclosed me in a
prison?
13 If I say: My bed shall comfort me, and I shall be relieved
speaking with myself on my couch:
14 Thou wilt frighten me with dreams and terrify me with
visions.
15 So that my soul rather chooseth hanging, and my bones
death.
16 I have done with hope, I shall now live no longer: spare
me, for my days are nothing.
17 What is a man that thou shouldst magnify him? or why dost
thou set thy heart upon him?
18 Thou visitest him early in the morning, and thou provest
him suddenly.
19 How long wilt thou not spare me, nor suffer me to swallow
down my spittle?
20 I have sinned: what shall I do to thee, O keeper of men?
why hast thou set me opposite to thee, and I am become
burdensome to myself?
21 Why dost thou not remove my sin, and why dost thou not
take away my iniquity? Behold now I shall sleep in the
dust: and if thou seek me in the morning, I shall not be.
The Book of Job, Chapter 8
1 The Baldad the Suhite answered, and said:
2 How long wilt thou speak these things, and how long shall
the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?
3 Doth God pervert judgment, or doth the Almighty overthrow
that which is just?
4 Although thy children have sinned against him, and he hath
left them in the hand of their iniquity:
5 Yet if thou wilt arise early to God, and wilt beseech the
Almighty:
6 If thou wilt walk clean and upright, he will presently
awake onto thee, and will make the dwelling of thy justice
peaceable:
7 Insomuch, that if thy former things were small, thy latter
things would be multiplied exceedingly.
8 For inquire of the former generation, and search
diligently into the memory of the fathers:
9 (For we are but of yesterday, and are ignorant that our
days upon earth are but a shadow:)
10 And they shall teach thee: they shall speak to thee, and
utter words out of their hearts.
11 Can the rush be green without moisture? or a sedge-bush
grow without water?
12 When it is yet in flower, and is not plucked up with the
hand, it withereth before all herbs.
13 Even so are the ways of all that forget God, and the hope
of the hypocrite shall perish:
14 His folly shall not please him, and his trust shall be
like the spider's web.
15 He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand: he
shall prop it up, and it shall not rise:
16 He seemeth to have moisture before the sun cometh, and at
his rising his blossom shall shoot forth.
17 His roots shall be thick upon a heap of stones, and among
the stones he shall abide.
18 If one swallow him up out of his place, he shall deny him,
and shall say: I know thee not.
19 For this is the joy of his way, that others may spring
again out of the earth.
20 God will not cast away the simple, nor reach out his hand
to the evildoer:
21 Until thy mouth be filled with laughter, and thy lips with
rejoicing.
22 They that hate thee, shall be clothed with confusion: and
the dwelling of the wicked shall not stand.
The Book of Job, Chapter 9
1 And Job answered, and said:
2 Indeed I know it is so, and that man cannot be justified
compared with
3 If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one for
a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath
resisted him, and hath had peace ?
5 Who hath removed mountains, and they whom he overthrew in
his wrath, knew it not.
6 Who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars
thereof tremble.
7 Who commandeth tile sun and it riseth not: and shutteth up
the stars as it were under a seal:
8 Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and walketh upon the
waves of the sea.
9 Who maketh Arcturus, and Orion, and Hyades, and the inner
parts of the south.
10 Who doth things great and incomprehensible, and wonderful,
of which there is no number.
11 If he come to me, I shall not see him: if he depart I
shall not understand.
12 If he examine on a sudden, who shall answer him? or who
can say: Why dost thou so?
13 God, whose wrath no mall can resist, and under whom they
stoop that bear up the world.
14 What am I then, that I should answer him, and have words
with him?
15 I, who although I should have any just thing, would not
answer, but would make supplication to my judge.
16 And if he should hear me when I call, I should not believe
that he had heard my voice.
17 For he shall crush me in a whirlwind, and multiply my
wounds even without cause.
18 He alloweth not my spirit to rest, and he filleth me with
bitterness.
19 If strength be demanded, he is most strong: if equity of
judgment, no man dare bear witness for me.
20 If I would justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me:
if I would shew myself innocent, he shall prove me wicked.
21 Although I should be simple, even this my soul shall be
ignorant of, and I shall be weary of my life.
22 One thing there is that I have spoken, both the innocent
and the wicked he consumeth.
23 If he scourge, let him kill at once, and not laugh at the
pains of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked, he
covereth the face of the judges thereof: and if it be not
he, who is it then?
25 My days have been swifter than a post: they have fled away
and have not seen good.
26 They have passed by as ships carrying fruits, as an eagle
flying to the prey.
27 If I say: I will not speak so: I change my face, and am
tormented with sorrow.
28 I feared all my works, knowing that thou didst not spare
the offender.
29 But if so also I am wicked, why have I laboured in vain?
30 If I be washed as it were with snow waters, and my hands
shall shine ever so clean:
31 Yet thou shalt plunge me in filth, and my garments shall
abhor me,
32 For I shall not answer a man that is like myself: nor one
that may be heard with me equally in judgment.
33 There is none that may be able to reprove both, and to put
his hand between both.
34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear
terrify me.
35 I will speak, and will not fear him: for I cannot answer
while I am in fear.
The Book of Job, Chapter 10
1 My soul is weary of my life, I will let go my speech
against myself, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God: Do not condemn me: tell me why thou
judgest me so.
3 Doth it seem good to thee that thou shouldst calumniate
me, and oppress me, the work of thy own hands, and help
the counsel of the wicked?
4 Hast thou eyes of flesh: or, shalt thou see as man seeth?
5 Are thy days as the days of man, and are thy years as the
times of men:
6 That thou shouldst inquire after my iniquity, and search
after my sin?
7 And shouldst know that I have done no wicked thing,
whereas there is no man that can deliver out of thy hand.
8 Thy hands have made me, and fashioned me wholly round
about, and dost thou thus cast me down headlong on a
sudden?
9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the
clay, and thou wilt bring me into dust again.
10 Hast thou not milked me as milk, and curdled me like
cheese?
11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh: thou hast put me
together with bones and sinews:
12 Thou hast granted me life and mercy, and thy visitation
hath preserved my spirit.
13 Although thou conceal these things in thy heart, yet I
know that thou rememberest all things.
14 If I have sinned and thou hast spared me for an hour: why
dost thou not suffer me to be clean from my iniquity?
15 And if I be wicked, woe unto me: and if just, I shall not
lift up my head, being filled with affliction and misery.
16 And for pride thou wilt take me as a lioness, and
returning thou tormentest me wonderfully.
17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and multipliest
thy wrath upon me, and pains war against me.
18 Why didst thou bring me forth out of the womb: O that I
had been consumed that eye might not see me!
19 I should have been as if I had not been, carried from the
womb to the grave.
20 Shall not the fewness of my days be ended shortly? suffer
me, therefore, that I may lament my sorrow a little:
21 Before I go, and return no more, to a land that is dark
and covered with the mist of death:
22 A land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of death,
and no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth.
The Book of Job, Chapter 11
1 Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:
2 Shall not he that speaketh much, hear also? or shall a man
full of talk be justified?
3 Shall men hold their peace to thee only? and when thou
hast mocked others, shall no man confute thee?
4 For thou hast said: My word is pure, and I am clean in thy
sight.
5 And I wish that God would speak with thee, and would open
his lips to thee,
6 That he might shew thee the secrets of wisdom, and that
his law is manifold, and thou mightest understand that he
exacteth much less of thee, than thy iniquity deserveth.
7 Peradventure thou wilt comprehend the steps of God, and
wilt find out the Almighty perfectly?
8 He is higher than heaven, and what wilt thou do ? he is
deeper than hell, and how wilt thou know?
9 The measure of him is longer than the earth, and broader
than the sea.
10 If he shall overturn all things, or shall press them
together, who shall contradict him?
11 For he knoweth the vanity of men, and when he seeth
iniquity, doth he not consider it?
12 A vain man is lifted up into pride, and thinketh himself
born free like a wild ass's colt.
13 Rut thou hast hardened thy heart, and hast spread thy
hands to him.
14 If thou wilt put away from thee the iniquity that is in
thy hand, and lot not injustice remain in thy tabernacle:
15 Then mayst thou lift up thy face without spot, and thou
shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear.
16 Thou shalt also forget misery, and remember it only as
waters that are passed away.
17 And brightness like that of the noonday, shall arise to
thee at evening: and when thou shalt think thyself
consumed, thou shalt rise as the day star.
