12:23. He multiplieth nations, and destroyeth them, and restoreth them again after they were overthrown.
12:24. He changeth the heart of the princes of the people of the earth, and deceiveth them that they walk in vain where there is no way.
12:25. They shall grope as in the dark, and not in the light, and he shall make them stagger like men that are drunk.
Job Chapter 13
Job persists in maintaining his innocence: and reproves his friends.
13:1. Behold my eye hath seen all these things, and my ear hath heard them, and I have understood them all.
13:2. According to your knowledge I also know: neither am I inferior to you.
13:3. But yet I will speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
13:4. Having first shewn that you are forgers of lies, and maintainers of perverse opinions.
13:5. And I wish you would hold your peace, that you might be thought to be wise men.
13:6. Hear ye therefore my reproof, and attend to the judgment of my lips.
13:7. Hath God any need of your lie, that you should speak deceitfully for him?
13:8. Do you accept this person, and do you endeavour to judge for God?
13:9. Or shall it please him, from whom nothing can be concealed? or shall he be deceived as a man, with your deceitful dealings?
13:10. He shall reprove you, because in secret you accept his person.
13:11. As soon as he shall move himself, he shall trouble you: and his dread shall fall upon you.
13:12. Your remembrance shall be compared to ashes, and your necks shall be brought to clay.
13:13. Hold your peace a little while, that I may speak whatsoever my mind shall suggest to me.
13:14. Why do I tear my flesh with my teeth, and carry my soul in my hands?
13:15. Although he should kill me, I will trust in him: but yet I will reprove my ways in his sight.
13:16. And he shall be my saviour: for no hypocrite shall come before his presence.
13:17. Hear ye my speech, and receive with your ears hidden truths.
13:18. If I shall be judged, I know that I shall be found just.
13:19. Who is he that will plead against me? let him come: why am I consumed holding my peace?
13:20. Two things only do not to me, and then from thy face I shall not be hid:
13:21. Withdraw thy hand far from me, and let not thy dread terrify me.
13:22. Call me, and I will answer thee: or else I will speak, and do thou answer me.
13:23. How many are my iniquities and sins? make me know my crimes and offenses.
13:24. Why hidest thou thy face, and thinkest me thy enemy?
13:25. Against a leaf, that is carried away with the wind, thou shewest thy power, and thou pursuest a dry straw.
13:26. For thou writest bitter things against me, and wilt consume me for the sins of my youth.
13:27. Thou hast put my feet in the stocks, and hast observed all my paths, and hast considered the steps of my feet:
13:28. Who am to be consumed as rottenness, and as a garment that is motheaten.
Job Chapter 14
Job declares the shortness of man's days: and professes his belief of a resurrection.
14:1. Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries.
14:2. Who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and never continueth in the same state.
14:3. And dost thou think it meet to open thy eyes upon such an one, and to bring him into judgment with thee?
14:4. Who can make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed? is it not thou who only art?
14:5. The days of man are short, and the number of his months is with thee: thou hast appointed his bounds which cannot be passed.
14:6. Depart a little from him, that he may rest until his wished for day come, as that of the hireling.
14:7. A tree hath hope: if it be cut, it growth green again, and the boughs thereof sprout.
14:8. If its roots be old in the earth, and its stock be dead in the dust:
14:9. At the scent of water, it shall spring, and bring forth leaves, as when it was first planted.
14:10. But man when he shall be dead, and stripped and consumed, I pray you where is he?
14:11. As if the waters should depart out of the sea, and an emptied river should be dried up;
14:12. So man when he is fallen asleep shall not rise again; till the heavens be broken, he shall not awake, nor rise up out of his sleep.
14:13. Who will grant me this, that thou mayst protect me in hell, and hide me till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a time when thou wilt remember me?
That thou mayst protect me in hell... That is, in the state of the dead; and in the place where the souls are kept waiting for their Redeemer.
14:14. Shall man that is dead, thinkest thou, live again? all the days in which I am now in warfare, I expect until my change come.
14:15. Thou shalt call me, and I will answer thee: to the work of thy hands thou shalt reach out thy right hand.
14:16. Thou indeed hast numbered my steps, but spare my sins.
