11 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

² Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?

³ Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

⁴ For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.

⁵ But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

⁶ And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

⁷ Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

⁸ It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?

⁹ The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

¹⁰ If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?

¹¹ For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

¹² For vain men would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt.

¹³ If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;

¹⁴ If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.

¹⁵ For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:

¹⁶ Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:

¹⁷ And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday: thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.

¹⁸ And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.

¹⁹ Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.

²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.

12 And Job answered and said,

² No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

³ But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

⁴ I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.

⁵ He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.

⁶ The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

⁷ But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

⁸ Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

⁹ Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?

¹⁰ In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

¹¹ Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?

¹² With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.

¹³ With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.

¹⁴ Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

¹⁵ Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

¹⁶ With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.

¹⁷ He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.

¹⁸ He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.

¹⁹ He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.

²⁰ He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.

²¹ He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.

²² He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

²³ He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.

²⁴ He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

²⁵ They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

13 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.

² What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.

³ Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.

⁴ But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

⁵ O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.

⁶ Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.

⁷ Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?

⁸ Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?

⁹ Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?

¹⁰ He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.

¹¹ Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?

¹² Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.

¹³ Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.

¹⁴ Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?

¹⁵ Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

¹⁶ He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.

¹⁷ Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.

¹⁸ Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.

¹⁹ Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.

²⁰ Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.

²¹ Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.

²² Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.

²³ How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.

²⁴ Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?

²⁵ Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?

²⁶ For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

²⁷ Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.

²⁸ And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.

14 Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.

² He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

³ And doth thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?

⁴ Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

⁵ Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

⁶ Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

⁷ 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.

⁸ Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

⁹ Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

¹⁰ But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

¹¹ As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

¹² So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

¹³ O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

¹⁴ If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

¹⁵ Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

¹⁶ For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

¹⁷ My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.

¹⁸ And surely the mountains falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.

¹⁹ The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.

²⁰ Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

²¹ His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

²² But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

20 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

² And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³ And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

⁴ And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.

⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

⁷ They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

⁸ So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

⁹ And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.

¹⁰ But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

¹¹ And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,

¹² Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.

¹³ But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

¹⁴ Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.

¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

¹⁶ So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

¹⁷ And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,

¹⁸ Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,

¹⁹ And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

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⁶ I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.

⁷ Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.

⁸ Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

⁹ From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

¹⁰ They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.

¹¹ They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;

¹² Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

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