18 And thou shalt have confidence, hope being set before
thee, and being buried thou shalt sleep secure.
19 Thou shalt rest, and there shall be none to make thee
afraid: and many shall entreat thy face.
20 But the eyes of the wicked shall decay, and the way to
escape shall fail them, and their hope the abomination of
the soul.
The Book of Job, Chapter 12
1 When Job answered, and said:
2 Are you then men alone, and shall wisdom die with you?
3 I also have a heart as well as you: for who is ignorant of
these things, which you know?
4 He that is mocked by his friends as I, shall call upon God
and he will hear him: for the simplicity of the just man
is laughed to scorn.
5 The lamp despised in the thoughts of the rich, is ready
for the time appointed.
6 The tabernacles of robbers abound, and they provoke God
boldly; whereas it is he that hath given all into their
hands:
7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee: and the
birds of the air, and they shall tell thee.
8 Speak to the earth, and it shall answer thee: and the
fishes of the sea shall tell.
9 Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord hath made all
these things?
10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the
spirit of all flesh of man.
11 Doth not the ear discern words, and the palate of him that
eateth, the taste?
12 In the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days prudence.
13 With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and
understanding.
14 If he pull down, there is no man that can build up: if he
shut up a. man, there is none that can open.
15 If he withhold the waters, all things shall be dried up:
and if he send them out, they shall overturn the earth.
16 With him is strength and wisdom: he knoweth both the
deceiver, and him that is deceived.
17 He bringeth counsellors to a foolish end, and judges to
insensibility.
18 He looseth the belt of kings, and girdeth their loins with
a cord.
19 He leadeth away priests without glory, and overthroweth
nobles.
20 He changeth the speech of the true speakers, and taketh
away the doctrine of the aged.
21 He poureth contempt upon princes, and relieveth them that
were oppressed.
22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth
up to light the shadow of death.
23 He multiplieth nations, and destroyeth them, and restoreth
them again after they were overthrown.
24 He changeth the heart of the princes of the people of the
earth, and deceiveth them that they walk in vain where
there is no way.
25 They shall grope as in the dark, and not in the light, and
he shall make them stagger like men that are drunk.
The Book of Job, Chapter 13
1 Behold my eye hath seen all these things, and my ear hath
heard them, and I have understood them all.
2 According to your knowledge I also know: neither am I
inferior to you.
3 But yet I will speak to the Almighty, and I desire to
reason with God.
4 Having first shewn that you are forgers of lies, and
maintainers of perverse opinions.
5 And I wish you would hold your peace, that you might be
thought to be wise men..
6 Hear ye therefore my reproof, and attend to the judgment
of my lips.
7 Hath God any need of your lie, that you should speak
deceitfully for him?
8 Do you accept his person, and do you endeavour to judge
for God?
9 Or shall it please him, from whom nothing can be concealed
? or shall he be deceived as a man, with your deceitful
dealings ?
10 He shall reprove you, because in secret you accept his
person.
11 As soon as he shall move himself, he shall trouble you:
and his dread shall fall upon you.
12 Your remembrance shall be compared to ashes, and your
necks shall be brought to clay.
13 Hold your peace a little while, that I may speak
whatsoever my mind shall suggest to me.
14 Why do I tear my flesh with my teeth, and carry my soul in
my hands?
15 Although he should bill me, I will trust in him: but yet
I will reprove my ways in his sight.
16 And he shall be my saviour: for no hypocrite shall come
before his presence.
17 Hear ye my speech, and receive with Sour ears hidden
truths.
18 If I shall be judged, I know that I shall be found just.
19 Who is he that will plead against me? let him come: why am
I consumed holding my peace?
20 Two things only do not to me, and then from thy face I
shall not be hid:
21 Withdraw thy hand far from me, and let not thy dread
terrify me.
22 Call me, and I will answer thee: or else I will speak, and
do thou answer me.
23 How many are my iniquities and sins? make me know my
crimes and offences.
24 Why hidest thou thy face, and thinkest me thy enemy?
25 Against a leaf, that is carried away with the wind, thou
shewest thy power, and thou pursuest a dry straw.
26 For thou writest bitter things against me, and wilt
consume me for the sins of my youth.
27 Thou hast put my feet in the stocks, and hast observed all
my paths, and hast considered the steps of my feet:
28 Who am to be consumed as rottenness, and as a garment that
is moth-eaten.
The Book of Job, Chapter 14
1 Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled
with many miseries.
2 Who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed, and
fleeth as a shadow, and never continueth in the same
state.
3 And dost thou think it meet to open thy eyes upon such an
one, and to bring him into judgment with thee?
4 Who can make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed
? is it not thou who only art?
5 The days of man are short, and the number of his months is
with thee: thou hast appointed his bounds which cannot be
passed.
6 Depart a little from him, that he may rest, until his
wished for day come, as that of the hireling.
7 A tree hath hope: if it be cut, it groweth green again,
and the boughs thereof sprout.
8 If its root be old in the earth, and its stock be dead in
the dust:
9 At the scent of water, it shall spring, and bring forth
leaves, as when it was first planted.
10 But man when he shall be dead, and stripped and consumed,
I pray you where is he?
11 As if the waters should depart out of the sea, and an
emptied river should be dried up:
12 So man when he is fallen asleep shall not rise again; till
the heavens be broken, he shall not awake, nor rise up out
of his sleep.
13 Who will grant me this, that thou mayest protect me in
hell, and hide me till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a.
time when thou wilt remember me?
14 Shall man that is dead, thinkest thou, live again? all the
days in which I am now in warfare, I expect until my
change come.
15 Thou shalt call me, and I will answer thee: to the work of
thy hands thou shalt reach out thy right hand.
16 Thou indeed hast numbered my steps, but spare my sins.
17 Thou hast sealed up my offences as it were in a bag, but
hast cured my iniquity.
18 A mountain falling cometh to nought, and a rock is removed
out of its place.
19 Waters wear away the stones, and with inundation the
ground by little and little is washed away: so in like
manner thou shalt destroy man.
20 Thou hast strengthened him for a little while, that he may
pass away for ever: thou shalt change his face, and shalt
send him away.
21 Whether his children come to honour or dishonour, he shall
not understand.
22 But yet his flesh, while he shall live, shall have pain,
and his soul shall mourn over him.
The Book of Job, Chapter 15
1 And Eliphaz the Themanite, answered, and said:
2 Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking in the wind,
and fill his stomach with burning heat?
3 Thou reprovest him by words, who is not equal to thee, and
thou speakest that which is not good for thee.
4 As much as is in thee, thou hast made void fear, and hast
taken away prayers from before God.
5 For thy iniquity hath taught thy mouth, and thou imitatest
the tongue of blasphemers.
6 Thy own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I: and thy own
lips shall answer thee.
7 Art thou the first man that was born, or wast thou made
before the hills ?
8 Hast thou heard God's counsel, and shall his wisdom be
inferior to thee?
9 What knowest thou that we are ignorant of? what dost thou
understand that we know not?
10 There are with us also aged and ancient men, much elder
than thy fathers.
11 Is it a great matter that God should comfort thee? but thy
wicked words hinder this.
12 Why doth thy heart elevate thee, and why dost thou stare
with thy eyes, as if they were thinking great things ?
13 Why doth thy spirit swell against God, to utter such words
out of thy mouth ?
14 What is man that he should be without spot, and he that is
born of a woman that he should appear just?
15 Behold among his saints none is unchangeable, and the
heavens are not pure in his sight.
16 How much more is man abominable, and unprofitable, who
drinketh iniquity like water?
17 I will shew thee, hear me: and I mill tell thee what I
have seen.
18 Wise men confess and hide not their fathers.
19 To whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger hath
passed among them.
20 The wicked man is proud all his days, and the number of
the years of his tyranny is uncertain.
21 The sound of dread is always in his ears: and when there
is peace, he always suspecteth treason.
22 He believeth not that he may return from darkness to
light, looking round about for the sword on every side.
23 When he moveth himself to seek bread, he knoweth that the
day of darkness is ready at his hand.
24 Tribulation shall terrify him, and distress shall surround
him, as a king that is prepared for the battle.
25 For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and hath
strengthened himself against the Almighty.
26 He hath run against him with his neck raised up, and is
armed with a fat neck.
27 Fatness hath covered his face, and the fat hangeth down on
his sides.
28 He hath dwelt in desolate cities, and in desert houses
that are reduced into heaps.
29 He shall not be enriched, neither shall his substance
continue, neither shall he push his root in the earth.