14:17. Thou hast sealed up my offences as it were in a bag, but hast cured my iniquity.
14:18. A mountain falling cometh to nought, and a rock is removed out of its place.
14:19. Waters wear away the stones, and with inundation the ground by little and little is washed away: so in like manner thou shalt destroy man.
14:20. Thou hast strengthened him for a little while, that he may pass away for ever: thou shalt change his face, and shalt send him away.
14:21. Whether his children come to honour or dishonour, he shall not understand.
14:22. But yet his flesh, while he shall live, shall have pain, and his soul shall mourn over him.
Job Chapter 15
Eliphaz returns to the charge against Job, and describes the wretched state of the wicked.
15:1. And Eliphaz the Themanite, answered, and said:
15:2. Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking in the wind, and fill his stomach with burning heat?
15:3. Thou reprovest him by words, who is not equal to thee, and thou speakest that which is not good for thee.
15:4. As much as is in thee, thou hast made void fear, and hast taken away prayers from before God.
Thou hast made void fear... That is, cast off the fear of offending God.
15:5. For thy iniquity hath taught thy mouth, and thou imitatest the tongue of blasphemers.
15:6. Thy own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I: and thy own lips shall answer thee.
15:7. Art thou the first man that was born, or wast thou made before the hills?
15:8. Hast thou heard God's counsel, and shall his wisdom be inferior to thee?
15:9. What knowest thou that we are ignorant of? what dost thou understand that we know not?
15:10. There are with us also aged and ancient men, much elder than thy fathers.
15:11. Is it a great matter that God should comfort thee? but thy wicked words hinder this.
15:12. Why doth thy heart elevate thee, and why dost thou stare with thy eyes, as if they were thinking great things?
15:13. Why doth thy spirit swell against God, to utter such words out of thy mouth?
15:14. What is man that he should be without spot, and he that is born of a woman that he should appear just?
15:15. Behold among his saints none is unchangeable, and the heavens are not pure in his sight.
15:16. How much more is man abominable, and unprofitable, who drinketh iniquity like water?
15:17. I will shew thee, hear me: and I will tell thee what I have seen.
15:18. Wise men confess and hide not their fathers.
Wise men confess and hide not their fathers... That is, the knowledge and documents they have received from their fathers they are not ashamed to own.
15:19. To whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger hath passed among them.
15:20. The wicked man is proud all his days, and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain.
15:21. The sound of dread is always in his ears: and when there is peace, he always suspecteth treason.
15:22. He believeth not that he may return from darkness to light, looking round about for the sword on every side.
15:23. When he moveth himself to seek bread, he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
15:24. Tribulation shall terrify him, and distress shall surround him, as a king that is prepared for the battle.
15:25. For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and hath strengthened himself against the Almighty.
15:26. He hath run against him with his neck raised up, and is armed with a fat neck.
15:27. Fatness hath covered his face, and the fat hangeth down on his sides.
15:28. He hath dwelt in desolate cities, and in desert houses that are reduced into heaps.
15:29. He shall not be enriched, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he push his root in the earth.
15:30. He shall not depart out of darkness: the flame shall dry up his branches, and he shall be taken away by the breath of his own mouth.
15:31. He shall not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that he may be redeemed with any price.
15:32. Before his days be full he shall perish: and his hands shall wither away.
15:33. He shall be blasted as a vine when its grapes are in the first flower, and as an olive tree that casteth its flower.
15:34. For the congregation of the hypocrite is barren, and fire shall devour their tabernacles, who love to take bribes.
15:35. He hath conceived sorrow, and hath brought forth iniquity, and his womb prepareth deceits.
Job Chapter 16
Job expostulates with his friends: and appeals to the judgment of God.
16:1. Then Job answered, and said:
16:2. I have often heard such things as these: you are all troublesome comforters.
16:3. Shall windy words have no end? or is it any trouble to thee to speak?
16:4. I also could speak like you: and would God your soul were for my soul.
16:5. I would comfort you also with words, and would wag my head over you.
16:6. I would strengthen you with my mouth, and would move my lips, as sparing you.
