The Bible for Young People

by Unknown

Then answered Zophar, and said,

Knowest thou not this of old,
Since man was placed upon earth,
That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found:
Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
The eye also which saw him shall see him no more;
Neither shall his place any more behold him.
His children shall seek to please the poor,
And his hands shall restore their goods.
His bones are full of the sin of his youth,
Which shall lie down with him in the dust.
That which he laboured for shall he restore,
And shall not swallow it down:
According to his substance shall the restitution be,
And he shall not rejoice therein.
Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor;
Because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;
He shall flee from the iron weapon,
And the bow of steel shall strike him through.
The heaven shall reveal his iniquity;
And the earth shall rise up against him.
The increase of his house shall depart,
And his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the heritage appointed unto him by God.

Job 21

But Job answered and said,

Hear diligently my speech,
And let this be your consolations.
Suffer me that I may speak;
And after that I have spoken, mock on.
Wherefore do the wicked live,
Become old, yea, are mighty in power?
Their seed is established in their sight with them,
And their offspring before their eyes.
Their houses are safe from fear,
Neither is the rod of God upon them.
They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance.
They take the timbrel and harp,
And rejoice at the sound of the organ.
They spend their days in wealth,
And in a moment go down to the grave.
Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us;
For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
And what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
Lo, their good is not in their hand:
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
How oft is the candle of the wicked put out!
And how oft cometh their destruction upon them!
God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
They are as stubble before the wind,
And as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
God layeth up his iniquity for his children:
He rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
His eyes shall see his destruction,
And he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Have ye not asked them that go by the way?
And do ye not know their tokens,
That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction?
They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
Who shall declare his way to his face?
And who shall repay him what he hath done?
Yet shall he be brought to the grave,
And shall remain in the tomb.
The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him,
And every man shall draw after him,
As there are innumerable before him.
How then comfort ye me in vain,
Seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

Then Eliphaz accused Job of divers sins, and exhorted him to repentance with promises of mercy. Then Job answered and said,

Even to day is my complaint bitter:
My stroke is heavier than my groaning.
Oh that I knew where I might find him!
That I might come even to his seat!
I would order my cause before him,
And fill my mouth with arguments.
I would know the words which he would answer me,
And understand what he would say unto me.
Will he plead against me with his great power?
No; but he would put strength in me.
There the righteous might dispute with him;
So should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
Behold, I go forward, but he is not there;
And backward, but I cannot perceive him:
On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him:
He hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:
But he knoweth the way that I take:
When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
My foot hath held his steps,
His way have I kept, and not declined.
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips;
I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
But he is in one mind, and who can turn him?
And what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me:
And many such things are with him.
Therefore am I troubled at his presence:
When I consider, I am afraid of him.
For God maketh my heart soft,
And the Almighty troubleth me:
Because I was not cut off before the darkness,
Neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

Job 25

Then Bildad replied to Job, and Job answered and said,

How hast thou helped him that is without power?
How savest thou the arm that hath no strength?
How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom?
And how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?
To whom hast thou uttered words?
And whose spirit came from thee?
Dead things are formed
From under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.
Hell is naked before him,
And destruction hath no covering.
He stretcheth out the north over the empty place,
And hangeth the earth upon nothing.
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds;
And the cloud is not rent under them.
He holdeth back the face of his throne,
And spreadeth his cloud upon it.
He hath compassed the waters with bounds,
Until the day and night come to an end.
The pillars of heaven tremble
And are astonished at his reproof.
He divideth the sea with his power,
And by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.
By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens;
His hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
Lo, these are parts of his ways:
But how little a portion is heard of him?
But the thunder of his power who can understand?
Whence then cometh wisdom?
And where is the place of understanding?
Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,
And kept close from the fowls of the air.
Destruction and death say,
We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
God understandeth the way thereof,
And he knoweth the place thereof.
For he looketh to the ends of the earth,
And seeth under the whole heaven;
To make the weight for the winds;
And he weigheth the waters by measure.
When he made a decree for the rain,
And a way for the lightning of the thunder:
Then did he see it, and declare it;
He prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
And unto man he said,
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.