30 He shall not depart out of darkness: the flame shall dry
up his branches, and he shall be taken away by the breath
of his own month.
31 He shall not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that
he may be redeemed with any price.
32 Before his days be full he shall perish: and his hands
shall wither away.
33 He shall be blasted as a vine when its grapes are in the
first flower, and as an olive tree that casteth its
flower.
34 For the congregation of the hypocrite is barren, and fire
shall devour their tabernacles, who love to take bribes.
35 He hath conceived sorrow, and hath brought forth iniquity,
and his womb prepareth deceits.
The Book of Job, Chapter 16
1 Then Job answered, and said:
2 I have often heard such things as these: you are all
troublesome comforters.
3 Shall windy words have no end? or is it any trouble to
thee to speak?
4 I also could speak like you: and would God your soul were
for my soul.
5 I would comfort you also with words, and would wag my head
over you.
6 I would strengthen you with my mouth, and would move my
lips, as sparing you.
7 But what shall I do? If I speak, my pain will not rest:
and if I hold my peace, it will not depart from me.
8 But now my sorrow hath oppressed me, and all my limbs are
brought to nothing.
9 My wrinkles bear witness against me, and a false speaker
riseth up against my face, contradicting me.
10 He hath gathered together his fury against me, and
threatening me he hath gnashed with his teeth upon me: my
enemy hath beheld me with terrible eyes.
11 They have opened their mouths upon me, and reproaching me
they have struck me on the cheek, they are filled with my
pains.
12 God hath shut me up with the unjust man, and hath
delivered me into the hands of the wicked.
13 I that was formerly so wealthy, am all on a sudden broken
to pieces: he hath taken me by my neck, he hath broken me,
and hath set me up to be his mark.
14 He hath compassed me round about with his lances, he hath
wounded my loins, he hath not spared, and hath poured out
my bowels on the earth.
15 He hath torn me with wound upon wound, he hath rushed in
upon me like a giant.
16 I have sowed sackcloth upon my skin, and have covered my
flesh with ashes.
17 My face is swollen with weeping, and my eyelids are dim.
18 These things have I suffered without the iniquity of my
hand, when I offered pure prayers to God.
19 O earth, cover not thou my blood, neither let my cry find
a hiding place in thee.
20 For behold my witness is in heaven, and he that knoweth my
conscience is on high.
21 My friends are full of words: my eye poureth out tears to
God.
22 And O that a man might so be judged with God, as the son
of man is judged with his companion!
23 For behold short years pass away and I am walking in a
path by which l shall not return.
The Book of Job, Chapter 17
1 My spirit shall be wasted, my days shall be shortened, and
only the grave remaineth for me.
2 I have not sinned, and my eye abideth in bitterness.
3 Deliver me O Lord, and set me beside thee, and let any
man's hand fight against me.
4 Thou hast set their heart far from understanding,
therefore they shall not be exalted.
5 He promiseth a prey to his companions, and the eyes of his
children shall fail.
6 He hath made me as it were a byword of the people, and I
am an example before them.
7 My eye is dim through indignation, and my limbs are
brought as it were to nothing.
8 The just shall be astonished at this, and the innocent
shall be raised up against the hypocrite.
9 And the just man shall hold on his way, and he that hath
clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
10 Wherefore be you all converted, and come, and I shall not
find among you any wise man.
11 My days have passed away, my thoughts are dissipated,
tormenting my heart.
12 They have turned night into day, and after darkness I hope
for light again.
13 If I wait hell is my house, and I have made my bed in
darkness.
14 If I have said to rottenness: Thou art my father; to
worms, my mother and my sister.
15 Where is now then my expectation, and who considereth my
patience?
16 All that I have shall go down into the deepest pit:
thinkest thou that there at least I shall have rest?
The Book of Job, Chapter 18
1 Then Baldad the Suhite answered, and said:
2 How long will you throw out words? understand first, and
so let us speak.
3 Why are we reputed as beasts, and counted vile before you?
4 Thou that destroyest thy soul in thy fury, shall the earth
be forsaken for thee, and shall rocks be removed out of
their place?
5 Shall not the light of the wicked be extinguished, and the
flame of his fire not shine?
6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and the lamp
that is over him, shall be put out.
7 The step of his strength shall be straitened, and his own
counsel shall cast him down headlong.
8 For he hath thrust his feet into a net, and walketh in its
meshes.
9 The sole of his foot shall be held in a snare, and thirst
shall burn against him.
10 A gin is hidden for him in the earth, and his trap upon
the path.
11 Fears shall terrify him on every side, and shall entangle
his feet.
12 Let his strength be wasted with famine, and let hunger
invade his ribs.
13 Let it devour the beauty of his skin, let the firstborn
death consume his arms.
14 Let his confidence be rooted out of his tabernacle, and
let destruction tread upon him like a king.
15 Let the companions of him that is not, dwell in his
tabernacle, let brimstone be sprinkled in his tent.
16 Let his roots be dried up beneath, and his harvest
destroyed above.
17 Let the memory of him perish from the earth and let not
his name be renowned in the streets.
18 He shall drive him out of light into darkness, and shall
remove him out of the world.
19 His seed shall not subsist, nor his offspring among his
people, nor any remnants in his country.
20 They that come after him shall be astonished at his day,
and horror shall fall upon them that went before.
21 These men are the tabernacles of the wicked, and this the
place of him that knoweth not God.
The Book of Job, Chapter 19
1 Then Job answered , and said:
2 How long do you afflict my soul, and break me in pieces
with words?
3 Behold, these ten times you confound me, and are not
ashamed to oppress me.
4 For if I have been ignorant, my ignorance shall be with
me.
5 But you have set yourselves up against me, and reprove me
with my reproaches.
6 At least now understand, that God hath not afflicted me
with an equal judgment, and compassed me with his
scourges.
7 Behold I cry suffering violence, and no one will hear: I
shall cry aloud, and there is none to judge.
8 He hath hedged in my path round about, and I cannot pass,
and in my way he hath set darkness.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and hath taken the crown
from my head.
10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am lost, and he
hath taken away my hope, as from a tree that is plucked
up.
11 His wrath is kindled against me, and he hath counted me as
his enemy.
12 His troops have come together, and have made themselves a
way by me, and have besieged my tabernacle round about.
13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintance
like strangers have departed from me.
14 My kinsmen have forsaken me, and they that knew me, have
forgotten me.
15 They that dwelt in my house, and my maidservants have
counted me a stranger, and I have been like an alien in
their eyes.
16 I called my servant, and he gave me no answer, I entreated
him with my own mouth.
17 My wife hath abhorred my breath, and I entreated the
children of my womb.
18 Even fools despise me; and when I gone from them, they
spoke against me.
19 They that were sometime my counsellors, have abhorred me:
and he whom I love most is turned against me.
20 The flesh being consumed. My bone hath cleaved to my skin,
and nothing but lips are left about my teeth.
21 Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends,
because the hand of the Lord hath touched me.
22 Why do you persecute me as God, and glut yourselves with
my flesh?
23 Who will grant me that my words may be written? Who will
grant me that they may be marked down in a book?
24 With an iron pen and in a plate of lead, or else be graven
with an instrument in flint stone.
25 For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I
shall rise out of the earth.
26 And I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh
I will see my God.
27 Whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not
another: this my hope is laid up in my bosom.
28 Why then do you say now: Let us persecute him, and let us
find occasion of word against him?
29 Flee then from the face of the sword, for the sword is the
revenger of iniquities: and know ye that there is
judgment.
The Book of Job, Chapter 20
1 Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:
2 Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and
my mind is hurried away to different things.
3 The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear,
and the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me.
4 This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon
the earth,
5 that the praise of the wicked is short, and the joy of the
hypocrite but for a moment.
6 If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch
the clouds:
7 In the end he shall be destroyed like a dunghill, and they
that has seen him shall say: Where is he?
8 As a dream that fleeth away he shall not be found, he
shall pass as a vision of the night:
9 The eyes that had seen him, shall see him no more, neither
shall his place any more behold him.
10 His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands
shall render him his sorrow.
11 His bones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and
they shall sleep with him in the dust.
12 For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it
under his tongue.
13 He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in
his throat.
14 His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of
asps within him.
15 The riches which he hath swallowed; he shall vomit up, and
God shall draw them out of his belly.
16 He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper's tongue
shall kill him.
17 (Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of
honey and of butter.)