16:7. But what shall I do? If I speak, my pain will not rest: and if I hold my peace, it will not depart from me.
16:8. But now my sorrow hath oppressed me, and all my limbs are brought to nothing.
16:9. My wrinkles bear witness against me, and a false speaker riseth up against my face, contradicting me.
16:10. He hath gathered together his fury against me, and threatening me he hath gnashed with his teeth upon me: my enemy hath beheld me with terrible eyes.
16:11. They have opened their mouths upon me, and reproaching me they have struck me on the cheek, they are filled with my pains.
16:12. God hath shut me up with the unjust man, and hath delivered me into the hands of the wicked.
16:13. I that was formerly so wealthy, am all on a sudden broken to pieces: he hath taken me by my neck, he hath broken me, and hath set me up to be his mark.
16:14. He hath compassed me round about with his lances, he hath wounded my loins, he hath not spared, and hath poured out my bowels on the earth,
16:15. He hath torn me with wound upon wound, he hath rushed in upon me like a giant.
16:16. I have sowed sackcloth upon my skin, and have covered my flesh with ashes.
16:17. My face is swollen with weeping, and my eyelids are dim.
16:18. These things have I suffered without the iniquity of my hand, when I offered pure prayers to God.
16:19. O earth, cover not thou my blood, neither let my cry find a hiding place in thee.
16:20. For behold my witness is in heaven, and he that knoweth my conscience is on high.
16:21. My friends are full of words: my eye poureth out tears to God.
16:22. And O that a man might so be judged with God, as the son of man is judged with his companion!
16:23. For behold short years pass away, and I am walking in a path by which I shall not return.
Job Chapter 17
Job's hope in God: he expects rest in death.
17:1. My spirit shall be wasted, my days shall be shortened and only the grave remaineth for me.
17:2. I have not sinned, and my eye abideth in bitterness.
Not sinned... That is, I am not guilty of such sins as they charge me with.
17:3. Deliver me, O Lord, and set me beside thee, and let any man's hand fight against me.
17:4. Thou hast set their heart far from understanding, therefore they shall not be exalted.
17:5. He promiseth a prey to his companions, and the eyes of his children shall fail.
17:6. He hath made me as it were a byword of the people, and I am an example before them.
17:7. My eye is dim through indignation, and my limbs are brought as it were to nothing.
17:8. The just shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall be raised up against the hypocrite.
17:9. And the just man shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.
17:10. Wherefore be you all converted, and come, and I shall not find among you any wise man.
17:11. My days have passed away, my thoughts are dissipated, tormenting my heart.
17:12. They have turned night into day, and after darkness I hope for light again.
17:13. If I wait hell is my house, and I have made my bed in darkness.
Hell... Sheol. The region of the dead.
17:14. I have said to rottenness: Thou art my father; to worms, my mother and my sister.
17:15. Where is now then my expectation, and who considereth my patience?
17:16. All that I have shall go down into the deepest pit: thinkest thou that there at least I shall have rest?
Deepest pit... Literally, hell.
Job Chapter 18
Baldad again reproves Job and describes the miseries of the wicked.
18:1. Then Baldad the Suhite answered, and said:
18:2. How long will you throw out words? understand first, and so let us speak.
18:3. Why are we reputed as beasts, and counted vile before you?
18:4. Thou that destroyest thy soul in thy fury, shall the earth be forsaken for thee, and shall rocks be removed out of their place?
18:5. Shall not the light of the wicked be extinguished, and the flame of his fire not shine?
18:6. The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and the lamp that is over him, shall be put out.
18:7. The step of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down headlong.
18:8. For he hath thrust his feet into a net, and walketh in its meshes.
18:9. The sole of his foot shall be held in a snare, and thirst shall burn against him.
18:10. A gin is hidden for him in the earth, and his trap upon the path.
18:11. Fears shall terrify him on every side, and shall entangle his feet.
18:12. Let his strength be wasted with famine, and let hunger invade his ribs.
18:13. Let it devour the beauty of his skin, let the firstborn death consume his arms.
18:14. Let his confidence be rooted out of his tabernacle, and let destruction tread upon him like a king.
18:15. Let the companions of him that is not, dwell in his tabernacle, let brimstone be sprinkled in his tent.
