Job 21; Job 22; Job 23

Job 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?

Job 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 shares, 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 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.

Job 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 his 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.