18 He shall be punished for all that he did, and yet shall
not be consumed: according to the multitude of his devices
so also shall he suffer.
19 Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath
violently taken away a house which he did not build.
20 And yet his belly was not filled: and when he hath the
things he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them.
21 There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing
shall continue of his goods:
22 When he shall be filled, he shall be straitened, he shall
burn, and every sorrow shall fall upon him.
23 May his belly be filled, that God may send forth the wrath
of his indignation upon him, and rain down his war upon
him.
24 He shall flee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a
bow of brass.
25 The sword is drawn out, and cometh forth from its
scabbard, and glittereth in his bitterness: the terrible
ones shall go and come upon him.
26 All darkness is hid in his secret places: a fire that is
not kindled shall devour him, he shall be afflicted when
left in his tabernacle.
27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall
rise up against him.
28 The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be
pulled down in the day of God's wrath.
29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the
inheritance of his doings from the Lord.
The Book of Job, Chapter 21
1 Then Job answered, and said:
2 Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.
3 Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please,
laugh at my words.
4 Is my debate against man, that I should not have just
reason to be troubled?
5 Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on
your mouth.
6 As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling
taketh hold on my flesh.
7 Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and
strengthened with riches?
8 Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen,
and of children's children in their sight.
9 Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God
is not upon them.
10 Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has
calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.
11 Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children
dance and play.
12 They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the
sound of the organ.
13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go
down to hell.
14 Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the
knowledge of thy ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what
doth it profit us if we pray to him?
16 Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may
the counsel of the wicked be far from me.
17 How often shall the lamp of the wicked be put out, and a
deluge come upon them, and he shall distribute the sorrows
of his wrath?
18 They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as
ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
19 God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his
children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know.
20 His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink
of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him:
and if the number of his months be diminished by one half?
22 Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that
are high?
23 One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.
24 His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened
with marrow.
25 But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any
riches:
26 And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms
shall cover them.
27 Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments
against me.
28 For you say: Where is the house of the prince ? and where
are the dwelling places of the wicked?
29 Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall
perceive that he knoweth these same things.
30 Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of
destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.
31 Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay
him what he hath done?
32 He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the
heap of the dead.
33 He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he
shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable
before him.
34 How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is
shewn to be repugnant to truth ?
The Book of Job, Chapter 22
1 Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
2 Can man be compared with God, even though he were of
perfect knowledge?
3 What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou
give him if thy way be unspotted?
4 Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into
judgment:
5 And not for thy manifold wickedness, and thy infinite
iniquities?
6 For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren
without cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast
withdrawn bread from the hungry.
8 In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land,
and being the most mighty thou holdest it.
9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the
fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.
10 Therefore art thou surrounded with snares, and sudden fear
troubleth thee.
11 And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness,
and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of
overflowing waters?
12 Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is
elevated above the height of the stars?
13 And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it
were through a mist.
14 The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our
things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven.
15 Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked
men have trodden?
16 Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath
overthrown their foundation.
17 Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the
Almighty as if he could do nothing:
18 Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose
way of thinking be far from me.
19 The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent
shall laugh them to scorn.
20 Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire
devoured the remnants of them?
21 Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby
thou shalt have the best fruits.
22 Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy
heart.
23 If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built
up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
24 He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of
gold.
25 And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver
shall be heaped together for thee.
26 Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and
shalt lift up thy face to God.
27 Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou
shalt pay vows.
28 Thou shalt decree a thing, and it I shall come to thee,
and light shall shine in thy ways.
29 For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he
that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved.
30 The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the
cleanness of his hands.
The Book of Job, Chapter 23
1 Then Job answered, and said:
2 Now also my words are in bitterness, and the hand of my
scourge is more grievous than my mourning.
3 Who will grant me that I might know and find him, and come
even to his throne?
4 I would set judgment before him, and would fill my mouth
with complaints.
5 That I might know the words that he would answer me, and
understand what he would say to me.
6 I would not that he should contend with me with much
strength, nor overwhelm me with the weight of his
greatness.
7 Let him propose equity against me, and let my judgment
come to victory.
8 But if I go to the east, he appeareth not; if to the west,
I shall not understand him.
9 If to the left hand, what shall I do? I shall not take
hold on him: if I turn myself to the right hand, I shall
not see him.
10 But he knoweth my way, and has tried me as gold that
passeth through the fire:
11 My foot hath followed his steps, I have kept his way, and
have not declined from it.
12 I have not departed from the commandments of his lips, and
the words of his mouth I have hid in my bosom.
13 For he is alone, and no man can turn away his thought: and
whatsoever is soul hath desired, that hath he done.
14 And when he shall have fulfilled his will in me, many
other like things are also at hand with him.
15 And therefore I am troubled at his presence, and when I
consider him I am made pensive with fear.
16 God hath softened my heart, and the Almighty hath troubled
me.
17 For I have not perished because of the darkness that hangs
over me, neither hath the mist covered my face.
The Book of Job, Chapter 24
1 Times are not hid from the Almighty: but they that know
him, know not his days.
2 Some have removed landmarks, have taken away flocks by
force, and fed them.
3 They have driven away the ass of the fatherless, and have
taken away the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 They have overturned the way of the poor, and have
oppressed together the meek of the earth.
5 Others like wild asses in the desert go forth to their
work: by watching for a prey they get bread for their
children.
6 They reap the field that is not their own, and gather the
vintage of his vineyard whom by violence they have
oppressed.
7 They send men away naked, taking away their clothes who
have no covering in the cold:
8 Who are wet, with the showers of the mountains, and having
no covering embrace the stones.
9 They have violently robbed the fatherless, and stripped
the poor common people.
10 From the naked and them that go without clothing, and from
the hungry they have taken away the ears of corn.
11 They have taken their rest at noon among the stores of
them, who after having trodden the winepresses suffer
thirst.
12 Out of the cities they have made men to groan, and the
soul of the wounded hath cried out, and God doth not
suffer it to pass unrevenged.
13 They have been rebellious to the light, they have not
known his ways, neither have they returned by his paths.
14 The murderer riseth at the very break of day, he killeth
the needy, and the poor man: but in the night he will be
as a thief.
15 The eye of the adulterer observeth darkness, saying: No
eye shall see me: and he will cover his face.
16 He diggeth through houses in the dark, as in the day they
had appointed for themselves, and they have not known the
light.
17 If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow
of death: and they walk in darkness as if it were in
light.
18 He is light upon the face of the water: cursed be his
portion on the earth, let him not walk by the way of the
vineyards.
19 Let him pass from the snow waters to excessive heat, and
his sin even to hell.
20 Let mercy forget him: may worms be his sweetness: let him
be remembered no more, but be broken in pieces as an
unfruitful tree.
21 For he hath fed the barren that beareth not, and to the
widow he hath done no good.
22 He hath pulled down the strong by his might: and when he
standeth up, he shall not trust to his life.
23 God hath given him place for penance, and he abuseth it
unto pride: but his eyes are upon his ways.
24 They are lifted up for a little while and shall not stand,
and shall be brought down as all things, and shall be
taken away, and as the tops of the ears of corn they shall
be broken.
25 And if it be not so, who can convince me that I have lied,
and set my words before God?
The Book of Job, Chapter 25
1 Then Baldad the Suhite answered, and I said:
2 Power and terror are with him, who maketh peace in his
high places.
3 Is there any numbering of his soldiers? and upon whom
shall not his light arise?
4 Can man be justified compared with God, or he that is born
of a woman appear clean?
5 Behold even the moon doth not shine, and the stars are not
pure in his sight.
6 How much less man that is rottenness and the son of man
who is a worm?
The Book of Job, Chapter 26
1 Then Job answered, and said:
2 Whose helper art thou? is it of him that is weak? and dost
thou hold up the arm of him that has no strength?
3 To whom hast thou given counsel? perhaps to him that hath
no wisdom, and thou hast shewn thy very great prudence.
4 Whom hast thou desired to teach? was it not him that made
life?
5 Behold the giants groan under the waters, and they that
dwell with them.
6 Hell is naked before him, and there is no covering for
destruction.
7 He stretched out the north over the empty space, and
hangeth the earth upon nothing.
8 He bindeth up the waters in his clouds, so that they break
not out and fall down together.
9 He withholdeth the face of his throne, and spreadeth his
cloud over it.
10 He hath set bounds about the waters, till light and
darkness come to an end.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble, and dread at his beck.
12 By his power the seas are suddenly gathered together, and
his wisdom has struck the proud one.