18:16. Let his roots be dried up beneath, and his harvest destroyed above.
18:17. Let the memory of him perish from the earth, and let not his name be renowned in the streets.
18:18. He shall drive him out of light into darkness, and shall remove him out of the world.
18:19. His seed shall not subsist, nor his offspring among his people, nor any remnants in his country.
18:20. They that come after him shall be astonished at his day, and horror shall fall upon them that went before.
18:21. These then are the tabernacles of the wicked, and this the place of him that knoweth not God.
Job Chapter 19
Job complains of the cruelty of his friends; he describes his own sufferings: and his belief of a future resurrection.
19:1. Then Job answered, and said:
19:2. How long do you afflict my soul, and break me in pieces with words?
19:3. Behold, these ten times you confound me, and are not ashamed to oppress me.
19:4. For if I have been ignorant, my ignorance shall be with me.
19:5. But you set yourselves up against me, and reprove me with my reproaches.
19:6. At least now understand, that God hath not afflicted me with an equal judgment, and compassed me with his scourges.
With an equal judgment... St. Gregory explains these words thus: Job being a just man, and truly considering his own life, thought that his affliction was greater than his sins deserved: and in that respect, that the punishment was not equal, yet it was just, as coming from God, who gives a crown of justice to those who suffer for righteousness' sake, and proves the just with tribulations, as gold is tried by fire.
19:7. Behold I shall cry suffering violence, and no one will hear: I shall cry aloud, and there is none to judge.
19:8. He hath hedged in my path round about, and I cannot pass, and in my way he hath set darkness.
19:9. He hath stripped me of my glory, and hath taken the crown from my head.
19:10. He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am lost, and he hath taken away my hope, as from a tree that is plucked up.
19:11. His wrath is kindled against me, and he hath counted me as his enemy.
19:12. His troops have come together, and have made themselves a way by me, and have besieged my tabernacle round about.
19:13. He hath put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintance like strangers have departed from me.
19:14. My kinsmen have forsaken me, and they that knew me, have forgotten me.
19:15. They that dwell in my house, and my maidservants have counted me as a stranger, and I have been like an alien in their eyes.
19:16. I called my servant, and he gave me no answer, I entreated him with my own mouth.
19:17. My wife hath abhorred my breath, and I entreated the children of my womb.
19:18. Even fools despised me, and when I was gone from them, they spoke against me.
19:19. They that were sometime my counsellors, have abhorred me: and he whom I loved most is turned against me.
19:20. The flesh being consumed, my bone hath cleaved to my skin, and nothing but lips are left about my teeth.
19:21. Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me.
19:22. Why do you persecute me as God, and glut yourselves with my flesh?
19:23. Who will grant me that my words may be written? who will grant me that they may be marked down in a book?
19:24. With an iron pen and in a plate of lead, or else be graven with an instrument in flint stone?
19:25. For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth.
Ver. 25, 26, and 27 shew Job's explicit belief in his Redeemer, and also of the resurrection of the flesh, not as one tree riseth in place of another, but that the selfsame flesh shall rise at the last day, by the power of God, changed in quality but not in substance, every one to receive sentence according to his works in this life.
19:26. And I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see my God.
19:27. Whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another: this my hope is laid up in my bosom.
19:28. Why then do you say now: Let us persecute him, and let us find occasion of word against him?
19:29. Flee then from the face of the sword, for the sword is the revenger of iniquities: and know ye that there is a judgment.
Job Chapter 20
Sophar declares the shortness of the prosperity of the wicked: and their sudden downfall.
20:1. Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:
20:2. Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind is hurried away to different things.
20:3. The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me.
20:4. This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon the earth,
20:5. That the praise of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment.
20:6. If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch the clouds:
20:7. In the end he shall be destroyed like a dunghill, and they that had seen him, shall say: Where is he?
20:8. As a dream that fleeth away he shall not be found, he shall pass as a vision of the night:
20:9. The eyes that had seen him, shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him.
20:10. His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands shall render to him his sorrow.
20:11. His bones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust.
20:12. For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue.
20:13. He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in his throat.
