Beginning
17 1 Job sayeth that he consumeth away, and yet doth patiently abide it. 10 He exhorteth his friends to repentance, 13 showing that he looketh out for death.
1 My breath is corrupt: my days are cut off, and the grave is ready for me.
2 There are none but [a]mockers with me, and mine eye continueth in [b]their bitterness.
3 [c]Lay down now, and put me in surety for thee: who is he, that [d]will touch mine hand?
4 For thou hast hid their heart from [e]understanding: therefore shalt thou not set them up on high.
5 [f]For the eyes of his children shall fail, that speaketh flattery to his friends.
6 He hath also made me a [g]byword of the people, and I am as a tabret [h]before them.
7 Mine eye therefore is dim for grief, and all my strength is like a shadow.
8 The righteous shall be astonied at [i]this, and the innocent shall be moved against the hypocrite.
9 But the righteous will hold his [j]way, and he whose hands are pure, shall increase his strength.
10 All [k]you therefore turn you, and come now, and I shall not find one wise among you.
11 My days are past, mine enterprises are broken, and the thoughts of mine heart
12 Have changed the [l]night for the day, and the light that approached, for darkness.
13 Though I hope, [m]yet the grave shall be mine house, and I shall make my bed in the dark.
14 I shall say to corruption, Thou art my [n]father, and to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister.
15 Where is then now mine hope? or who shall consider the thing that I hoped for?
16 [o]They shall go down into the bottom of the pit: surely it shall lie together in the dust.
18 1 Bildad rehearseth the pains of the unfaithful and wicked.
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 When will [p]ye make an end of your words? [q]cause us to understand, and then we will speak.
3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and are vile in your sight?
4 Thou art [r]as one that teareth his soul in his anger. Shall the [s]earth be forsaken for thy sake? or the rock removed out of his place?
5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be [t]quenched, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
6 The light shall be dark in his dwelling, and his candle shall be put out with him.
7 The steps of his strength shall be restrained, and his own counsel shall cast him down.
8 For he is taken in the net by his feet, and he [u]walketh upon the snares.
9 The grenne shall take him by the heel, and the chief shall come upon him.
10 A snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.
11 Fearfulness shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
12 His strength shall be [v]famine: and destruction shall be ready at his side.
13 It shall devour the inner parts of his skin, and the [w]firstborn of death shall devour his strength.
14 His hope shall be rooted out of his dwelling, and shall cause him to go to the [x]king of fear.
15 Fear shall dwell in his house (because it is not [y]his) [z]and brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut down.
17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.
18 They shall drive him out of the [aa]light unto darkness, and chase him out of the world.
19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any posterity in his dwellings.
20 The posterity shall be astonied at his [ab]day, and fear shall come upon the ancient.
21 Surely such are the habitations of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.
19 2 Job reproveth his friends, 8 and reciteth his miseries and grievous pains. 25 He assureth himself of the general resurrection.
1 But Job answered, and said,
2 How long will ye vex my soul, and torment me with words?
3 Ye have now [ac]ten times reproached me, and are not ashamed: ye are impudent toward me.
4 And though I had indeed erred, mine error [ad]remaineth with me.
5 But indeed if ye will advance yourselves against me, and rebuke me for my reproach,
6 Know now, that God hath [ae]overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
7 Behold, I cry out of violence, but I have none answer: I cry, but there is no judgment.
8 He hath hedged up my way that I cannot [af]pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
9 He hath spoiled me of mine honor, and taken the [ag]crown away from mine head.
10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and he hath removed mine hope like [ah]a tree.
11 And he hath kindled his wrath against me, and counteth me as one of his enemies.
12 His [ai]armies came together, and made their way upon me, and camped about my tabernacle.
13 He hath removed my brethren far from me, and also mine acquaintance were strangers unto me.
14 My neighbors have forsaken me, and my familiars have forgotten me.
15 [aj]They that dwell in mine house, and my maids took me for a stranger: for I was a stranger in their sight.
16 I called my servant, but he would not answer, though I prayed him with my mouth.
17 My breath was strange unto my wife, though I prayed her for the children’s sake of mine [ak]own body.
18 The wicked also despised me, and when I rose, they spake against me.
19 All my secret friends abhorred me, and they whom I loved, are turned against me.
20 My bone [al]cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped with the [am]skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me: have [an]pity upon me, (O ye my friends) for the hand of God hath touched me.
22 Why do ye persecute me, as [ao]God? and are not satisfied with my [ap]flesh?
23 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were written even in a book,
24 And graven with [aq]an iron pen in lead, or in stone forever!
25 For I am sure that my [ar]Redeemer liveth, and he shall stand the last on the earth.
26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet shall I see God [as]in my flesh.
27 Whom I myself shall see, and mine eyes shall behold, and none other for me, though my reins are consumed within me.
28 But ye said, Why is he persecuted? And there was a [at]deep matter in me.
29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for the sword will be [au]avenged of wickedness, that ye may know that there is a judgment.
20 1 Zophar showeth, that the wicked and the covetous shall have a short end, 22 though for a time they flourish.
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2 Doubtless my thoughts cause me to answer, and therefore I make haste.
3 I have heard [av]the correction of my reproach: therefore the spirit of mine understanding causeth me to answer.
4 Knowest thou not this of old? and since God placed man upon the earth,
5 That the rejoicing of the wicked is short, and that the joy of the hypocrites is but a moment?
6 Though [aw]his excellency mount up to the heaven, and his head reach unto the clouds,
7 Yet shall he perish forever like his dung, and they which have seen him, shall say, Where is he?
8 He shall flee away as a dream, and they shall not find him, and shall pass away as a vision of the night.
9 So that the eye which had seen him, shall do so no more, and his place shall see him no more.
10 His children shall [ax]flatter the poor, and his hands shall [ay]restore his substance.
11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth, and [az]it shall lie down with him in the dust.
12 When wickedness was [ba]sweet in his mouth, and he hid it under his tongue,
13 And favored it, and would not forsake it, but kept it close in his mouth,
14 Then his meat in his bowels was turned: the gall of Asps was in the midst of him.
15 He hath devoured substance, and he shall vomit it: for God shall draw it out of his belly.
16 He shall suck the [bb]gall of Asps, and the viper’s tongue shall slay him.
17 He shall not see the [bc]rivers, nor the floods and streams of honey and butter.
18 He shall restore the labor, and shall devour no more: even according to the substance shall be his exchange, [bd]and he shall enjoy it no more.
19 For he hath undone many: he hath forsaken the poor, and hath spoiled houses which he built not.
20 Surely he shall feel no quietness in his body, neither shall he reserve of that which he desired.
21 There shall none of his [be]meat be left: therefore none shall hope for his goods.
22 When he shall be filled with his abundance, he shall be in pain, and the hand [bf]of all the wicked shall assail him.
23 He shall be about to fill his belly, but God shall send upon him his fierce wrath, [bg]and shall cause to rain upon him, even upon his meat.
24 He shall flee from the iron weapons, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
25 The arrow is drawn out, and cometh forth of the [bh]body, and shineth of his gall, so fear cometh upon him.
26 [bi]All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: the fire that is not [bj]blown shall devour him, and that which remaineth in his tabernacle shall be destroyed.
27 The heaven shall declare his wickedness, and the earth shall rise up against him.
28 The [bk]increase of his house shall go away: it shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
29 This is the portion of the wicked man from [bl]God, and the heritage that he shall have of God, for his [bm]words.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.