13 His spirit hath adorned the heavens, and his obstetric
hand brought forth the winding serpent.
14 Lo, these things are said in part of his ways: and seeing
we have heard scarce a little drop of his word, who shall
be able to behold the thunder of his greatness?
The Book of Job, Chapter 27
1 Job also added, taking up his parable, and said:
2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment, and the
Almighty, who hath brought my soul to bitterness,
3 As long as breath remaineth in me, and the spirit of God
in my nostrils,
4 My lips shall not speak iniquity, neither shall my tongue
contrive lying.
5 God forbid that I should judge you to be just: till I die
I will not depart from my innocence.
6 My justification, which I have begun to hold, I will not
forsake: for my heart doth not reprehend me in all my
life.
7 Let my enemy be as the ungodly, and my adversary as the
wicked one.
8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite if through
covetousness he take by violence, and God deliver not his
soul?
9 Will God hear his cry, when distress shall come upon him?
10 Or can he delight himself in the Almighty, and call upon
God at all times?
11 I will teach you by the hand of God, what the Almighty
hath, and I will not conceal it.
12 Behold you all know it, and why do you speak vain things
without cause?
13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the
inheritance of the violent, which they shall receive of
the Almighty.
14 If his sons be multiplied, they shall be for the sword,
and his grandsons shall not be filled with bread.
15 They that shall remain of him, shall be buried in death,
and his widows shall not weep.
16 If he shall heap together silver as earth, and prepare
raiment as clay,
17 He shall prepare indeed, but the just man shall be clothed
with it: and the innocent shall divide the silver.
18 He hath built his house as a moth, and as a keeper he hath
made a booth.
19 The rich man when he shall sleep shall take away nothing
with him: he shall open his eyes and find nothing.
20 Poverty like water shall take hold on him, a tempest shall
oppress him in the night.
21 A burning wind shall take him up, and carry him away, and
as a whirlwind shall snatch him from his place.
22 And he shall cast upon him, and shall not spare: out of
his hand he would willingly flee.
23 He shall clasp his hands upon him, and shall hiss at him,
beholding his place.
The Book of Job, Chapter 28
1 Silver hath beginnings of its veins, and gold hath a place
wherein it is melted.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat
is turned into brass.
3 He hath set a time for darkness, and the end of all things
he considereth, the stone also that is in the dark and the
shadow of death.
4 The flood divideth from the people that are on their
journey, those whom the food of the needy man hath
forgotten, and who cannot be come at.
5 The land, out of which bread grew in its place, hath been
overturned with fire.
6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and the clods
of it are gold.
7 The bird hath not known the path, neither hath the eye of
the vulture beheld it.
8 The children of the merchants have not trodden it, neither
hath the lioness passed by it.
9 He hath stretched forth his hand to the flint, he hath
overturned mountains from the roots.
10 In the rocks he hath cut out rivers, and his eye hath seen
every precious thing.
11 The depths also of rivers he hath searched, and hidden
things he hath brought forth to light.
12 But where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of
understanding?
13 Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in
the land of them that live in delights.
14 The depth saith: It is not in me: and the sea saith: It is
not with me.
15 The finest gold shall not purchase it, neither shall
silver be weighed in exchange for it
16 It shall not be compared with the dyed colours of India,
or with the most precious stone sardonyx, or the sapphire.
17 Gold or crystal cannot equal it, neither shall any vessels
of gold be changed for it.
18 High and eminent things shall not be mentioned in
comparison of it: but wisdom is drawn out of secret
places.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equal to it, neither
shall it be compared to the cleanest dyeing.
20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of
understanding?
21 It is hid from the eyes of all living. and the fowls of
the air know it not.
22 Destruction and death have said: With our ears we have
heard the fame thereof.
23 God understandeth the way of it, and he knoweth the place
thereof.
24 For he beholdeth the ends of the world: and looketh on all
things that are under heaven.
25 Who made a weight for the winds and weighed the waters by
measure.
26 When he gave a law for the rain, and a way for the
sounding storms.
27 Then he saw it, and declared, and prepared, and searched
it.
28 And he said to man: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is
wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding.
The Book of Job, Chapter 29
1 Job also added, taking up his parable, and said:
2 Who will grant me, that I might be according to the months
past, according to the days in which God kept me?
3 When his lamp shined over my head, and I walked by his
light in darkness?
4 As I was in the days of my youth, when God was secretly in
my tabernacle?
5 When the Almighty was with me: and my servants round about
me?
6 When I washed my feet with butter, and the rock poured me
out rivers of oil?
7 When I went out to the gate of the city, and in the street
they prepared me a chair?
8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the old men
rose up and stood.
9 The princes ceased to speak, and laid the finger on their
mouth.
10 The rulers held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to
their throat.
11 The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me
gave witness to me:
12 Because I had delivered the poor man that cried out; and
the fatherless that had no helper.
13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me,
and I comforted the heart of the widow.
14 I was clad with justice: and I clothed myself with my
judgment, as with a robe and a diadem.
15 I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame.
16 I was the father of the poor: and the cause which I knew
not, I searched out most diligently.
17 I broke the jaws of the wicked man, and out of his teeth
I took away the prey.
18 And I said: I shall die in my nest, and as a palm tree
shall multiply my days.
19 My root is opened beside the waters, and dew shall
continue in my harvest.
20 My glory shall always be renewed, and my bow in my hand
shall be repaired.
21 They that heard me, waited for my sentence, and being
attentive held their peace at my counsel.
22 To my words they durst add nothing, and my speech dropped
upon them.
23 They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their
mouth as for a latter shower.
24 If at any time I laughed on them, they believed not, and
the light of my countenance fell not on earth.
25 If I had a mind to go to them, I sat first, and when I sat
as a king, with his army standing about him, yet I was a
comforter of them that mourned.
The Book of Job, Chapter 30
1 But now the younger in time scorn me, whose fathers I
would not have set with the dogs of my flock:
2 The strength of whose hands was to me as nothing, and they
were thought unworthy of life itself.
3 Barren with want and hunger, who gnawed in the wilderness,
disfigured with calamity and misery.
4 And they ate grass, and barks of trees, and the root of
junipers was their food.
5 Who snatched up these things out of the valleys, and when
they had found any of them, they ran to them with a cry.
6 They dwelt in the desert places of torrents, and in caves
of earth, or upon the gravel.
7 They pleased themselves among these kind of things, and
counted it delightful to be under the briers.
8 The children of foolish and base men, and not appearing at
all upon the earth.
9 Now I am turned into their song, and am become their
byword.
10 They abhor me, and flee far from me, and are not afraid to
spit in my face.
11 For he hath opened his quiver, and hath afflicted me, and
hath put a bridle into my mouth.
12 At the right hand of my rising, my calamities forthwith
arose: they have overthrown my feet, and have overwhelmed
me with their paths as with waves.
13 They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait
against me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to
help.
14 They have rushed in upon me, as when a wall is broken, and
a gate opened, and have rolled themselves down to my
miseries.
15 I am brought to nothing: as a wind thou hast taken away my
desire: and my prosperity hath passed away like a cloud.
16 And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of
affliction possess me.
17 In the night my bone is pierced with sorrows: and they
that feed upon me, do not sleep.
18 With the multitude of them my garment is consumed, and
they have girded me about, as with the collar of my coat.
19 I am compared to dirt, and am likened to embers and ashes.
20 I cry to thee, and thou hearest me not: I stand up, and
thou dost not regard me.
21 Thou art changed to be cruel toward me, and in the
hardness of thy hand thou art against me.
22 Thou hast lifted me up, and set me as it were upon the
wind, and thou hast mightily dashed me.
23 I know that thou wilt deliver me to death, where a house
is appointed for every one that liveth.
24 But yet thou stretchest not forth thy hand to their
consumption: and if they shall fall down thou wilt save.
25 I wept heretofore for him that was afflicted, and my soul
had compassion on the poor.
26 I expected good things, and evils are come upon me: I
waited for light, and darkness broke out.
27 My inner parts have boiled without any rest, the days of
affliction have prevented me.
28 I went mourning without indignation; I rose up, and cried
in the crowd.
29 I was the brother of dragons, and companion of ostriches.
30 My skin is become black upon me, and my bones are dried up
with heat.
31 My harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice
of those that weep.
The Book of Job, Chapter 31
1 I made a covenant with my eyes, that I would not so much
as think upon a virgin.