20:14. His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within him,
20:15. The riches which he hath swallowed, he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly.
20:16. He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper's tongue shall kill him.
20:17. Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey and of butter.
20:18. He shall be punished for all that he did, and yet shall not be consumed: according to the multitude of his devices so also shall he suffer.
According to the multitude of his devices... That is, his stratagems to gratify his passions and to oppress and destroy the poor.
20:19. Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build.
20:20. And yet his belly was not filled: and when he hath the things he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them.
20:21. There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing shall continue of his goods:
20:22. When he shall be filled, he shall be straitened, he shall burn, and every sorrow shall fall upon him.
20:23. May his belly be filled, that God may send forth the wrath of his indignation upon him, and rain down his war upon him.
20:24. He shall flee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a bow of brass.
20:25. The sword is drawn out, and cometh forth from its scabbard, and glittereth in his bitterness: the terrible ones shall go and come upon him.
20:26. All darkness is hid in his secret places: a fire that is not kindled shall devour him, he shall be afflicted when left in his tabernacle.
20:27. The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him.
20:28. The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be pulled down in the day of God's wrath.
20:29. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his doings from the Lord.
Job Chapter 21
Job shews that the wicked often prosper in this world, even to the end of their life: but that their judgment is in another world.
21:1. Then Job answered, and said:
21:2. Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance.
21:3. Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words.
21:4. Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled?
21:5. Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth.
21:6. As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
21:7. Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?
21:8. Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children's children in their sight.
21:9. Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them.
21:10. Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit.
21:11. Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play.
21:12. They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
21:13. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell.
21:14. Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
21:15. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what doth it profit us if we pray to him?
21:16. Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me.
21:17. 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?
21:18. They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
21:19. God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know.
21:20. His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21:21. For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and if the number of his months be diminished by one half?
21:22. Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high?
21:23. One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy.
21:24. His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
21:25. But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches:
21:26. And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them.
21:27. Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me.
21:28. For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
21:29. Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things.
21:30. Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath.
21:31. Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
21:32. He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead.
21:33. He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him.
Acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus... The Hebrew word, which St. Jerome has here rendered by the name Cocytus, (which the poets represent as a river in hell,) signifies a valley or a torrent: and in this place, is taken for the low region of death and hell: which willingly, as it were, receives the wicked at their death: who are ushered in by innumerable others that have gone before them; and are followed by multitudes above number.
21:34. How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth?
Job Chapter 22
Eliphaz falsely imputes many crimes to Job, but promises him prosperity if he will repent.
22:1. Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said:
22:2. Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge?
22:3. What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou give him if thy way be unspotted?
22:4. Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment:
22:5. And not for thy manifold wickedness and thy infinite iniquities?
22:6. For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
22:7. Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.
22:8. In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and being the most mighty thou holdest it.
22:9. Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces.
22:10. Therefore art thou surrounded with shares, and sudden fear troubleth thee.
22:11. And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of overflowing waters?
22:12. Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars?
22:13. And thou sayst: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist.
22:14. The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven.
22:15. Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden?
22:16. Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation.
22:17. Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing:
22:18. Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose way of thinking be far from me.
22:19. The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn.
22:20. Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them?
22:21. Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits.
22:22. Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart.
22:23. If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle.
22:24. He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold.
22:25. And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee.
22:26. Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.
22:27. Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay vows.
22:28. Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways.
22:29. For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved.
22:30. The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands.
Job Chapter 23
Job wishes to be tried at God's tribunal.
23:1. Then Job answered, and said:
23:2. Now also my words are in bitterness, and the hand of my scourge is more grievous than my mourning.
23:3. Who will grant me that I might know and find him, and come even to his throne?
23:4. I would set judgment before him, and would fill my mouth with complaints.
23:5. That I might know the words that he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me.
23:6. I would not that he should contend with me with much strength, nor overwhelm me with the weight of his greatness.
23:7. Let him propose equity against me, and let my judgment come to victory.
23:8. But if I go to the east, he appeareth not; if to the west, I shall not understand him.
23:9. 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.
23:10. But he knoweth my way, and has tried me as gold that passeth through the fire:
23:11. My foot hath followed his steps, I have kept his way, and have not declined from it.
