JOB.
No doubt but ye are the people,
And wisdom shall die with you.
But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you:
Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
Lo, mine eye hath seen all this,
Mine ear hath heard and understood it.
What ye know, the same do I know also:
I am not inferior unto you.
Surely I would speak to the Almighty,
And I desire to reason with God.
But ye are forgers of lies,
Ye are all physicians of no value.
Oh that ye would altogether hold your peace!
And it should be your wisdom.
Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes.
Though he slay me, yet will I wait for him:
Nevertheless I will maintain my ways before him.
This also shall be my salvation;
For a godless man shall not come before him.
Hear diligently my speech,
And let my declaration be in your ears.
Behold now, I have ordered my cause;
I know that I am righteous.
Who is he that will contend with me?
How many are mine iniquities and sins?
Make me to know my transgression and my sin.
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, [{195}] And holdest me for thine enemy?
Wilt thou harass a driven leaf?
And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
Man that is born of a woman
Is of few days, and full of trouble.
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down:
He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one,
And bringest me into judgment with thee?
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
Though the root thereof grow old in the earth,
And the stock thereof die in the ground;
Yet through the scent of water it will bud,
And put forth boughs like a plant.
But man dieth, and wasteth away:
Yea, man giveth up his spirit, and where is he?
If a man die, shall he live again?
All the days of my warfare would I wait,
Till my release should come.
Thou shouldest call, and I would answer thee:
Thou wouldest have a desire to the work of thine hands.
THE FIRST CYCLE OF SPEECHES IS ENDED.
The three friends center their thought about God. The question is, why has Job suffered? Their answer is, because he has sinned. God is just, and would never make a man suffer unless he had sinned. Eliphaz says that all men are imperfect, and so [{196}] suffer. Let Job acknowledge that he has sinned, and this suffering will be only discipline, and God will again bless him. Bildad says that the fathers have always understood that God was just. The man who does not believe as they did must be wicked. Zophar says that God knows Job has sinned, even if Job himself is too blind to see it; else he would not make Job suffer. Job is perplexed. Has he sinned so as to merit this suffering? No. If they say that God is just--yes, but what does God mean, then, by dealing thus with him? He had expected sympathy from his friends. Why do they not give it? He can only turn helplessly to God himself. Would that he could meet God as one might a man, and plead his cause! But, no! Even that chance for justice is cut off. And yet they can talk of God as being just!
II
ELIPHAZ.
Should a wise man make answer with vain knowledge,
And fill his belly with the east wind?
Should he reason with unprofitable talk,
Or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
Yea, thou doest away with fear,
And restrainest devotion before God.
For thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth,
And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I;
Yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
Art thou the first man that was born?
Or wast thou brought forth before the hills?
Hast thou heard the secret counsel of God?
And dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
What knowest thou, that we know not? [{197}] What understandest thou, which is not in us?
With us are both the grayheaded and the very aged men,
Much older than thy father.
Are the consolations of God too small for thee,
And the word that dealeth gently with thee?
Why doth thine heart carry thee away?
And why do thine eyes wink?
That thou turnest thy spirit against God,
And lettest such words go out of thy mouth.
JOB.
I have heard many such things:
Miserable comforters are ye all.
Shall vain words have an end?
Or what provoketh thee that thou answerest?
I also could speak as ye do;
If your soul were in my soul's stead,
I could join words together against you,
And shake mine head at you.
But I would strengthen you with my mouth,
And the solace of my lips should assuage your grief.
God delivereth me to the ungodly,
And casteth me into the hands of the wicked.
I was at ease, and he brake me asunder;
Yea, he hath taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces:
He hath also set me up for his mark.
His archers compass me round about, [{198}] My face is red with weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
Although there is no violence in mine hands,
And my prayer is pure.
O earth, cover not thou my blood,
And let my cry have no resting place.
Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,
And he that voucheth for me is on high.
My friends scorn me:
But mine eye poureth out tears unto God;
That he would maintain the right of a man with God,
And of a son of man with his neighbour!
For when a few years are come,
I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct,
The grave is ready for me.
Surely there are mockers with me,
And mine eye abideth in their provocation.
But return ye, all of you, and come now:
And I shall not find a wise man among you.
My days are past, my purposes are broken off,
Even the thoughts of my heart.
They change the night into day:
The light, say they, is near unto the darkness.
If I look for Sheol as mine house:
If I have spread my couch, in the darkness;
If I have said to corruption, "Thou art my father";
To the worm, "Thou art my mother, and my sister"; [{199}] Where then is my hope?
And as for my hope, who shall see it?
It shall go down to the bars of Sheol,
When once there is rest in the dust.
BILDAD.
How long will ye lay snares for words?
Consider, and afterwards we will speak.
Wherefore are we counted as beasts,
And are become unclean in your sight?
Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger,
Shall the earth be forsaken for thee?
Or shall the rock be removed out of its place?
Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out,
And the spark of his fire shall not shine.
The light shall be dark in his tent,
And his lamp above him shall be put out.
The steps of his strength shall be straitened,
And his own counsel shall cast him down.
He shall be rooted out of his tent wherein he trusteth;
And he shall be brought to the king of terrors.
He shall be driven from light into darkness,
And chased out of the world.
He shall have neither son nor son's son among his people,
Nor any remaining where he sojourned.
They that come after shall be astonished at his day,
As they that went before were frightened.
Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
And this is the place of him that knoweth not God.