2 For what part should God from above have in me, and what
inheritance the Almighty from on high?
3 Is not destruction to the wicked, and aversion to them
that work iniquity?
4 Doth not he consider my ways, and number all my steps?
5 If I have walked in vanity, and my foot hath made haste to
deceit:
6 Let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my
simplicity.
7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and if my heart
hath followed my eyes, and if a spot hath cleaved to my
hands:
8 Then let me sow and let another eat: and let my offspring
be rooted out.
9 If my heart hath been deceived upon a woman, and if I have
laid wait at my friend's door:
10 Let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men
lie with her.
11 For this is a heinous crime, and a most grievous iniquity.
12 It is a fire that devoureth even to destruction, and
rooteth up all things that spring.
13 If I have despised to abide judgment with my manservant,
or my maidservant, when they had any controversy against
me:
14 For what shall I do when God shall rise to judge? and when
he shall examine, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him also: and did
not one and the same form me in the womb?
16 If I have denied to the poor what they desired, and have
made the eyes of the widow wait:
17 If I have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath
not eaten thereof:
18 (For from my infancy mercy grew up with me: and it came
out with me from my mother's womb:)
19 If I have despised him that was perishing for want of
clothing, and the poor man that had no covering:
20 If his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not
warmed with the fleece of my sheep:
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, even
when I saw myself superior in the gate:
22 Let my shoulder fall from its joint, and let my arm with
its bones be broken.
23 For I have always feared God as waves swelling over me,
and his weight I was not able to bear.
24 If I have thought gold my strength, and have said to fine
gold: My confidence:
25 If I have rejoiced over my great riches, and because my
hand had gotten much.
26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, and the moon going in
brightness:
27 And my heart in secret hath rejoiced, and I have kissed my
hand with my mouth:
28 Which is a very great iniquity, and a denial against the
most high God.
29 If I have been glad at the downfall of him that hated me,
and have rejoiced that evil had found him.
30 For I have not given my mouth to sin, by wishing a curse
to his soul.
31 If the men of my tabernacle have not said: Who will give
us of his flesh that we may be filled?
32 The stranger did not stay without, my door was open to the
traveller.
33 If as a man I have hid my sin, and have concealed my
iniquity in my bosom.
34 If I have been afraid at a very great multitude, and the
contempt of kinsmen hath terrified me: and I have not
rather held my peace, and not gone out of the door.
35 Who would grant me a hearer, that the Almighty may hear my
desire; and that he himself that judgeth would write a
book,
36 That I may carry it on my shoulder, and put it about me as
a crown?
37 At every step of mine I would pronounce it, and offer it
as to a prince.
38 If my land cry against me, and with it the furrows thereof
mourn:
39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, and have
afflicted the soul of the tillers thereof:
40 Let thistles grow up to me instead of wheat, and thorns
instead of barley.
The Book of Job, Chapter 32
1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he seemed
just to himself.
2 And Eliu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of
Ram, was angry and was moved to indignation: now he was
angry against Job, because he said he was just before God.
3 And he was angry with his friends because they had not
found a reasonable answer, but only had condemned Job.
4 So Eliu waited while Job was speaking, because they were
his elders that were speaking.
5 But when he saw that the three were not able to answer, he
was exceedingly angry.
6 Then Eliu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and
said: I am younger in days, and you are more ancient;
therefore hanging down my head, I was afraid to shew you
my opinion.
7 For I hoped that greater age would speak, and that a
multitude of years would teach wisdom.
8 But, as I see, there is a spirit in men, and the
inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding.
9 They that are aged are not the wise men, neither do the
ancients understand judgment.
10 Therefore I will speak: Hearken to me, I also will shew
you my wisdom.
11 For I have waited for your words, I have given ear to your
wisdom, as long as you were disputing in words.
12 And as long as I thought you said some thing, I
considered: but, as I see, there is none of you that can
convince Job, and answer his words.
13 Lest you should say: We have found wisdom, God hath cast
him down, not man.
14 He hath spoken nothing to me, and I will not answer him
according to your words.
15 They were afraid, and answered no more, and they left off
speaking.
16 Therefore because I have waited, and they have not spoken:
they stood, and answered no more:
17 I also will answer my part, and will shew my knowledge.
18 Behold, my belly is as new wine which wanteth vent, which
bursteth the new vessels.
20 I will speak and take breath a little: I will open my
lips, and will answer.
21 I will not accept the person of man, and I will not level
God with man.
22 For I know not how long I shall continue, and whether
after a while my Maker may take me away.
The Book of Job, Chapter 33
1 Hear therefore, O Job, my speeches, and hearken to all my
words.
2 Behold now I have opened my mouth, let my tongue speak
within my jaws.
3 My words are from my upright heart, and my lips shall
speak a pure sentence.
4 The spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty
gave me life.
5 If thou canst, answer me, and stand up against my face.
6 Behold God hath made me as well as thee, and of the same
clay I also was formed.
7 But yet let not my wonder terrify thee, and let not my
eloquence be burdensome to thee.
8 Now thou has said in my hearing, and I have heard the
voice of thy words:
9 I am clean, and without sin: I am unspotted, and there is
no iniquity in me.
10 Because he hath found complaints against me, therefore he
hath counted me for his enemy.
11 He hath put my feet in the stocks, he hath observed all my
paths.
12 Now this is the thing in which thou art not justified: I
will answer thee, that God is greater than man.
13 Dost thou strive against him, because he hath not answered
thee to all words?
14 God speaketh once, and repeateth not the selfsame thing
the second time.
15 By a dream in a vision by night, when deep sleep falleth
upon men, and they are sleeping in their beds:
16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and teaching instructeth
them in what they are to learn.
17 That he may withdraw a man from the things he is doing,
and may deliver him from pride.
18 Rescuing his soul from corruption: and his life from
passing to the sword.
19 He rebuketh also by sorrow in the bed, and he maketh all
his bones to wither.
20 Bread becometh abominable to him in his life, and to his
soul the meat which before he desired.
21 His flesh shall be consumed away, and his bones that were
covered shall be made bare.
22 His soul hath drawn near to corruption, and his life to
the destroyers.
23 If there shall be an angel speaking for him, one among
thousands, to declare man's uprightness,
24 He shall have mercy on him, and shall say: Deliver him,
that he may not go down to corruption: I have found
wherein I may be merciful to him.
25 His flesh is consumed with punishment, let him return to
the days of his youth.
26 He shall pray to God, and he will be gracious to him: and
he shall see his face with joy, and he will render to man
his justice.
27 He shall look upon men, and shall say: I have sinned, and
indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I
have deserved.
28 He hath delivered his soul from going into destruction,
that it may live and see the light.
29 Behold, all these things God worketh three times within
every one.
30 That he may withdraw their souls from corruption, and
enlighten them with the light of the living.
31 Attend, Job, and hearken to me: and hold thy peace, whilst
I speak.
32 But if thou hast any thing to say, answer me, speak: for
I would have thee to appear just.
33 And if thou have not, hear me: hold thy peace, and I will
teach thee wisdom.
The Book of Job, Chapter 34
1 And Eliu continued his discourse, and said:
2 Hear ye, wise men, my words, and ye learned, hearken to
me:
3 For the ear trieth words, and the mouth discerneth meats
by the taste.
4 Let us choose to us judgment, and let us see among
ourselves what is the best.
5 For Job hath said: I am just, and God hath overthrown my
judgment.
6 For in judging me there is a lie: my arrow is violent
without any sin.
7 What man is there like Job, who drinketh up scorning like
water?
8 Who goeth in company with them that work iniquity, and
walketh with wicked men?
9 For he hath said: Man shall not please God, although he
run with him.
10 Therefore, ye men of understanding, hear me: far from god
be wickedness, and iniquity from the Almighty.
11 For he will render to a man his work, and according to the
ways of every one he will reward them.
12 For in very deed God will not condemn without cause,
neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.
13 What other hath he appointed over the earth? or whom hath
he set over the world which he made?
14 If he turn his heart to him, he shall draw his spirit and
breath unto himself.
15 All flesh shall perish together, and man shall return into
ashes.
16 If then thou hast understanding, hear what is said, and
hearken to the voice of my words.
17 Can he be healed that loveth not judgment? and how dost
thou so far condemn him that is just?
18 Who saith to the king: Thou art an apostate: who calleth
rulers ungodly?
19 Who accepteth not the persons of princes: nor hath
regarded the tyrant, when he contended against the poor
man: for all are the work of his hands.