23:12. I have not departed from the commandments of his lips, and the words of his mouth I have hid in my bosom.
23:13. For he is alone, and no man can turn away his thought: and whatsoever his soul hath desired, that hath he done.
23:14. And when he shall have fulfilled his will in me, many other like things are also at hand with him.
23:15. And therefore I am troubled at his presence, and when I consider him I am made pensive with fear.
23:16. God hath softened my heart, and the Almighty hath troubled me.
23:17. For I have not perished because of the darkness that hangs over me, neither hath the mist covered my face.
Job Chapter 24
God's providence often suffers the wicked to go on a long time in their sins: but punisheth them in another life.
24:1. Times are not hid from the Almighty: but they that know him, know not his days.
24:2. Some have removed landmarks, have taken away flocks by force, and fed them.
24:3. They have driven away the ass of the fatherless, and have taken away the widow's ox for a pledge.
24:4. They have overturned the way of the poor, and have oppressed together the meek of the earth.
24:5. Others like wild asses in the desert go forth to their work: by watching for a prey they get bread for their children.
24:6. They reap the field that is not their own, and gather the vintage of his vineyard whom by violence they have oppressed.
24:7. They send men away naked, taking away their clothes who have no covering in the cold:
24:8. Who are wet, with the showers of the mountains, and having no covering embrace the stones.
24:9. They have violently robbed the fatherless, and stripped the poor common people.
24:10. From the naked and them that go without clothing, and from the hungry they have taken away the ears of corn.
24:11. They have taken their rest at noon among the stores of them, who after having trodden the winepresses suffer thirst.
24:12. Out of the cities they have made men to groan, and the soul of the wounded hath cried out, and God doth not suffer it to pass unrevenged.
24:13. They have been rebellious to the light, they have not known his ways, neither have they returned by his paths.
24:14. The murderer riseth at the very break of day, he killeth the needy, and the poor man: but in the night he will be as a thief.
24:15. The eye of the adulterer observeth darkness, saying: No eye shall see me: and he will cover his face.
24:16. He diggeth through houses in the dark, as in the day they had appointed for themselves, and they have not known the light.
24:17. If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow of death: and they walk in darkness as if it were in light.
24:18. He is light upon the face of the water: cursed be his portion on the earth, let him not walk by the way of the vineyards.
24:19. Let him pass from the snow waters to excessive heat, and his sin even to hell.
24:20. Let mercy forget him: may worms be his sweetness: let him be remembered no more, but be broken in pieces as an unfruitful tree.
24:21. For he hath fed the barren that beareth not, and to the widow he hath done no good.
24:22. He hath pulled down the strong by his might: and when he standeth up, he shall not trust to his life.
24:23. God hath given him place for penance, and he abuseth it unto pride: but his eyes are upon his ways.
24:24. They are lifted up for a little while and shall not stand, and shall be brought down as all things, and shall be taken away, and as the tops of the ears of corn they shall be broken.
24:25. And if it be not so, who can convince me that I have lied, and set my words before God?
Job Chapter 25
25:1. Then Baldad the Suhite answered, and I said:
25:2. Power and terror are with him, who maketh peace in his high places.
25:3. Is there any numbering of his soldiers? and upon whom shall not his light arise?
25:4. Can man be justified compared with God, or he that is born of a woman appear clean?
25:5. Behold even the moon doth not shine, and the stars are not pure in his sight.
25:6. How much less man that is rottenness and the son of man who is a worm?
Job Chapter 26
Job declares his sentiments of the wisdom and power of God.
26:1. Then Job answered, and said:
26:2. Whose helper art thou? is it of him that is weak? and dost thou hold up the arm of him that has no strength?
26:3. To whom hast thou given counsel? perhaps to him that hath no wisdom, and thou hast shewn thy very great prudence.
26:4. Whom hast thou desired to teach? was it not him that made life?
26:5. Behold the giants groan under the waters, and they that dwell with them.
26:6. Hell is naked before him, and there is no covering for destruction.
26:7. He stretched out the north over the empty space, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
26:8. He bindeth up the waters in his clouds, so that they break not out and fall down together.
