This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
And the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty.
Though he heap up silver as the dust,
And prepare raiment as the clay;
He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on,
And the innocent shall divide the silver.
He openeth his eyes, and he is not.
Terrors overtake him like waters;
A tempest stealeth him away in the night.
The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth;
And it sweepeth him out of his place.
JOB.
Oh that I were as in the months of old,
As in the days when God watched over me;
When his lamp shined upon my head,
And by his light I walked through darkness;
As I was in the ripeness of my days,
When the secret of God was upon my tent;
When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were about me;
When I went forth to the gate unto the city,
When I prepared my seat in the street,
The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the aged rose up and stood;
The princes refrained talking,
And laid their hand on their mouth;
The voice of the nobles was hushed,
And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me;
And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me:
Because I delivered the poor that cried,
The fatherless also, that had none to help him.
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me:
And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me:
My justice was as a robe and a diadem.
I was eyes to the blind,
And feet was I to the lame.
I was a father to the needy:
And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out. [{211}] But now they that are younger than I have me in derision,
Upon my right hand rise the rabble;
They thrust aside my feet,
And they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
And now my soul is poured out within me;
Days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
In the night season my bones are pierced in me,
And the pains that gnaw me take no rest.
He hath cast me into the mire,
And I am become like dust and ashes.
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me:
I stand up, and thou lookest at me.
Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride upon it;
And thou dissolvest me in the storm.
If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant,
When they contended with me:
What then shall I do when God riseth up?
And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
If I have withheld the poor from their desire,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
Or have eaten my morsel alone,
And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
If I have seen any perish for want of clothing,
Or that the needy had no covering;
If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
Because I saw my help in the gate: [{212}]
Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade,
And mine arm be broken from the bone.
If I have made gold my hope,
And have said to the fine gold,
Thou art my confidence;
If I rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because mine hand had gotten much;
If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,
Or lifted up myself when evil found him;
If the men of my tent said not,
Who can find one that hath not been satisfied with his food?
The stranger did not lodge in the street;
But I opened my doors to the traveller.
Oh that I had one to hear me!
(Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me;)
And that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written!
Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder;
I would bind it unto me as a crown.
I would declare unto him the number of my steps;
As a prince would I go near unto him.
If my land cry out against me,
And the furrows thereof weep together;
If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money,
Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: [{213}] Let thistles grow instead of wheat,
And cockle instead of barley.
IN THE THIRD CYCLE OF SPEECHES
The three friends still try to show Job that he must have sinned. Eliphaz charges him directly with the sins that a rich man in his position could most easily commit. Bildad only repeats in feebler phrase former statements about man's impurity in the pure sight of God. Zophar either does not appear at all, or maintains his former position with no new argument. Job still wishes he might find God to plead his cause, and, at the end, affirms formally his innocence of the sins with which Eliphaz had charged him.
The argument has ended. Neither side has moved the other a single step from the position taken at the beginning. The question of why Job suffers is still unanswered. If it is ever to be answered, some other solution than that of the three friends must be offered.
IV
So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God. Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. Now Elihu had waited to speak unto Job, because they were older than he. And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was kindled.
ELIHU.
(He speaks to the friends.)