20 They shall suddenly die, and the people shall be troubled
at midnight, and they shall pass, and take away the
violent without hand.
21 For his eyes are upon the ways of men, and he considereth
all their steps.
22 There is no darkness, and there is no shadow of death,
where they may be hid who work iniquity.
23 For it is no longer in the power of man to enter into
judgment with God.
24 He shall break in pieces many and innumerable, and shall
make others to stand in their stead.
25 For he knoweth their works: and therefore he shall bring
night on them, and they shall be destroyed.
26 He hath struck them, as being wicked, in open sight.
27 Who as it were on purpose have revolted from him, and
would not understand all his ways:
28 So that they caused the cry of the needy to come to him,
and he heard the voice of the poor.
29 For when he granteth peace, who is there that can condemn?
When he hideth his countenance, who is there that can
behold him, whether it regard nations, or all men?
30 Who maketh a man that is a hypocrite to reign for the sins
of the people?
31 Seeing then I have spoken of God, I will not hinder thee
in thy turn.
32 If I have erred, teach thou me: if I have spoken iniquity,
I will add no more.
33 Doth God require it of thee, because it hath displeased
thee? for thou begannest to speak, and not I.: but if thou
know any thing better, speak.
34 Let men of understanding speak to me, and let a wise man
hearken to me.
35 But Job hath spoken foolishly, and his words sound not
discipline.
36 My father, let Job be tried even to the end: cease not
from the man of iniquity.
37 Because he addeth blasphemy upon his sins, let him be tied
fast in the mean time amongst us: and then let him provoke
God to judgment with his speeches.
The Book of Job, Chapter 35
1 Moreover Eliu spoke these words:
2 Doth thy thought seem right to thee, that thou shouldst
say: I am more just than God?
3 For thou saidst: That which is right doth not please thee:
or what will it profit thee if I sin?
4 Therefore I will answer thy words, and thy friends with
thee.
5 Look up to heaven and see, and behold the sky, that it is
higher than thee.
6 If thou sin, what shalt thou hurt him? and if thy
iniquities be multiplied, what shalt thou do against him?
7 And if thou do justly, what shalt thou give him, or what
shall he receive of thy hand?
8 Thy wickedness may hurt a man that is like thee: and thy
justice may help the son of man.
9 By reason of the multitude of oppressions they shall cry
out: and shall wail for the violence of the arm of
tyrants.
10 And he hath not said: Where is God, who made me, who hath
given songs in the night?
11 Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and
instructeth us more than the fowls of the air.
12 There shall they cry, and he will not hear, because of the
pride of evil men.
13 God therefore will not hear in vain, and the Almighty will
look into the causes of every one.
14 Yea when thou shalt say: He considereth not: be judged
before him, and expect him.
15 For he doth not now bring on his fury, neither doth he
revenge wickedness exceedingly.
16 Therefore Job openeth his mouth in vain, and multiplieth
words without knowledge.
The Book of Job, Chapter 36
1 Eliu also proceeded, and said:
2 Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee: for I have yet
somewhat to speak in God's behalf.
3 I will repeat my knowledge from the beginning, and I will
prove my Maker just.
4 For indeed my words are without a lie, and perfect
knowledge shall be proved to thee.
5 God doth not cast away the mighty, whereas he himself also
is mighty.
6 But he saveth not the wicked, and he giveth judgment to
the poor.
7 He will not take away his eyes from the just, and he
placeth kings on the throne for ever, and they are
exalted.
8 And if they shall be in chains, and be bound with the
cords of poverty:
9 He shall shew them their works, and their wicked deeds,
because they have been violent.
10 He also shall open their ear, to correct them: and shall
speak, that they may return from iniquity.
11 If they shall hear and observe, they shall accomplish
their days in good, and their years in glory.
12 But if they hear not, they shall pass by the sword, and
shall be consumed in folly.
13 Dissemblers and crafty men prove the wrath of God, neither
shall they cry when they are bound.
14 Their soul shall die in a storm, and their life among the
effeminate.
15 He shall deliver the poor out of his distress, and shall
open his ear in affliction.
16 Therefore he shall set thee at large out of the narrow
mouth, and which hath no foundation under it: and the rest
of thy table shall be full of fatness.
17 Thy cause hath been judged as that of the wicked, cause
and judgment thou shalt recover.
18 Therefore let not anger overcome thee to oppress any man:
neither let multitude of gifts turn thee aside.
19 Lay down thy greatness without tribulation, and all the
mighty of strength.
20 Prolong not the night that people may come up for them.
21 Beware thou turn not aside to iniquity: for this thou hast
begun to follow after misery.
22 Behold, God is high in his strength, and none is like him
among the lawgivers.
23 Who can search out his ways? or who can say to him: Thou
has wrought iniquity?
24 Remember that thou knowest not his work, concerning which
men have sung.
25 All men see him, every one beholdeth afar off.
26 Behold, God is great, exceeding our knowledge: the number
of his years is inestimable.
27 He lifteth up the drops of rain, and poureth out showers
like floods:
28 Which flow from the clouds that cover all above.
29 If he will spread out clouds as his tent,
30 And lighten with his light from above, he shall cover also
the ends of the sea.
31 For by these he judgeth people, and giveth food to many
mortals.
32 In his hands he hideth the light, and commandeth it to
come again.
33 He sheweth his friend concerning it, that it is his
possession, and that he may come up to it.
The Book of Job, Chapter 37
1 At this my heart trembleth, and is moved out of its place.
2 Hear ye attentively the terror of his voice, and the sound
that cometh out of his mouth.
3 He beholdeth under all the heavens, and his light is upon
the ends of the earth.
4 After it a noise shall roar, he shall thunder with the
voice of his majesty, and shall not be found out, when his
voice shall be heard.
5 God shall thunder wonderfully with his voice, he that doth
great and unsearchable things.
6 He commandeth the snow to go down upon the earth, and the
winter rain, and the shower of his strength.
7 He sealeth up the hand of all men, that every one may know
his works.
8 Then the beast shall go into his covert, and shall abide
in his den.
9 Out of the inner parts shall a tempest come, and cold out
of the north.
10 When God bloweth there cometh frost, and again the waters
are poured out abundantly.
11 Corn desireth clouds, and the clouds spread their light:
12 Which go round about, whithersoever the will of him that
governeth them shall lead them, to whatsoever he shall
command them upon the face of the whole earth:
13 Whether in one tribe, or in his own land, or in what place
soever of his mercy he shall command them to be found.
14 Hearken to these things, Job: Stand, and consider the
wondrous works of God.
15 Dost thou know when God commanded the rains, to shew his
light of his clouds?
16 Knowest thou the great paths of the clouds, and the
perfect knowledges?
17 Are not thy garments hot, when the south wind blows upon
the earth?
18 Thou perhaps hast made the heavens with him, which are
most strong, as if they were of molten brass.
19 Shew us what we may say to him: for we are wrapped up in
darkness.
20 Who shall tell him the things I speak? even if a man shall
speak, he shall be swallowed up.
21 But now they see not the light: the air on a sudden shall
be thickened into clouds, and the wind shall pass and
drive them away.
22 Cold cometh out of the north, and to God praise with fear.
23 We cannot find him worthily: he is great in strength, and
in judgment, and in justice, and he is ineffable.
24 Therefore men shall fear him, and all that seem to
themselves to be wise, shall not dare to behold him.
The Book of Job, Chapter 38
1 Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said:
2 Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskillful
words?
3 Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer
thou me.
4 Where wast thou when I laid up the foundations of the
earth ? tell me if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or
who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner
stone thereof,
7 When the morning stars praised me together, and all the
sons of God made a joyful melody?
8 Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as
issuing out of the womb:
9 when I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in
a mist as in swaddling bands?
10 I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors:
11 And I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no
further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves.
12 Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew
the dawning of the day its place?
13 And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking
them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it?
14 The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a
garment:
15 From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the
high arm shall be broken.
16 Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked
in the lowest parts of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou
seen the darksome doors?
18 Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if
thou knowest all things?
19 Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the
place of darkness:
20 That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and
understand the paths of the house thereof.
21 Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born ? and
didst thou know the number of thy days?
22 Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or has
thou beheld the treasures of the hail:
23 Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against
the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the
earth?
25 Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy
thunder:
26 That it should rain on the earth without man in the
wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth:
27 That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and
should bring forth green grass?
28 Who is the father of rain ? or who begot the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice; and the frost from heaven
who hath gendered it?