26:9. He withholdeth the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud over it.
26:10. He hath set bounds about the waters, till light and darkness come to an end.
26:11. The pillars of heaven tremble, and dread at his beck.
26:12. By his power the seas are suddenly gathered together, and his wisdom has struck the proud one.
26:13. His spirit hath adorned the heavens, and his obstetric hand brought forth the winding serpent.
His obstetric hand brought forth the winding serpent... That is, the omnipotent power of God: which brought forth all things created in time, but conceived in the Divine mind from all eternity. The winding serpent, a constellation of fixed stars winding round the north pole, called Draco. This appears from the foregoing part of the same verse, His spirit hath adorned the heavens.
26:14. Lo, these things are said in part of his ways: and seeing we have heard scarce a little drop of his word, who shall be able to behold the thunder of his greatness?
Job Chapter 27
Job persists in asserting his own innocence, and that hypocrites will be punished in the end.
27:1. Job also added, taking up his parable, and said:
27:2. As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment, and the Almighty, who hath brought my soul to bitterness,
27:3. As long as breath remaineth in me, and the spirit of God in my nostrils,
27:4. My lips shall not speak iniquity, neither shall my tongue contrive lying.
27:5. God forbid that I should judge you to be just: till I die I will not depart from my innocence.
27:6. My justification, which I have begun to hold, I will not forsake: for my heart doth not reprehend me in all my life.
27:7. Let my enemy be as the ungodly, and my adversary as the wicked one.
27:8. For what is the hope of the hypocrite if through covetousness he take by violence, and God deliver not his soul?
27:9. Will God hear his cry, when distress shall come upon him?
27:10. Or can he delight himself in the Almighty, and call upon God at all times?
27:11. I will teach you by the hand of God, what the Almighty hath, and I will not conceal it.
27:12. Behold you all know it, and why do you speak vain things without cause?
27:13. This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the inheritance of the violent, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
27:14. If his sons be multiplied, they shall be for the sword, and his grandsons shall not be filled with bread.
27:15. They that shall remain of him, shall be buried in death, and his widows shall not weep.
27:16. If he shall heap together silver as earth, and prepare raiment as clay,
27:17. He shall prepare indeed, but the just man shall be clothed with it: and the innocent shall divide the silver.
27:18. He hath built his house as a moth, and as a keeper he hath made a booth.
27:19. The rich man when he shall sleep shall take away nothing with him: he shall open his eyes and find nothing.
27:20. Poverty like water shall take hold on him, a tempest shall oppress him in the night:
27:21. A burning wind shall take him up, and carry him away, and as a whirlwind shall snatch him from his place.
27:22. And he shall cast upon him, and shall not spare: out of his hand he would willingly flee.
27:23. He shall clasp his hands upon him, and shall hiss at him, beholding his place.
Job Chapter 28
Man's industry searcheth out many things: true wisdom is taught by God alone.
28:1. Silver hath beginnings of its veins, and gold hath a place wherein it is melted.
28:2. Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat is turned into brass.
28:3. He hath set a time for darkness, and the end of all things he considereth, the stone also that is in the dark and the shadow of death.
28:4. The flood divideth from the people that are on their journey, those whom the food of the needy man hath forgotten, and who cannot be come at.
28:5. The land, out of which bread grew in its place, hath been overturned with fire.
28:6. The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and the clods of it are gold.
28:7. The bird hath not known the path, neither hath the eye of the vulture beheld it.
28:8. The children of the merchants have not trodden it, neither hath the lioness passed by it.
28:9. He hath stretched forth his hand to the flint, he hath overturned mountains from the roots.
28:10. In the rocks he hath cut out rivers, and his eye hath seen every precious thing.
28:11. The depths also of rivers he hath searched, and hidden things he hath brought forth to light.
28:12. But where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of understanding?
28:13. Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of them that live in delights.
28:14. The depth saith: It is not in me: and the sea saith: It is not with me.
28:15. The finest gold shall not purchase it, neither shall silver be weighed in exchange for it.
28:16. It shall not be compared with the dyed colours of India, or with the most precious stone sardonyx, or the sapphire.
28:17. Gold or crystal cannot equal it, neither shall any vessels of gold be changed for it.
28:18. High and eminent things shall not be mentioned in comparison of it: but wisdom is drawn out of secret places.
28:19. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equal to it, neither shall it be compared to the cleanest dyeing.
28:20. Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
28:21. It is hid from the eyes of all living, and the fowls of the air know it not.
28:22. Destruction and death have said: With our ears we have heard the fame thereof.
28:23. God understandeth the way of it, and he knoweth the place thereof.
28:24. For he beholdeth the ends of the world: and looketh on all things that are under heaven.
28:25. Who made a weight for the winds, and weighed the waters by measure.
28:26. When he gave a law for the rain, and a way for the sounding storms.
28:27. Then he saw it, and declared, and prepared, and searched it.
28:28. And he said to man: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding.
Job Chapter 29
Job relates his former happiness, and the respect that all men shewed him.
29:1. Job also added, taking up his parable, and said:
29:2. Who will grant me, that I might be according to the months past, according to the days in which God kept me?
29:3. When his lamp shined over my head, and I walked by his light in darkness?
29:4. As I was in the days of my youth, when God was secretly in my tabernacle?
29:5. When the Almighty was with me: and my servants round about me?
29:6. When I washed my feet with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil?
29:7. When I went out to the gate of the city, and in the street they prepared me a chair?
29:8. The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the old men rose up and stood.
29:9. The princes ceased to speak, and laid the finger on their mouth.
29:10. The rulers held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to their throat.
29:11. The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me gave witness to me:
29:12. Because I had delivered the poor man that cried out; and the fatherless, that had no helper.
29:13. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I comforted the heart of the widow.
29:14. I was clad with justice: and I clothed myself with my judgment, as with a robe and a diadem.
29:15. I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame.
29:16. I was the father of the poor: and the cause which I knew not, I searched out most diligently.
29:17. I broke the jaws of the wicked man, and out of his teeth I took away the prey.
29:18. And I said: I shall die in my nest, and as a palm tree shall multiply my days.
29:19. My root is opened beside the waters, and dew shall continue in my harvest.
29:20. My glory shall always be renewed, and my bow in my hand shall be repaired.
29:21. They that heard me, waited for my sentence, and being attentive held their peace at my counsel.
29:22. To my words they durst add nothing, and my speech dropped upon them.
29:23. They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for a latter shower.
29:24. If at any time I laughed on them, they believed not, and the light of my countenance fell not on earth.
29:25. If I had a mind to go to them, I sat first, and when I sat as a king, with his army standing about him, yet I was a comforter of them that mourned.
Job Chapter 30
Job shews the wonderful change of his temporal estate, from welfare to great calamity.
30:1. But now the younger in time scorn me, whose fathers I would not have set with the dogs of my flock:
But now the younger in time... That is, younger than I am, and as it were obscure, when I was conspicuous and in magnificence; they now look down on me.
30:2. The strength of whose hands was to me as nothing, and they were thought unworthy of life itself.
30:3. Barren with want and hunger, who gnawed in the wilderness, disfigured with calamity and misery.
30:4. And they ate grass, and barks of trees, and the root of junipers was their food.
30:5. Who snatched up these things out of the valleys, and when they had found any of them, they ran to them with a cry.
30:6. They dwelt in the desert places of torrents, and in caves of earth, or upon the gravel.
30:7. They pleased themselves among these kind of things, and counted it delightful to be under the briers.
30:8. The children of foolish and base men, and not appearing at all upon the earth.
30:9. Now I am turned into their song, and am become their byword.
30:10. They abhor me, and flee far from me, and are not afraid to spit in my face.
30:11. For he hath opened his quiver, and hath afflicted me, and hath put a bridle into my mouth.
30:12. At the right hand of my rising, my calamities forthwith arose: they have overthrown my feet, and have overwhelmed me with their paths as with waves.
30:13. They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait against me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to help.
30:14. They have rushed in upon me, as when a wall is broken, and a gate opened, and have rolled themselves down to my miseries.
30:15. I am brought to nothing: as a wind thou hast taken away my desire: and my prosperity hath passed away like a cloud.
30:16. And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of affliction possess me.