30 The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of
the deep is congealed.
31 Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the
Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of
Arcturus?
32 Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make
the evening star to rise upon the children of the earth?
33 Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set
down the reason thereof on the earth?
34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an
abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will
they return and say to thee: Here we are?
36 Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the
cock understanding?
37 Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make
the harmony of heaven to sleep?
38 When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods
fastened together?
39 Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the
appetite of her whelps,
40 When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes?
41 Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry
to God, wandering about, because they have no meat?
The Book of Job, Chapter 39
1 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats bring forth
among the rocks, or hast thou observed the hinds when they
fawn?
2 Hast thou numbered the months of their conceiving, or
knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
3 They bow themselves to bring forth young, and they cast
them, and send forth roarings.
4 Their young are weaned and go to feed: they go forth, and
return not to them.
5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free, and who hath loosed
his bonds?
6 To whom I have given a house in the wilderness, and his
dwellings in the barren land.
7 He scorneth the multitude of the city, he heareth not the
cry of the driver.
8 He looketh round about the mountains of his pasture, and
seeketh for every green thing.
9 Shall the rhinoceros be willing to serve thee, or will he
stay at thy crib?
10 Canst thou bind the rhinoceros with thy thong to plough,
or will he break the clods of the valleys after thee?
11 Wilt thou have confidence in his great strength, and leave
thy labours to him?
12 Wilt thou trust him that he will render thee the seed, and
gather it into thy barnfloor?
13 The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron,
and of the hawk.
14 When she leaveth her eggs on the earth, thou perhaps wilt
warm them in the dust.
15 She forgetteth that the foot may tread upon them, or that
the beasts of the field may break them.
16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they
were not hers, she hath laboured in vain, no fear
constraining her.
17 For God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he given
her understanding.
18 When time shall be, she setteth up her wings on high: she
scorneth the horse and his rider.
19 Wilt thou give strength to the horse, or clothe his neck
with neighing?
20 Wilt thou lift him up like the locusts? the glory of his
nostrils is terror.
21 He breaketh up the earth with his hoof, he pranceth
boldly, he goeth forward to meet armed men.
22 He despiseth fear, he turneth not his back to the sword,
23 Above him shall the quiver rattle, the spear and shield
shall glitter.
24 Chasing and raging he swalloweth the ground, neither doth
he make account when the noise of the trumpet soundeth.
25 When he heareth the trumpet he saith: Ha, ha: he smelleth
the battle afar off, the encouraging of the captains, and
the shouting of the army.
26 Doth the hawk wax feathered by thy wisdom, spreading her
wings to the south?
27 Will the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest
in high places?
28 She abideth among the rocks, and dwelleth among cragged
flints, and stony hills, where there is no access.
29 From thence she looketh for the prey, and her eyes behold
afar off.
30 Her young ones shall suck up blood: and wheresoever the
carcass shall be, she is immediately there.
31 And the Lord went on, and said to Job:
32 Shall he that contendeth with God be so easily silenced?
surely he that reproveth God, ought to answer him.
33 Then Job answered the Lord, and said:
34 One thing I have spoken, which I wish I had not said: and
another, to which I will add no more.
The Book of Job, Chapter 40
1 And the Lord answering Job out of the whirlwind, said:
2 Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and do thou
tell me.
3 Wilt thou make void my judgment: and condemn me, that thou
mayst be justified?
4 And hast thou an arm like God, and canst thou thunder with
a voice like him?
5 Clothe thyself with beauty, and set thyself up on high and
be glorious, and put on goodly garments.
6 Scatter the proud in thy indignation, and behold every
arrogant man, and humble him.
7 Look on all that are proud, and confound them, and crush
the wicked in their place.
8 Hide them in the dust together, and plunge their faces
into the pit.
9 Then I will confess that thy right hand is able to save
thee.
10 Behold behemoth whom I made with thee, he eateth grass
like an ox.
11 His strength is in his loins, and his force in the navel
of his belly.
12 He setteth up his tail like a cedar, the sinews of his
testicles are wrapped together.
13 His bones are like pipes of brass, his gristle like plates
of iron.
14 He is the beginning of the ways of God, who made him, he
will apply his sword.
15 To him the mountains bring forth grass: there all the
beasts of the field shall play.
16 He sleepeth under the shadow, in the covert of the reed,
and in moist places.
17 The shades cover his shadow, the willows of the brook
shall compass him about.
18 Behold, he will drink up a river, and not wonder: and he
trusteth that the Jordan may run into his mouth.
19 In his eyes as with a hook he shall take him, and bore
through his nostrils with stakes.
20 Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook, or canst
thou tie his tongue with a cord?
21 Canst thou put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw
with a buckle?
22 Will he make many supplications to thee, or speak soft
words to thee?
23 Will he make a covenant with thee, and wilt thou take him
to be a servant for ever?
24 Shalt thou play with him as with a bird, or tie him up for
thy handmaids?
25 Shall friends cut him in pieces, shall merchants divide
him?
26 Wilt thou fill nets with his skin, and the cabins of
fishes with his head?
27 Lay thy hand upon him: remember the battle, and speak no
more.
28 Behold his hope shall fail him, and in the sight of all he
shall be cast down.
The Book of Job, Chapter 41
1 I will not stir him up, like one that is cruel: for who
can resist my countenance?
2 Who hath given me before that I should repay him? All
things that are under heaven are mine.
3 I will not spare him, nor his mighty words, and framed to
make supplication.
4 Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can go
into the midst of his mouth?
5 Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible
round about.
6 His body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales
pressing upon one another.
7 One is joined to another, and not so much as any air can
come between them:
8 They stick one to another and they hold one another fast,
and shall not be separated.
9 His sneezing is like the shining of fire, and his eyes
like the eyelids of the morning.
10 Out of his mouth go forth lamps, like torches of lighted
fire.
11 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, like that of a pot heated
and boiling.
12 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame cometh forth out of
his mouth.
13 In his neck strength shall dwell, and want goeth before
his face.
14 The members of his flesh cleave one to another: he shall
send lightnings against him, and they shall not be carried
to another place.
15 His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a
smith's anvil.
16 When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and
being affrighted shall purify themselves.
17 When a sword shall lay at him, it shall not be able to
hold, nor a spear, nor a breastplate.
18 For he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten
wood.
19 The archer shall not put him to flight, the stones of the
sling are to him like stubble.
20 As stubble will he esteem the hammer, and he will laugh
him to scorn who shaketh the spear.
21 The beams of the sun shall be under him, and he shall
strew gold under him like mire.
22 He shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot, and shall
make it as when ointments boil.
23 A path shall shine after him, he shall esteem the deep as
growing old.
24 There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him
who was made to fear no one.
25 He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the
children of pride.
The Book of Job, Chapter 42
1 Then Job answered the Lord, and said:
2 I know that thou canst do all things, and no thought is
hid from thee.
3 Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge?
Therefore I have spoken unwisely, and things that above
measure exceeded my knowledge.
4 Hear, and I will speak: I will ask thee, and do thou tell
me.
5 With the hearing of the ear, I have heard thee, but now my
eye seeth thee.
6 Therefore I reprehend myself, and do penance in dust and
ashes.
7 And after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, he said
to Eliphaz the Themanite: My wrath is kindled against
thee, and against thy two friends, because you have not
spoken the thing that is right before my, as my servant
Job hath.
8 Take unto you therefore seven oxen, and seven rams, and go
to my servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust:
and my servant Job shall pray for you: his face I will
accept, that folly be not imputed to you: for you have not
spoken right things before me, as my servant Job hath.
9 So Eliphaz the Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and
Sophar the Naamathite went, and did as the Lord had spoken
to them, and the Lord accepted the face of Job.
10 The Lord also was turned at the penance of Job, when he
prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as
much as he had before.
11 And all his brethren came to him, and all his sisters, and
all that knew him before, and they ate bread with him in
his house: and bemoaned him, and comforted him upon all
the evil that God had brought upon him. And every man gave
him one ewe, and one earring of fold.
12 And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his
beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six
thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a
thousand she asses.
13 And he had seven sons, and three daughters.
14 And he called the names of one Dies, and the name of the
second Cassia, and the name of the third Cornustibil.
15 And there were not found in all the earth women so
beautiful as the daughters of Job: and their father gave
them inheritance among their brethren.
16 And Job lived after these things, a hundred and forty
years, and he saw his children, and his children's
children, unto the fourth generation, and he died an old
man, and full of days.
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